The global outplacement market was $5.19 billion to $5.78 billion in 2025, depending on the research firm. Published 2026 list prices from the providers in the FirstSourceTeam Outplacement Price Index run from $600 to $22,800 per person; below the executive level the top is $10,000 (LHH, nine months). No independent engagement or placement benchmark exists, and US employers announced 617,189 job cuts from January to October 2026.
FirstSourceTeam compiles these figures for HR and finance teams sizing a program. Every number links to the publisher that reported it. Where a provider reports its own results, the table says so, because those figures use definitions that don't match.
Outplacement market size
Three research firms put the global market at $5.19 billion to $5.78 billion in 2025, growing 3.75% to 7.71% a year. Mordor Intelligence says North America is the largest region, with 41.40% of 2025 revenue.
| Publisher | Global market | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Mordor Intelligence (Sep 2026) | $5.21 billion (2025), $5.58 billion (2026), $7.89 billion (2031) | North America 41.40% of 2025 revenue; virtual and online programs 61.30% |
| 360iResearch (Mar 2026) | $5.78 billion (2025), $6.22 billion (2026), $9.73 billion (2032) | 7.71% a year |
| Market Research Future (Mar 2026) | $5.0 billion (2024), $5.19 billion (2025), $7.5 billion (2035) | North America $2.5 billion in 2024; 3.75% a year |
Sources: Mordor Intelligence, 360iResearch, Market Research Future.
Outplacement prices per person
Published 2026 list prices from the providers in the FirstSourceTeam Outplacement Price Index run from $600 to $22,800 per person; below the executive level the top is $10,000 (LHH, nine months). FirstSourceTeam's packages are $349 to $2,249.
Prices by level, program length and provider, with links to each provider's own price page, are in outplacement cost in 2026. Large contracts are often quoted below list price.
Employers that offer outplacement
In LHH's 2026 survey, 85% of organizations offered career transition services to exempt employees and 79% to non-exempt employees, up from 61% and 58% in 2024. Every organization surveyed already offered severance and outplacement, so this is coverage within those firms, not the share of all employers.
The survey was run by Censuswide for LHH from September 9 to 22, 2026, among 600 HR and business leaders at US organizations with 500 or more employees (LHH release, October 28, 2026). We found no public figure for the share of all US employers that offer outplacement: SHRM's benefits survey publishes it to members only.
Outplacement engagement rates
No independent outplacement engagement benchmark exists. Published rates are vendor-reported and run from 80% to 98% under definitions that do not match, so compare definitions, not headline numbers. No published placement-rate benchmark is cited by FirstSourceTeam.
| Source | Figure | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| Careerminds (2026) | 80% or higher | Vendor-reported. Counts active participants against all eligible employees offered the program; a single login may not count. |
| Randstad RiseSmart (2019) | 98% engagement ratio | Vendor-reported, listed among Randstad RiseSmart's 2019 quality metrics, without a published definition. |
| INTOO | 85% | Vendor-reported case study for one client (a UK housing association): affected employees who actively participated in coaching sessions and workshops. |
| Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp) (2009) | Nearly half of eligible employees used their outplacement benefits (as estimated by over 40% of respondents) | Independent but old: i4cp Outplacement Pulse Survey, June 2009, 355 respondents. Use fell at lower job levels. Predates virtual coaching. |
How to compare the definitions, and what to ask a provider, is in outplacement engagement rates.
Satisfaction claims and participant ratings
Providers report satisfaction of 97% to 99% from their own surveys. On independent review sites, large providers rate from 2.1 to 4.4 out of 5. FirstSourceTeam is rated 4.9 on Google.
| Provider | Self-reported | Where |
|---|---|---|
| INTOO | 97% satisfaction rating from participants | intoo.com |
| Randstad RiseSmart | 98% global participant satisfaction rate | randstadenterprise.com |
| LHH | 97% of clients would "Strongly Recommend" LHH Active Placement | shop.lhh.com |
| Careerminds | 95% placement rate; 99% participant satisfaction | careerminds.com (no method or period given) |
| Provider | Independent rating | Note |
|---|---|---|
| FirstSourceTeam | 4.9 on Google | Google reviews |
| LHH | 4.4 on Trustpilot, 340 reviews | Checked October 30, 2026 |
| Randstad RiseSmart | 2.8 on Trustpilot, 6 reviews | Checked October 30, 2026 |
| Korn Ferry | 2.7 on Trustpilot, 6 reviews | Checked October 30, 2026 |
| Right Management | 2.1 on Yelp, 29 reviews | Checked October 30, 2026 |
Review counts on some of these profiles are small, so read them as a signal, not a score. The full comparison is in The Credibility Delta. No provider publishes a placement rate measured by an independent party.
Layoffs in 2025 and 2026
US employers announced 617,189 job cuts from January to October 2026, down 44% from the same months of 2025. In all of 2025 they announced 1,206,374, up 58% from 2024 (Challenger, Gray & Christmas).
October 2026's 43,994 announced cuts were the lowest for the month since 2023 (Challenger, November 5, 2026). The government's own count, from the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, put layoffs and discharges at 1.6 million in September 2026, a rate of 1.0% (BLS). Whether a layoff needs 60 days' notice is in the WARN Act guide.
Reemployment after a layoff
Of workers with three or more years in a job who lost it in 2023 to 2025, 66.1% were working again by January 2026: 72.9% at ages 25 to 54, 57.3% at 55 to 64 and 38.6% at 65 and over. About 49% of those back in full-time jobs earned as much as before, down from about 62% two years earlier (BLS).
In September 2026 the median spell of unemployment was 11.5 weeks and the average 24.8 weeks; 27.1% of unemployed people had been looking for 27 weeks or more. The same figures, written for the people being laid off, are in layoff and job search statistics 2026.
