After enduring what is widely considered the worst downturn in its more than 50-year history, the U.S. executive-recruiting industry is starting to look up.

For many companies, a turnaround in the industry that started last year is gaining momentum. Half of the largest 25 executive search firms, by revenue, saw sales growth last year, according to industry consultants Hunt-Scanlon Advisers in Stamford, Conn. Four companies enjoyed double-digit increases, including Slayton International Inc., whose revenue jumped 75.1%, and Morgan Samuels Co., where revenue grew 31%.

At some companies, the recent increase in business amounts to a sea change. Between 2000 and 2002, the widespread slowdown in hiring ravaged an industry that had been riding high in the "war for talent" late-1990s, and hundreds of small recruiting companies went out of business. Numerous bigger firms hunkered down by shutting offices and cutting staffs. Thousands of individual recruiters were forced out of jobs.

"There's been a tremendous shakeout in the search industry," says David Hoffmann, chief executive officer of Chicago-based DHR International Inc., the fifth-largest search firm by revenue. The firm's revenue rose 13.6% in 2003. In Mr. Hoffmann's view, hiring has picked up even more dramatically this year, and he boasts that his company's revenue in the first quarter was up 50% over the same period last year. The company is in the process of opening its eighth new office this year. "I think we're in a very significant up cycle in hiring," he says.

Most firms are optimistic that they will continue to see a modest boost in business this year. According to Hunt-Scanlon, 78% of big executive search firms expect to see revenue growth this year of 6% to 8%. Yet many wonder whether these levels will be sustainable. "The big question is whether this recovery is going to last beyond 2004," says Brian Lee, chief market strategist for Hunt-Scanlon. "A lot of this is pent-up hiring that hasn't taken place over the last two years. Companies are so thinly staffed that finally they're doing some strategic hiring."

Recruiting firms are hiring as well. Many companies that outsourced research and candidate-development work during the downturn are now finding it more cost-effective to have that work done in-house as search volumes increase. A survey of recruiters in April by Norwalk, Conn.-based ExecuNet, which provides career and other resources to executives and recruiters, found that 43% of search firms planned to hire in the next three months. During the prior three months, 23% of firms had increased their staffs.

Here is a look at some sectors that are enjoying increases in hiring and helping bolster the recruiting industry.

Board and CEO searches. Corporate scandals and resulting governance changes, including those required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, have increased demand for new executives at the highest levels. Some search firms weathered the downturn better by focusing on CEO and board searches. Others, including Los Angeles-based Korn/Ferry International, have recently turned more attention to these searches as the demand has continued to grow. "That's part of the firm's strategy -- to increase the number of board and CEO searches," says Joseph Griesedieck, Korn/Ferry vice chairman. "I have seen a lot of uptick in those areas."