2011 may have been the best year for the Swiss staffing industry but the new year did not start off as well. In February, demand for temporary workers dipped to around -8% which was due to seasonal fluctuations and a reduction of demand in the construction industry.

This is according to Switzerland’s federation of staffing agencies, Swiss Staffing, which also said that the decrease in temporary employment was lower when compared to last year despite the fact that February benefitted from an extra working day.

“The temp working volume in Switzerland has been stagnating or declining for a few months. This has also got something to do with the overall economic slowdown,” said Vice-Director Myra Fischer-Rosinger at Swiss Staffing to Staffing Industry Analyst.

But despite the bumpy start to the new year, the outlook for 2012 remains positive, the federation said.    

The Swiss economy is no longer expecting a decline, something which will help the temporary staffing industry, commented Ms Fischer-Rosinger. But overall she remained cautious to forecast a market growth for 2012, saying “it was too early” to predict a specific growth rate.

Last year the Swiss staffing industry recorded a particularly high demand for temporary workers as the volume of the temporary workforce increased on average by +9%. This growth figure precisely matched the Swiss forecast estimated by Staffing Industry Analysts in its European Staffing Market Forecasts 2011. To download market forecasts for 2012, click here.  

Ms Fischer-Rosinger also pointed out that the temporary staffing industry is highly esteemed by Swiss companies. “This is reflected in the strong growth rate which temporary employment has recorded in the past few years. In the last decade, temporary employment has annually risen by around 7%,” she said.