Demand is up. That's not the same as your revenue being up.
2026 is shaping up to be the best year for PEO placement in a decade. The reason it might not show up in your numbers has nothing to do with demand.
Small-group renewals came in hot this year. Double digits in most states.
Every renewal letter becomes a Google search within 48 hours.
The owner opens the envelope, sees the number, and starts looking for a way out that afternoon. He finds you, or he finds a national with a content team. Nothing in between.
enhanced ACA subsidy expired DEC 2025
The individual market just stopped being an alternative.
When individual coverage was subsidized, a small employer could tell staff to go buy their own. That exit is closing. Those owners are being pushed back toward group coverage and group arrangements at exactly the moment group renewals spiked. This is why this year is different.
Your book pays you per head.
A client that trims staff cuts your check without ever leaving you.
Headcount at existing clients is the part of your income you don't control and don't see coming. New placements are the only hedge, and placements come from being findable the week the pain hits.
Record business formation. Millions of new filings.
The newly self-employed are pricing coverage tonight.
Laid-off professionals are forming S-corps by the thousands and hitting sticker shock on individual coverage. They're searching for exactly what you sell. Most will never know you exist.