What U.S. direct-hire recruiting firms publish about fees and guarantees. Q4 2026 edition, as of Nov 1–4, 2026.
3.8% of the 2,228 firms listed publish a fee on their own website (84 firms).
15% of the 2,228 firms listed publish a placement guarantee on their own website (335 firms).
Of the 214 firms that publish an unconditional guarantee length, 73.4% 3 months or less, 5.1% 3 to 6 months, 21.5% 6 months or more; the median is 3 months.
80.3% of the 335 firms that publish a guarantee also state its remedy, what they do if a hire leaves within the guarantee (269 firms).
32.2% of the 2,228 firms listed state how they charge (717 firms); of those: Both 40.9%, Contingency 37.5%, Hourly 2.8%, Retained 18.8%.
7.4% of the 5,123 firms in the source list could not be read (377 firms that block automated visitors, did not respond or whose site is dead), 10.9% of the 3,456 firms with a website found.