Recruitment Agencies – 2010 Market Report

A Key Note Market Report examines the UK temporary and contract recruitment market. It profiles the major organisations that recruit on behalf of clients for temporary and/or contract positions, including recruitment consultancies, recruitment companies and employment agencies.

In any recession, the recruitment industry is one of the most exposed sectors of the economy, as it depends on a healthy level of employment. The current UK recession is no exception — the temporary and contract staffing sector has seen demand fall in 2008 and 2009, and sales volumes dropped by 12.5% in the year ending March 2009, compared with the same period in the previous year. The market continued to decline until at least September 2009; however, there are said to have been some signs of stabilisation in October.

According to the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC), the market for temporary and contract recruitment was worth £19.88bn in the year ending March 2009. All sectors of the industry have been affected by the drop in demand, with the exception of the nursing and medical sector. The hardest-hit categories are: construction; hotel and catering; education; and computing and IT.

Thousands of companies are involved in the recruitment industry, most of which are classed as small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). According to Recruitment International magazine, the top-ten UK companies by number of temporary/contract placements in 2009 were: Allied Healthcare; Adecco; Hays; Impellam Group; Pinnacle Staffing Group; Pertemps; Best Connection; Capita Group; Kelly Services; and Morson Group.

The industry is forming itself into increasingly larger groups and, in 2008, there were two major corporate changes: Randstad NV purchased Vedior NV; and Corporate Services Group and Carlisle Group merged to form Impellam Group PLC. These were very significant developments, but they have since been overshadowed by two acquisitions by Adecco — Spring Group PLC and MPS Incorporated — in 2009, further strengthening Adecco’s position as the leading recruitment company worldwide. More company acquisitions are likely in 2010.

The market will continue to experience difficulties in 2010 as unemployment is always a lagging factor in a recession, even after other aspects of the economy have recovered. If a recovery occurs by summer 2010, recruitment companies are unlikely to feel the full impact of it until 2011. Key Note forecasts a decline of 7% in the value of the UK temporary and contract recruitment market in the year ending March 2010, but growth of around 2.5% is expected for the following 12 months.

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