- Snelling, a leading U.S. staffing firm within the HireQuest network of staffing and recruiting brands, is marking 75 years of connecting Americans with meaningful work – placing it among the longest-running staffing firms and in the rare one percent of U.S. businesses to reach this milestone.

As employers navigate a rapidly evolving labor market shaped by technology, talent shortages and shifting worker expectations, new nationwide data from Snelling points to a clear trend: work ethic, human judgment and soft skills increasingly define hiring success.

To mark the anniversary, Snelling surveyed its offices across more than 100 local markets, capturing real-time insight from recruiters working directly with employers and jobseekers. The findings highlight how hiring priorities are shifting in 2026 and what decades of workforce cycles reveal about what truly endures.

Key Workforce Trends From 75 Years on the Front Lines

Soft skills now outweigh technical credentials.
Across markets, Snelling offices report that adaptability, reliability, work ethic and emotional intelligence are stronger predictors of long-term performance than technical qualifications alone.

Employers are hiring for potential, not perfect resumes.
Many offices estimate that 50–75% of recent successful placements were based primarily on attitude, coachability and growth trajectory rather than an exact skills match.

Strategic hiring during downturns creates lasting advantage.
Recruiters cited repeated examples – from COVID-era hiring through regional slowdowns – where companies that continued hiring emerged faster and stronger, gaining market share and leadership depth.

Human relationships still outperform digital-only recruiting.
Most offices report that recruiter-led, relationship-driven placements perform slightly to significantly better than algorithm-only candidate sourcing, underscoring the continued value of cultural fit and real-world judgment.

After 75 years, the competitive edge remains human insight.
Despite rapid advances in recruiting technology, Snelling offices overwhelmingly point to trusted relationships, local expertise and advocacy as the firm's most durable differentiators.

"Every generation believes today's labor market is unprecedented, yet over seven decades we've seen the same cycles of disruption and renewal," said Rick Hermanns, CEO of HireQuest, which acquired Snelling in 2021. "What consistently drives success isn't just technology, it's trusted relationships, local insight and a deep understanding of what fulfills people at work."

Built on Local Expertise, Scaled Nationally

Founded in 1951 in Philadelphia to help veterans reenter the workforce, Snelling has grown from a single office into a network of 100+ locally owned franchise locations that have placed millions of Americans across professional services, light industrial, hospitality and healthcare sectors.

From its earliest days, Snelling set itself apart through specialization, building deep expertise across distinct roles and industries rather than taking a one-size-fits-all approach. Its franchise model empowers local owners to cultivate extensive market knowledge, robust talent pipelines and long-standing employer relationships tailored to the unique needs of communities ranging from rural Texas to Detroit to Atlantic City and Columbia, South Carolina. Many owners have operated for decades, with several offices passed down through families, creating generational entrepreneurial legacies.

Today, that local insight is strengthened by the national scale of the HireQuest Global Talent Network's 400+ locations worldwide, combining community-rooted expertise with global reach.

"As Snelling looks to the future, our mission remains unchanged: create opportunity, strengthen businesses and serve the communities that depend on us," Hermanns said. "The tools may evolve, but the human impact of meaningful work does not."