Every federal agency hires temporary workers. The VA needs clinical staff during census spikes, the Census Bureau scales up clerical headcount, DoD components fill cleared technical roles, and almost every agency backfills administrative and call-center work. That demand runs through contracts, and most of those contracts are open to small firms. A staffing company doing a few million in revenue is well inside the size limit that defines "small business" for this work, which means you can compete in a lane that excludes the national staffing giants.
The hard part is not capacity. You already know how to recruit, screen, and place people. The hard part is the procurement mechanics: the right code, the right registration, the set-asides you qualify for, and choosing whether to chase prime contracts directly or start as a subcontractor. Here is the real path.
Start with your NAICS code and size standardFederal buyers classify staffing work under NAICS 561320, Temporary Help Services. This is the default primary code for firms that supply temporary workers they employ. The size standard for 561320 is $34 million in average annual receipts (measured over a multi-year lookback). If your firm is under that, you count as a small business for set-aside purposes on this work.
That $34 million ceiling matters more than it looks. It is high relative to many other industries, so even a fairly established staffing firm stays "small" and keeps competing for set-aside contracts that larger competitors are locked out of.
Related codes you may also register, depending on what you place: - 561311 (Employment Placement Agencies) and 561312 (Executive Search Services) for direct-hire recruiting - 561110 (Office Administrative Services) if you manage staff on behalf of a client rather than supplying temps
Pick the code that matches what the solicitation is actually buying. Misclassifying yourself can cost you eligibility on a bid or trigger a size protest. If you are unsure which codes describe your services, the SupplierDiversity guides walk through NAICS selection and how codes map to certifications.
Which agencies buy staffing, and what they buyStaffing spend is spread across government because every agency has the same problem: workload that spikes faster than they can hire federal employees. Common buyers and use cases: - Department of Veterans Affairs — clinical and allied health staffing for medical centers - Census Bureau and other statistical agencies — large clerical and field surges - DoD and intelligence components — cleared technical, administrative, and linguist support - Civilian agencies broadly — call center, claims processing, IT help desk, and administrative temps
The work shows up as task orders, blanket purchase agreements, and labor-hour or fixed-unit contracts. Healthcare and IT staffing tend to carry the highest bill rates and the longest terms.
The set-asides that apply to youThe government's stated target is to award 23% of prime contract dollars to small businesses, with sub-goals layered on top: - 5% to women-owned small businesses (WOSB) - 5% to small disadvantaged businesses, which includes the 8(a) program - 3% to service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSB) - 3% to HUBZone firms
Those sub-goals are the reason certification pays off in staffing specifically. Contracting officers actively look for certified firms to hit numbers their agency reports on. A WOSB-certified staffing company can be awarded a WOSB set-aside that a non-certified competitor cannot even bid. The same logic applies to 8(a), SDVOSB, and HUBZone.
The practical move: get certified for every program you legitimately qualify for, then watch for solicitations restricted to that category. 8(a) and SDVOSB set-asides in particular often run outside the GSA Schedule and convert at a higher rate for less effort, because the competition pool is smaller by design. If you are not sure which programs fit your ownership and location, CertifyAll can run your business through federal eligibility and prepare the applications.
Where the opportunities liveSAM.gov is the system of record. You register your business there (no fee), get a Unique Entity ID, and search active solicitations by NAICS code and set-aside type. Set up saved searches on 561320 and your related codes so new opportunities reach you the day they post.
GSA's Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) has a dedicated Temporary Staffing offering under its professional services and human capital categories. Holding a Schedule contract lets agencies buy from you directly and request quotes through GSA eBuy, the platform where buyers post requirements to Schedule holders. A Schedule is worth pursuing once you have a track record, because it shortens the buy cycle for agencies that already want to work with you. It is not a prerequisite. Plenty of staffing firms win their first awards through SAM.gov set-asides before ever getting on a Schedule, so do not treat the Schedule as the gate.
The subcontract route is usually the fastest startIf you have never held a federal contract, a contracting officer has no past performance to point to, and that absence is the most common reason new firms lose competitive bids. Subcontracting solves it. Large prime contractors who win staffing-heavy contracts are required to meet small-business and diverse-supplier subcontracting goals, so they actively need firms like yours on their teams.
You bring recruiting capacity and, if you are certified, a credential the prime can report toward its own goals. The prime brings the contract vehicle and the relationship. You build past performance under their umbrella, then use it to win prime work later. This is the standard on-ramp.
Finding those primes is the bottleneck, so we built a tool for it. The subcontract finder surfaces prime contractors with active staffing-related awards and subcontracting obligations you can approach. Pair it with a sharp one-pager. A capability statement that lists your NAICS codes, certifications, geographic reach, and any placement metrics is what a prime's small-business liaison will ask for first.
Put it in orderA workable sequence for a small or diverse staffing firm: 1. Register on SAM.gov under NAICS 561320 (plus related codes) and confirm you are under the $34M size standard. 2. Get certified for every program you qualify for — WOSB, 8(a), SDVOSB, HUBZone. 3. Build a capability statement aimed at federal buyers and prime liaisons. 4. Subcontract to a prime to earn past performance. 5. Bid set-aside prime contracts on SAM.gov, and pursue a GSA Schedule once your track record supports it.
The first paid step that does not require waiting on a certification or a Schedule is the subcontract. Run your firm through the subcontract finder and pull a short list of primes with active staffing awards to contact this week.
