The temporary staffing industry has experienced significant growth in recent decades across many countries and sectors. The particular characteristics of the temporary staffing industry are influenced by the national institutional context in which they are embedded. This article presents empirical findings to investigate the concept of a national temporary staffing industry using two case studies, the UK and Germany. Through analysis of two national markets for temporary staffing, the article discusses the importance of investigating the wider institutional environment in which an industry is embedded, the interactions and interdependencies between the actors involved, and the relationships and activities through which an industry is co-created and constituted. Theoretically, this article seeks to stress the importance of considering how institutional systems change, rather than focusing on characteristics used to categorise socio-economic systems. Empirically, this article reveals the features and developments of two national temporary staffing industries within Europe. This advances of our understanding of changes in the temporary staffing industry in two European settings, and also highlights the importance of considering geographically specific national varieties of economic systems as dynamic institutional ecologies.