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Netherlands – Staffing industry forecast predicts growth

17 April 2014

The Dutch staffing industry returned to growth at the end of 2013, following almost two years of decline, according to the Industry Barometer from financial services provider Rabobank, reports flexnieuws.nl.

Rabobank suggests the industry will continue to face a number of challenges including the rise of social media and online recruitment. They expect that the number of physical branches will decrease further and a growing proportion of the recruitment process will become digitalised.

Rabobank expects economic growth in the Netherlands in 2014 of +1%. However, they believe the temporary recruitment industry will grow by between +3% and +4%. The forecast for the next three-to-five years is moderately positive. The expectation is that the staffing market will grow as the economy picks up further and the growing trend of workplace and employment flexibility will continue.

The industry, however, will continue to face a number of challenges. The emergence of other types of flexible working, such as the rising number of freelancers, will mean increased competition for staffing companies.

The main trends identified by Rabobank are:

  • Increased digitisation
  • Reduction in the number of physical branches/offices
  • Mismatch in the supply and demand of labour and skills
  • Increasing regulations
  • Increasing number of freelancers

Staffing Industry Analysts made its own prediction for the Dutch staffing market in November forecasting a flat market. However, GDP has been upgraded across Europe since then so Rabobank’s latest forecast looks reasonable.