Adecco sees positive hiring momentum at start of 2026 (updated)

Adecco AG

25/02/2026 05:58

Company sees big rise in U.S. revenues

CEO: companies are getting on with hiring despite uncertainty

Adecco overtakes Randstad as world's biggest staffing provider

recasts, adding CEO comment

By John Revill

ZURICH, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Adecco Group ADEN.S on Wednesday said it was seeing "positive momentum" in hiring volumes at the start of the year after the staffing company recorded a sharp upturn in the United States at the end of 2025.

The Swiss company said revenues for its North American general staffing business rose by 23% in the three months to the end of December, driven by hiring from consumer goods, food and beverage and automotive companies.

Results from Adecco and other staffing companies are closely watched for signals on the broader economy, as firms typically take on staff when they feel more confident.

Employer sentiment was "not bad", CEO Denis Machuel said, with companies pushing ahead with hiring despite ongoing trade uncertainties. "It’s not a question of having clear visibility in terms of geopolitics, tariffs, all these things," he told reporters. "What I hear from my peers is that now they get on with it."

Adecco was also seeing some reshoring of operations back to the United States, while other countries were also bringing their supply chains back from abroad.

"Lots of companies have announced hugest investments in the U.S. - it's going to take some time to really unfold," Machuel said.

Machuel spoke as Adecco reported fourth-quarter sales rising 1% to 5.96 billion euros ($7.03 billion). When adjusted for currency movements and trading days, this represented a 3.9% increase.

Operating income rose 28% to 186 million euros, slightly better than the 185 million euros forecast by analysts, while net profit rose 21% to 88 million euros, missing forecasts for 96 million euros.

Annual sales of 23.08 billion euros meant Adecco edged ahead of Dutch rival Randstad RAND.AS as the world's biggest staffing company by revenue. Adecco's shares rose 1.8% in Zurich.

Adecco said it had seen "continued positive momentum" in hiring volumes at the start of this year.

"The first weeks of 2026 have trended pretty much the same as the end of 2025," Machuel said. "So I'm pretty positive on the growth momentum we can deliver in Q1," he added.

($1 = 0.8477 euros)

 (Reporting by John Revill, Editing by Linda Pasquini and Louise Heavens)

 ((John.Revill@thomsonreuters.com; +41 41 528 36 37; Reuters Messaging: john.revill.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))