Best Outplacement Services

How we ranked these, and how we make money

First, the disclosure, because this page names companies and it should. Empire Resume is an independent editorial resource. We are not an outplacement firm and we do not sell outplacement. Some links to providers on this page are referral links, which means we may earn a fee if you contact or sign up with a provider. That never changes the order of this list or what we say about anyone. Career Agents ranks first here, and it earns the spot on the same published-evidence bar we hold everyone else to: its verified Trustpilot score, its flat published pricing, and its qualifying-offer guarantee. We also label it clearly as done-for-you reverse recruiting rather than employer-paid outplacement, so you can weigh the fit yourself. Every ranking is our editorial opinion, formed from each provider’s published information and verified September 2026, and every outbound provider link is marked sponsored and nofollow.

We compared 11 providers on five things: the coaching model and coach quality, program length and structure, pricing transparency, scale and fit for different buyers, and how honest the “what’s included” really is. Pricing transparency matters a lot in a category where most firms hide their prices, so a provider that publishes real numbers earns credit for it. We also weight fit to the person actually reading this: most visitors here were laid off and are deciding what to buy for themselves, so a service that will run the search for an individual, with a guarantee and verified reviews, can rank above an enterprise program only an employer can purchase. We do desk research on published information rather than paid audits, so we say “11 providers compared,” not “tested.”

Outplacement services for individuals (when your employer offered nothing)

Here is the trap most people hit. Traditional outplacement is a benefit the employer buys, so if you were laid off with nothing, you cannot just “sign up for LHH.” The enterprise programs on this list are sold to companies, not to you. When you are paying out of your own pocket, the question changes from “which provider is best” to “what is the cheapest thing that actually moves my search.”

Four self-pay routes are worth weighing, cheapest first:

• A light outplacement package you can buy directly. VelvetJobs starts around $500 per person and INTOO publishes SMB tiers from $600, both verified September 2026. You get a platform and some coaching, not a dedicated senior coach, but it is real help at a real, published price.
• A single career coach. A few sessions with a good coach can be more useful than a thin platform login, and you only pay for what you use.
• A resume writer. If the resume is the bottleneck, fixing it is the highest-leverage dollar you can spend, and far cheaper than a full program.
• Reverse recruiting. A done-for-you service runs the search itself, applications, outreach, interview prep, for a flat fee in the thousands. It is the priciest option and a different product from outplacement, so treat it as a considered purchase, not a default.

For the self-payer, this is where the value calculus lives. Before you commit to a four-figure reverse-recruiting fee, run your own numbers through the reverse recruiting cost calculator, which shows your total cost and the money you actually lose if no offer ever lands. Career Agents is the reverse recruiter on this list, and it is our top-ranked pick for a self-paying individual who wants the search run for them, on the strength of its verified reviews and its qualifying-offer guarantee. That said, it is a considered four-figure purchase, and VelvetJobs at roughly $500 owns the budget tier outright, so start there if cost is the deciding factor.

Outplacement services for laid off employees: what you actually get

If your severance mentions outplacement, know what you are being handed before you judge it. The word covers everything from a self-serve platform login with a couple of coaching calls to a twelve-month executive program with a dedicated senior coach, and those are wildly different products at wildly different prices.

Employer-paid outplacement typically includes career coaching, a resume and LinkedIn rewrite, interview preparation, and a job-search platform with listings and tools. The depth scales with what the employer paid. A rank-and-file layoff usually gets the entry tier: RiseSmart’s Essentials, for example, is four coaching calls over three months plus the platform. An executive usually gets far more.

So when you negotiate a severance, ask HR three specific questions: which provider, which tier, and how many months. “We offer outplacement” is not an answer you can price. If the tier is thin and you would rather have the cash, that is a fair thing to raise, since outplacement is a line item the employer is paying for either way. And remember the honest limit: outplacement is coaching and tools, not a placement service. It improves your odds and your speed; it does not get you hired.

Outplacement services near me: why most programs are virtual now

Searching “outplacement services near me” made sense a decade ago, when programs ran out of a local office you drove to. Today almost every major provider delivers virtually, so the nearest office matters far less than it used to. INTOO, Careerminds, and RiseSmart are virtual-first by design, and even the global firms run most coaching over video and phone.

That is mostly good for you. Virtual delivery means access to a coach who fits your industry rather than whoever staffs the branch down the road, plus on-demand tools and, in INTOO’s case, coaching seven days a week. The tradeoff is that a purely local, sit-across-the-desk relationship is now rare outside of high-touch or executive programs like Challenger’s. If in-person coaching genuinely matters to you, ask providers directly whether it is available, because most will assume virtual. For nearly everyone else, “near me” is the wrong filter: judge on coaching model, program length, and price instead.

The honest truth about outplacement pricing

Here is the thing almost no vendor page will tell you: most enterprise outplacement pricing is not published. LHH, Right Management, Korn Ferry, Challenger, and CMP all quote privately for corporate engagements. The firms that publish real numbers stand out precisely because so few do, and there are more of them than there used to be.

RiseSmart retired its $499 Spark entry tier in 2026. Its published pricing now starts at $899. That single change is a freshness signal no competitor’s comparison has caught up to yet, and it is worth stating plainly.

What is genuinely published, verified September 2026:

Source: each provider’s own site, verified September 2026. Ranges are what the provider publishes; enterprise pricing is usually quote-based.

For the full breakdown of what drives the price and the per-tier ranges, see our guide to what outplacement services actually cost. If you are new to the whole concept, start with what outplacement is. We keep the deep cost math on the cost guide so this page can stay a summary.

How to choose

• Large layoff (hundreds or thousands)? LHH, Right Management, or Korn Ferry, for scale and multi-country logistics.
• Small or mid-size employer that wants a clear price? Randstad RiseSmart, INTOO, or Employment BOOST, because you can actually see the number before you call.
• You want high-touch, senior coaching? Challenger or CMP, or a premium LHH program.
• You were laid off with no outplacement benefit at all? You are buying for yourself now, so weigh a light package like VelvetJobs or INTOO, a career coach, a resume writer, or a reverse recruiter. For senior leaders, the criteria shift, and we rank that tier separately in best executive outplacement firms.

Full provider reviews

We publish standalone, published-information-only reviews of the providers readers ask about most:

• LHH outplacement review: the global leader, its tiers, and what it will and will not tell you about price.
• Right Management outplacement review: ManpowerGroup’s global program and its PowerSuite Next platform.
• INTOO outplacement review: unlimited coaching and the rare published SMB pricing.
• Randstad RiseSmart pricing: the new $899-to-$6,499 tiers, and what replaced the retired $499 Spark plan.

FAQ

How much do outplacement services cost?

Published entry prices run from about $500 per person (VelvetJobs) and $600 (INTOO) up through mid-tier programs of $1,300 to $3,999 (INTOO, Employment BOOST), with Randstad RiseSmart’s published tiers spanning $899 to $6,499. Most large enterprise providers do not publish pricing and quote per engagement. We break the tiers down in our outplacement cost guide.

Who pays for outplacement?

The employer, almost always. Outplacement is a benefit a company buys and offers to departing employees, usually as part of a severance package. If you were laid off without it, you would be paying out of pocket for an equivalent service, which changes the math and the options, as we cover above.

Which outplacement service is best?

For large-scale layoffs, LHH leads on scale and coaching capacity, with Right Management and Korn Ferry close behind. For transparent, published pricing, Randstad RiseSmart, INTOO, and VelvetJobs stand out. The “best” one depends on the size of the layoff and whether you value scale, price transparency, or high-touch coaching.

Do outplacement companies publish their prices?

More than they used to, but most enterprise pricing is still private. As of September 2026, VelvetJobs, INTOO, Employment BOOST, and Randstad RiseSmart publish real prices, Careerminds publishes a range, and LHH, Right Management, Korn Ferry, Challenger, and CMP quote privately for corporate engagements. We mark each as published or not published rather than inventing a number.

What replaced RiseSmart’s $499 Spark plan?

RiseSmart retired the Spark, Boost, Ignite, and Empower tiers, including the $499 Spark entry plan. Its published US pricing now runs Essentials $899 (3 months), Professional $1,899 (3 months) or $2,599 (6 months), and Premier $6,499 (12 months), verified September 2026 on the randstadenterprise.com pricing page.

Can an individual buy outplacement for themselves?

Yes, though your options narrow. The enterprise programs are sold to employers, but a few providers sell directly to individuals: VelvetJobs from around $500, INTOO’s SMB tiers from $600, and LHH’s self-serve shop from $2,400. Many people are better served by a single career coach, a resume writer, or, if they want the search run for them, a reverse recruiter. Weigh the cost against the value using our reverse recruiting cost calculator before you commit.

The bottom line

Outplacement is a crowded category where the biggest names hide their prices and the honest signal is often who is willing to publish one. The right pick depends on who is paying. If an employer is buying for a layoff, LHH leads on scale while Randstad RiseSmart and INTOO lead on transparency. If you are buying for yourself after a layoff with no benefit, our top-ranked pick is a done-for-you reverse recruiter, Career Agents, weighed honestly against a cheaper coach or resume writer. Whoever you choose, know what the program actually includes, which tier and how many months, before you sign. And if you are the one who was laid off, our team will review your resume for free as you start the search.