Collabera
Mid-size US IT staffing firm placing tech contractors and consultants for enterprise clients.
On the record
Checkpoint: Staffing Industry Analysts' 2026 US IT staffing rankings, which will confirm whether Collabera holds or loses its #11 spot
The call
Collabera is a shrinking mid-tier staffing firm losing ground to bigger rivals, while its own AI bet was spun off into sibling company Ascendion rather than built in-house.
Collabera finds IT workers for companies that need them. The problem is that bigger rivals like TEKsystems and ASGN have more money and can do the same thing, while AI tools are starting to automate the work Collabera does, like matching resumes to jobs and screening candidates. The company's parent company even moved its AI work into a separate business called Ascendion instead of building it into Collabera itself, which suggests insiders think the core staffing business cannot compete. What matters next is whether Collabera stops shrinking and whether it holds its ranking as the 11th largest IT staffing firm, since the company is losing lots of workers even though job postings are up.
Why
01
AI pressure: AI recruiting and matching tools such as Eightfold AI and HireVue. AI screening and matching tools now do sourcing and initial vetting, the exact tasks Collabera recruiters used to bill for. Could AI do the core job? Yes, likely.
02
Bigger players: TEKsystems, ASGN, Kforce, Insight Global, Robert Half. Collabera's headcount fell 33% in two years while the overall IT staffing market only shrank 4.4%, and the top five firms hold 29% of it. Could a giant copy it? Yes, easily.
03
What protects it. Long enterprise client relationships and a standing contractor bench, but no technology, data, or contract lock-in of its own.
What would change this call
SIA's gated 2026 IT-staffing ranking (due ~July 2026) shows Collabera holding, rising, or dropping below #11. Confirms whether Collabera is stabilizing or continuing to lose ground to larger rivals.
Revelio Labs Q1-Q2 2027 headcount data for Collabera LLC. Shows whether the 67% YoY job-posting jump converts to net headcount growth or is just churn.
Whether Collabera ships an owned AI-native placement platform versus relying on sibling Ascendion. Indicates whether Collabera can build a defensible tech moat or remains exposed to automation-driven disruption.
Revelio Labs Q1-Q2 2027 headcount data for Collabera LLC. Shows whether the 67% YoY job-posting jump converts to net headcount growth or is just churn.
Whether Collabera ships an owned AI-native placement platform versus relying on sibling Ascendion. Indicates whether Collabera can build a defensible tech moat or remains exposed to automation-driven disruption.
Key numbers
- Collabera US headcount down 33% since 2023, to 6,023
- US IT staffing market shrank 4.4% YoY in 2025
- ASGN, a larger rival, posted $1.39B revenue
Named risks
- No structural moat against AI-driven candidate sourcing and screening automation in core staffing workflows.
- 33.3% headcount contraction at Collabera LLC from 9,032 (2023) to 6,023 (Dec 2025).
- Overall US IT staffing market shrank 4.4% YoY in 2025 with only 1% growth forecast 2026-2027.
- Active litigation including Collabera LLC v. Innova Solutions and Morris v. Collabera (hearing March 24, 2026).
- AI-native transformation built in sibling Ascendion rather than within Collabera's core staffing brand.
Rivals, as read in July 2026
| Rival | Direction | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| TEKsystems (Allegis Group) | gaining on | Larger-scale incumbent, part of top-5 firms holding 29% of $27.4B market in 2025 |
| ASGN Inc. | gaining on | Reported $1.39B revenue in 2024, ranked No.4 US IT staffing firm vs Collabera's shrinking headcount |
| Kforce | gaining on | ~$1.28B revenue, ranked No.5 US IT staffing firm as of 2025-07 |
| Innova Solutions | contesting | Collabera LLC filed active lawsuit against Innova Solutions, confirmed active 2025-07-17 |
| Insight Global | gaining on | Larger incumbent; Collabera hired Insight Global's ex-exec as CEO in Jan 2023 to compete |
Questions people ask
- Is Collabera profitable in 2026?
- No independently verified profit or current revenue figure exists. Wikipedia cites $520-525M revenue in 2014-2015, but 2023-2024 estimates from unreliable aggregators swing wildly ($90M to $380M). SIA ranked it 11th-largest US IT staffing firm as of mid-2023, with 2025 rank gated behind a paywalled report.
- Is Collabera shrinking or growing?
- Shrinking. Revelio Labs data shows Collabera LLC headcount fell from 9,032 (2023) to 6,023 (December 2025), a 33.3% cumulative decline, while its India entity dropped 55.6% over the same period, even as job postings rose 67.2% year over year in 2025.
- Could AI replace Collabera's staffing business?
- Its core workflows, resume screening, sourcing, candidate matching, are directly automatable by AI tools. Notably, Collabera's own corporate family built its AI-native platform inside sibling company Ascendion (spun off August 2022, 8,000-10,000+ AI agents deployed as of January 2026), not within Collabera itself.
- Who owns Collabera?
- Collabera is privately held, founded 1991 as Global Consultants Inc. and purchased by Hiten Patel and Sham Patel in 1996 for roughly $2M revenue, renamed Collabera in 2008. Hiten Patel has served as Chairman since 2020, with CB Insights listing only $30M in disclosed lifetime VC funding as of January 2026.
- Who is Collabera's biggest competitor?
- Larger IT staffing incumbents with deeper pockets, including TEKsystems (Allegis), Insight Global, ASGN Inc. ($1.39B revenue in 2024), and Kforce (~$1.28B), all compete for the same accounts. Collabera also filed suit against rival Innova Solutions in Minnesota federal court, active as of July 2025.
- What rank is Collabera in the US IT staffing industry?
- Staffing Industry Analysts ranked Collabera LLC the 11th-largest US IT staffing firm as of mid-2023. The overall top-57 US IT staffing market shrank 4.4% year over year to $27.2-27.4B in 2025, with the top 5 firms holding 29% combined share.
Timeline
- 2026-03-24Final hearing scheduled in Morris v. Collabera, Inc. litigation
- 2026-01-29Collabera opens Tier-2 Global Capability Center hub in Vadodara, Gujarat, India
- 2025-07-17Collabera LLC v. Innova Solutions litigation confirmed active in Minnesota federal court
- 2025-02-10Ascendion requires Philippines engineers to obtain AI deployment certification
- 2023-06-25SIA reports Collabera ranked 11th-largest US IT staffing firm
- 2023-01-20Mike Fromhold, ex-Insight Global, named CEO of Collabera LLC
- 2022-08Ascendion formed as AI-driven software engineering spinoff
- 2020-07Karthik Krishnamurthy, ex-Cognizant, becomes Collabera CEO
- 2014Brillio formed as separate IT services spinoff arm
- 2008Global Consultants Inc. renamed Collabera
Revision history
24 July 2026
First assessed. Little protection left. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.
In the same band
Sources
- Collabera Number of Employees 2026 (2026-06-29)
- Collabera Technologies Pvt Ltd. Number of Employees 2026 (2026-06-29)
- Collabera (2026-06-14)
- Collabera taps former Insight Global exec as new CEO (2023-06-25)
- Largest US IT staffing firms generate $27.4B in revenue (2026-07-02)
- List of largest IT staffing firms has fewer companies (2025-07-09)
- Products, Competitors, Financials, Employees, Headquarters Locations (2026-01-29)
- Building an AI-powered company (2026-01-28)
- Ascendion accelerates AI driven software engineering growth in the Philippines (2025-02-10)
- Global Staffing & Talent Solutions (2026-04-29)
- Collabera, LLC Welcomes Mike Fromhold as New Chief Executive Officer (2023-01-20)
- Collabera names former Cognizant exec as new CEO (2023-11-24)