In January 2018, the number of hours worked by temporary agency workers increased by 7.9% when compared to January 2017, according to Federgon, the Belgian Federation of Staffing Agencies.

January’s increase was led by growth in both the blue-collar and white-collar sector. The number of hours worked by temp workers in the blue-collar sector increased by 8.8% in January when compared to the previous year while the white-collar sector posted an increase in 6.8% for the same period.

On a month-to-month basis, the number of hours worked by temporary workers decreased slightly by 1.3% in January. Both the blue-collar (-0.7%) and the white-collar (-2.1%) segments reported decreases.

The Federgon index reached 116.8 points in January 2018 compared to 118.3 points in December 2017. The index reflects the level of activity in the month studied compared to the base month of January 2007 (= 100 points), on a seasonally adjusted basis.