Eastern Europe shows strong potential for temporary workers, according to new research from Eurociett and Interconnection Consulting.

Focusing on Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia, the report shows that most significant opportunities lie in countries where the sector is best established and that have a sound regulatory framework in place - particularly Poland, Hungary, Slovenia and the Czech Republic.

In order to maximize potential benefits when the economy recovers from the current economic crisis, the report says, it is necessary to establish an appropriate regulatory framework for the industry to operate in, eg Bulgaria and Romania.

Poland has the largest number of private employment agencies (2,340) and the highest number of internal staff (4,073), while Bulgaria has the smallest market with total annual sales of €23m (£19.8m) compared with €92m in Romania, the second smallest, and €569m for Poland, which again had the highest number.
 
Last year, the average penetration rate in the region was roughly 0.6%, the highest was in the Czech Republic at 1.9%, while the lowest was in Bulgaria (0.2%), compared to the EU average of 2%. The highest number of agency workers in full-time equivalent was in Poland (84,931), followed by Hungary (33,860) and Romania (30,305).

Annemarie Muntz, president of Eurociett, says: “As part of its everyday activity, the sector keeps people in touch with the job market and helps laid off workers and ‘outsiders’ to re-enter the workforce. It supports workers by providing them with training to ensure that their skills are in line with market demand.

“The industry acts as a buffer for the labour market as a whole and provides companies with the kind of flexibility they will need to adapt to and recover from the current crisis. In Central and Eastern Europe, the agency work sector still has room for development, which will in turn lead to job creation and better functioning labour markets.”