Selling your staffing agency?
Your gross margin is worth more than you think.

The honest version

What staffing agencies actually sell for

Most staffing agencies trade in the range of 3–5x adjusted EBITDA, with contract and recurring-placement mixes reaching 4–6x. The difference between the bottom and the top of that range is rarely about revenue — it is about how predictable that revenue is.

The range is wide because the same business is worth different amounts to different buyers. In this sector you are usually looking at three:

• Staffing platforms — multi-brand operators building scale across verticals and geographies; usually the most active acquirers.
• Strategic competitors — established firms expanding into your specialty or territory. They know the market and often move fastest.
• Search-fund and individual buyers — typically for smaller agencies, usually with more financing contingency and a slower path to close.

Which of those is at your table changes your number far more than anything on your balance sheet.

What moves the number

The four things buyers actually underwrite

• Gross-margin percentage. This is the number buyers ask for first — it reflects your pricing power and the mix between contract, contract-to-hire, and direct placement work.
• Client concentration. A book spread across many clients is worth more than one dependent on a handful of large accounts; buyers will ask for a client-by-client revenue breakdown.
• Recruiter productivity. Revenue and margin per recruiter says more about the durability of the business than headcount alone.
• Contract and recurring placement mix. Ongoing contract and recurring-placement revenue prices well above one-off, project-based placement work.

A note on timing that costs owners real money: buyers normalize earnings across hiring cycles and look for two to three years of clean, consistent financials. Cleaning up the books the year you decide to sell is far too late — the work needs to be done before the numbers you are selling on are created.

The process

Why a quiet, competitive process beats the first offer

Most owners in this sector are approached directly, unsolicited, by a consolidator or a platform buyer. That approach is flattering and it is also the single most expensive letter you can accept, because a buyer negotiating against nobody has no reason to move on price or on terms.

We run the opposite process. Buyers are qualified and under confidentiality agreement before they learn whose business it is. Nothing is listed, advertised, or published. Your staff, your customers, and your competitors learn nothing until you decide they should — and several credible buyers are considering the same opportunity at the same time.

The result is not only a better number. It is better terms: what happens to your team, how long you stay, how the earn-out is structured, and what happens to any real estate.

Common questions

Staffing agency owners ask us these first

What is my staffing agency worth?

Most staffing agencies sell for between 3 and 5 times adjusted EBITDA, with contract and recurring-placement mixes reaching 4 to 6 times. The highest multiples go to agencies with strong gross margin, low client concentration, and consistently productive recruiters. A confidential valuation will give you a confidential range in writing, based on what buyers are paying now — not an appraisal.

Who buys staffing agencies?

Three groups: multi-brand staffing platforms building scale across verticals and geographies, strategic competitors expanding into your specialty or territory, and search-fund or individual buyers for smaller agencies. Each prices gross margin and client concentration differently, which is exactly why competition among them matters.

How do I sell my staffing agency without my team finding out?

By never listing it. We run a confidential process in which qualified buyers sign confidentiality agreements before they learn which agency is for sale. Nothing is advertised, and you decide when and how your team is told.