Year on year growth of hours worked by agency workers was +18.1% in April

Brussels 5 July 2011: The agency work industry in Europe grew by +18.1% in April 2011 compared with the same period in 2010. This is the thirteenth month in a row of growth for the sector, which is widely recognised as pre-empting shifts in the employment market at large.

Denis Pennel, Eurociett Managing Director stated “There continues to be a strong inverse correlation between year on year change in the number of unemployed people in the EU 27 and evolution of hours worked in the agency work industry. EU 27 unemployment levels in Europe fell by -3.2% in April, while at the same time that agency work posted a +18.1% rise in hours worked.”

The most recent data from Eurociett suggests that while the recovery is continuing, it is doing so at a slower pace than in previous months. This is in part because agency work is getting closer to pre crisis levels in Europe. Agency work increased by +43.2% in Switzerland compared with April 2010, while the number of hours worked by agency workers in Italy rose by +27.1% during the same period.

The year on year evolution of sales revenues in France saw an increase of +16.5% in April 2011. Turnover also rose in Belgium (+19.3%), and the Netherlands (+8%). The evolution of turnover shows continuous but slowing growth for the industry, mirroring the evolution in hours worked by agency workers.

In Q1 of 2011 Europe measured a year on year rise in hours worked by agency workers of 23.7%. In the same period the year on year growth rate of EU 27 GDP growth was 2.5%. These figures show a continuing trend of strong positive correlation between the year on year growth rate of EU 27 GDP and evolution of the number of hours worked by agency workers.

About the European Agency Work Business Indicator

Published by Eurociett, the European Agency Work Business Indicator plots the evolution of turnover (defined as the revenues generated by private employment agencies in the temporary staffing segment) and hours worked in the agency work (defined as the sum of all hours invoiced by all private employment agencies to all user companies except where otherwise stated) industry in 10 European countries.

Data supplied by the national federations of agency work is also plotted against the evolution of GDP and unemployment volumes in the European Union. In 2009, Europe accounted for 40% of the global agency work market by revenue, with 229,000 permanent staff working in 48,000 branches, and placing 3 million agency workers in full-time equivalent on a daily basis.

About Eurociett

As the European Confederation of Private Employment Agencies, Eurociett is the authoritative voice representing the common interests of the agency work industry in Europe. Eurociett gathers 30 national federations from EU and EFTA countries, and 7 of the largest international staffing companies as corporate members. Its main objective is to seek greater recognition for the positive role private employment agencies play in the labour market.

For further information, please contact:

James Gribben

Communications and Economic Affairs advisor

Eurociett

Tel: +32 2 421 15 87

E-Mail: james.gribben@ciett.org