NIGP 96130: Employment Agency and Search Firm Services (Including Background Investigations and Drug Testing for Employment)

NIGP 96130 Employment Agency and Search Firm Services (Including Background Investigations and Drug Testing for Employment), an Item code, encompasses pre-employment background screening, occupational medical evaluations, drug and alcohol testing, executive recruitment, and temporary staffing placement services that state and local governments procure to support hiring, compliance, and workforce management across departments and agencies. Recent state and local solicitations show steady demand across municipal police departments, transit authorities, county health and human services divisions, school districts, and state agencies for background check platforms, medical screening programs, recruitment firms for executive and specialized positions, and occupational health providers.

Recent opportunities span a geographically distributed base. Texas leads activity with multiple procurements—the Texas Department of Agriculture soliciting background check services (due August 14, 2026), TxDOT seeking pre-employment criminal background checks (due September 18, 2026), and the City of Austin requesting executive recruitment services (due September 24, 2026) and temporary staffing for contact centers (due September 1, 2026). Florida shows strong procurement volume: Gwinnett County, Georgia (outside Florida but representing regional consistency) seeking medical examinations and drug screening (due November 9, 2026); the City of Nashua, New Hampshire soliciting occupational health evaluations and cancer screenings for firefighters (due November 13, 2026); California issuing background investigation services bids (due August 25, 2026); and Oregon pursuing executive recruitment for ODOT Director (due September 8, 2026). The Florida Division of Emergency Management is establishing logistics and staffing contracts statewide (proposals due October 14, 2026). Other active jurisdictions include Maryland seeking janitorial staffing (due August 26, 2026), the County of Orange, California seeking employment services for CalWORKs participants at $18 million over three years (due October 13, 2026), and Marion County, Oregon requesting pre-employment background investigation services (due September 3, 2026). Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center at El Paso is soliciting recruitment search firms and locum tenens staffing (due December 2, 2026). Issuing bodies include state health and human services departments, state transportation agencies, county sheriffs' offices, city police departments, municipal utilities, school districts, higher education institutions, and emergency management divisions. Representative opportunities include Gwinnett County's RFP for medical examinations and drug screening covering approximately 6,000 employees with FTA compliance requirements; Texas Tech's RFP for recruitment search firms and locum tenens services covering executive, faculty, and healthcare provider placement with a contract base of March 1 through August 31, 2027 and five optional renewal periods; the County of Orange, California's RFP for employment services to CalWORKs welfare-to-work participants with an estimated value of $18 million over three years and performance requirements including 80 percent enrollment within 10 business days and 70 percent placement rates; and Texas Department of Agriculture's solicitation for background check services due August 14, 2026 with a 26 percent veteran-owned small business subcontracting goal and SOC 2 compliance requirement.