Most temporary workers in Belgium are satisfied with their jobs, according to a study from Federgon, the Belgian federation of staffing agencies.

Federgon’s study, which outlines the profile of temporary workers and the characteristics of their employment in 2018, found that 86% are generally satisfied and 82% would recommend agency work to friends and family.

According to Federgon, in 2017, 656,281 people worked as temporary employees in Belgium. Federgon explained the main reasons why workers choose temporary employment. In the study, it was found that some temporary workers are looking for useful work experience (7%) or want to get started quickly (10%), others want to earn something extra (14%) or are looking for a permanent job (33%) or a student job (35%).

“Agency work is the ideal flexibility instrument and is the most important recruitment channel for companies. 41.6% of employees were previously employed as temporary workers,” Herwig Muyldermans, General Manager of Federgon, said. "This figure emphasises the transition role, from temporary agency work to job. The role of temporary agency work should certainly not be underestimated.”

Federgon’s study also found that of the temporary workers employed in 2017, 19% were unemployed prior to the temporary assignment, 20% were people with a migration background, 22% were low-skilled and 11.4% were over-50s, suggesting that temporary agency work provides work opportunities to many different population groups.