Crain Communications Buys Staffing Industry Analysts

In a move designed to improve coverage of the contingent labor industry, Crain Communications said Monday, November 3, that it has acquired media company Staffing Industry Analysts.

Detroit-based Crain Communications is the parent company of Workforce Management, which reports on the staffing industry as part of its broader coverage of business strategy and people management matters.

Los Altos, California-based Staffing Industry Analysts provides research and analysis on the contingent workforce market.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“For almost 20 years, Staffing Industry Analysts has been serving staffing companies and more recently large corporations who buy contingent labor with research, data and events,” Rance Crain, president of Crain Communications, said in a statement. “Their leading role in the marketplace as the acknowledged expert and voice of independence makes Staffing Industry Analysts an exciting addition to the Crain human resources group.”

Under the Crain umbrella, Staffing Industry Analysts will continue to produce its online content of research, data and analysis for staffing companies and those who buy contingent labor.

Staffing Industry Analysts will become a wholly owned property of Crain Communications and will maintain its presence in Los Altos. It will retain its employees and management with the exception of current chairman Peter Yessne. Ron Mester, who has served as Staffing Industry Analysts’ chief executive for nearly seven years, will continue to lead the organization.

“I can’t imagine becoming part of a better organization than Crain Communications, a company that has been responsible for information and data in so many industries for such a long time,” Mester said in a statement. “We have watched the growth and change in the use of contingent labor over the last many years and we believe the usage of contingent labor will continue to grow in the future.”

Staffing Industry Analysts’ titles include Staffing Industry Review and Contingent Workforce Strategies magazines in print and online. In addition to temporary staffing, Staffing Industry Analysts covers the related sectors of third-party placement, outplacement and staff leasing. It also hosts executive conferences.

Crain publishes more than 30 business-to-business newspapers and magazines including Automotive News, Advertising Age, Business Insurance, Pensions & Investments and regional city business publications in Chicago, New York, Cleveland, Detroit and Manchester, England. Crain has more than 1,000 employees in 17 offices worldwide.