Global staffing industry has its best year since 2008, says Ciett

Last year was the best for the global staffing industry since the start of the recession in 2008, according to the annual Economic Report of Ciett, the international confederation of private employment services.
Tue, 25 Feb 2014Last year was the best for the global staffing industry since the start of the recession in 2008, according to the annual Economic Report of Ciett, the international confederation of private employment services.

According to the report, the US, Japan and Europe, together worth 82% of the worldwide market, all reported a return to growth in 2013.

In November 2013 the US Staffing Employment Index reached 102, its highest position in six years, with growth up by 6.9% year-on-year. The Japanese market has hit a record high since 2008, and now employs 1.1m agency workers, a rise of 26% compared to Q3 2012.

In Europe, the monthly Agency Work Business Indicator has entered positive growth (1.4% in November) for the first time since 2011.  

The report found that at any given moment, 1,128,500 people in the UK are working as agency workers, and that 3.8% of the UK workforce are agency workers, with the UK making up 10.5% of global annual sales revenue.

According to the report, in 2012 almost 36m individuals around the world worked as an agency worker, filling about 11.5m full-time positions in an industry worth €299.3bn (£246.78bn). On average, this accounts for about 0.9% of the total working population.

Fred Van Haasteren, Ciett president, says: “These positive results for 2013 are welcome news as the private employment services industry leads the way in economic recovery. This will ultimately benefit jobseekers, employers and economies worldwide.”

One important characteristic of agency workers as reported by the Ciett is that on average they are young: 61% are under 30.

The fact that only 32% were employed before undertaking agency work shows the importance of such work as a stepping stone from education to work and from unemployment to work. According to the report, 68% of agency workers gained a permanent, full-time contract after working in temporary positions and only 14% returned to unemployment after agency work.

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