Best Recruiting Agencies in 2026

Hays plc is a specialist recruitment group led by chief executive Mark Dearnley. For the year ended 30 June 2026 it reported turnover of £6,421.2 million and net fees of £905.5 million, down 7% (8% like-for-like) from £972.4 million. Temporary and contracting work produced 64% of net fees (£583.9 million) and permanent placement 36% (£321.6 million).

Hays operated in 23 countries at 30 June 2026 and plans to concentrate on 16 under its "Momentum" strategy; consultant headcount fell 14% to 5,194 over the year. Pre-exceptional operating profit rose 7% to £48.6 million on cost reductions, but exceptional charges produced a statutory loss before tax of £54.5 million. Its scale and mix of temporary and permanent work make it one of the largest recruiters in this list; the planned withdrawal from seven countries and a smaller consultant base are the main points for clients to weigh.

Robert Half describes itself as "the world's first and largest specialized talent solutions and business consulting firm", offering contract talent, permanent placement and executive search, and owning the consulting firm Protiviti. It is led by president and chief executive M. Keith Waddell and issues its results from Menlo Park, California.

Total service revenues in 2025 were US$5,378.5 million, with net income of US$133.0 million. Permanent placement talent solutions, the business most comparable with a recruiting agency, contributed US$439.5 million; contract talent solutions contributed US$2,990.1 million and Protiviti US$1,948.9 million. Finance and accounting is the firm's largest contract practice (US$2,207.2 million), and its recruiters cover the same functions for permanent hires. For employers, Robert Half's advantage is the ability to fill a role on a contract basis while recruiting for the permanent hire; the group's total revenue overstates its size as a pure recruiting agency because most of it comes from contract staffing and consulting.

Korn Ferry describes itself as "a global consulting firm that powers performance" and is led by chief executive Gary D. Burnison, issuing its results from Los Angeles. For the fiscal year ended 30 April 2026 it reported fee revenue of US$2,907.5 million, up 6.5%, and total revenue of US$2,938.6 million.

Executive Search is its largest segment, with fee revenue of US$924.1 million, up 9.2%; the other segments are Consulting (US$691.7 million), Professional Search & Interim (US$561.1 million, up 11.4%), RPO (US$367.1 million) and Digital (US$363.5 million). On 1 September 2026 Korn Ferry completed the acquisition of AMS, a UK-headquartered company providing technology-enabled talent solutions, from OMERS Private Equity for about £473 million and US$326 million in cash plus 3,118,628 Korn Ferry shares. The combination of executive search, professional search, interim and RPO makes Korn Ferry the broadest recruiting firm in this list, from board appointments to high-volume hiring.

PageGroup plc is a recruitment company best known for the Michael Page brand. It began as a single specialist recruiter in the UK more than 50 years ago and now reports more than 6,000 employees, 123 offices in 34 markets and 25 specialist businesses; its chief executive is Nicholas Kirk.

For 2025 PageGroup reported revenue of £1,596.6 million, down 8.2%, gross profit (net fees) of £769.5 million, down 8.7%, and operating profit of £20.9 million, down 60.2% and in line with guidance. The sharp fall in operating profit shows how quickly recruitment earnings respond to weaker hiring. For employers, PageGroup's specialist divisions and international office network suit mid-level and senior professional hires in many countries under one brand.

SThree plc is a London-based global recruitment firm focused on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) roles. For the year ended 30 November 2025 it reported revenue of £1,302.2 million and net fees of £322.7 million, each down 13% as reported and 12% like-for-like. Contract placements produced 84% of net fees and permanent placements 16%. DACH (Germany, Austria and Switzerland) was the largest region with £106.6 million of net fees, followed by the USA (£83.1 million, the only region to grow, up 4%), the Netherlands and Spain (£62.2 million), the rest of Europe (£51.5 million) and the Middle East and Asia (£19.1 million).

SThree's emphasis on contractors distinguishes it from permanent-weighted recruiters such as PageGroup and Robert Walters: contract assignments provide recurring fees while a placement lasts, which can make revenue more stable through hiring slowdowns, though 2025 still brought a double-digit decline. For employers, SThree is a specialist option for STEM contractors and permanent hires; it is less suited to general business or executive-level recruitment.

Robert Walters plc is a professional recruitment company led by chief executive Toby Fowlston, with about 2,900 employees in 29 countries. In 2025 it reported revenue of £781.1 million, down 12%, net fee income of £274.2 million, down 15% from £321.4 million, and an operating loss of £14.9 million.

Specialist recruitment produced 83% of net fee income (£228.1 million), of which permanent placement accounted for £148.8 million and temporary, contract and interim work £75.8 million; recruitment outsourcing, covering RPO and contingent workforce solutions, contributed £46.1 million, or 17%. The permanent-heavy mix explains the sharp fall in fees during a weak hiring market. Its outsourcing arm serves employers that want a managed recruitment function.

Boyden is an executive search firm that says it has guided organisations "for 80 years" and operates more than 75 offices in more than 45 countries, collaborating "as one global team". Its services are executive search, interim management and leadership consulting, the last covering onboarding and integration, assessment and profiling, leadership development, executive and team coaching and succession planning, together with CEO and board services such as board consulting, CEO search and director search.

Boyden does not publish revenue. Among private search firms in this list it reports the largest country footprint, which suits employers recruiting senior executives in markets where the larger listed firms have fewer offices. Like other retained search firms it typically works on board, C-suite and senior management roles rather than volume hiring, and its fees are not published.

Egon Zehnder is a leadership advisory and executive search firm with more than 600 consultants across 71 offices in 37 countries. It works as "One Firm unified by a shared incentive system", a structure intended to encourage collaboration across offices and practices.

Its services are grouped as shaping successions (CEO, executive and board succession), advancing governance (board reviews and advisory), discovering leaders (CEO, executive, board and advisor search and executive assessment), developing leadership (individual development, onboarding, coaching and team programmes) and unlocking transformations (cultural transformation and development programmes). The firm also publishes research, including a 2026 Global CEO Survey of more than 840 chief executives. Egon Zehnder is private and does not publish revenue. Its emphasis on succession and board work suits companies planning leadership transitions; it is not designed for mid-level recruitment.

Odgers is an executive search firm that says it has helped organisations find executive talent "for nearly 60 years" and has offices across 33 countries in the Americas, Asia-Pacific, Europe and the Middle East and Africa. In addition to executive search it offers interim management.

Odgers is privately owned and does not publish revenue or consultant numbers on its about page. Its interim management business allows clients to fill a senior vacancy temporarily while a permanent search runs, a combination also offered by Boyden and Heidrick & Struggles. Clients should confirm the depth of the relevant practice in each country.

Spencer Stuart is a leadership consulting and executive search firm with, in its words, "70 years' experience in leadership consulting" and consultants in more than 60 offices in over 30 countries. Its capabilities include executive search, board and CEO advisory, CEO succession planning, executive assessment, leadership consulting, HR and talent advisory, AI leadership, restructuring and family-business advisory.

The firm does not publish revenue. Its listed capabilities give prominence to board and CEO advisory and CEO succession planning. For organisations recruiting directors or a chief executive, Spencer Stuart is one of the firms most commonly shortlisted; for mid-level professional hiring, a contingent recruiting agency is typically more cost-effective.

Russell Reynolds Associates is a leadership advisory and executive search firm with more than 500 leadership advisors across 25 countries and 47 offices, citing more than 50 years of experience; its New York office is at 277 Park Avenue. Its services cover board, CEO and executive search; board, CEO and C-suite succession; assessment and benchmarking, executive development and team performance; executive mentoring; transformation advisory in areas such as AI and technology, culture and sustainability; and board composition and effectiveness.

The firm is privately held and does not publish revenue. Its combination of search with succession and performance advisory suits organisations that want a single adviser for leadership changes at the top, while the retained-search model and fees put it beyond the needs of most mid-level hiring.

Heidrick & Struggles is an executive search and leadership advisory firm headquartered at Willis Tower, 233 South Wacker Drive, Chicago. On 10 December 2025 it completed a take-private transaction valued at about US$1.3 billion, led by Advent International and Corvex Private Equity with strategic investors including Salem Capital Management, Mousse Partners, TF Cornerstone, HighSage Ventures and Barcliff Partners; chief executive Tom Monahan joined the new board, and Advent operating partner Carmine Di Sibio, a former global chair and CEO of EY, was to become chairman.

The firm describes itself as "a premier provider of global leadership advisory and on-demand talent solutions". Its executive search practices include AI and technology officers, CEO and board, financial officers, HR officers and supply-chain officers, and it also offers leadership services (board effectiveness, CEO succession, assessment and coaching), corporate transformation (carve-outs, cost and restructuring), organisation and culture work, and on-demand interim executives and project leaders. As a private company since December 2025 it no longer publishes quarterly results, so no current scale figure was available for this ranking.