The number of hours worked by temporary agency workers in Belgium fell by 7.32% in July 2023 when compared to the same period a year ago, according to calendar-basis adjusted data from Federgon, the Belgian federation of staffing agencies.

The 7.32% fall was an improvement from the 12.65% annual decrease seen in June 2023.

July’s year-on-year fall was the result of a decrease in activity of 8.30% in the blue-collar segment and 6.17% in the white-collar segment.

Among regions, Brussels reported an annual fall of 3.82% while the Wallonia region saw a decline of 5.87%. The steepest annual decline was seen in Flanders (-8.33%).

On a monthly basis, the number of hours worked for temporary agency work increased by 2.03% in June when compared to the previous month (based on figures adjusted for seasonal and calendar influences). This improvement was due to an increase seen across both segments including a 2.69% in the blue-collar segment and a 1.01% in the white-collar segment.

Growth was seen across the three regions on a monthly basis: Brussels (1.76%), Wallonia (2.96%) and Flanders (1.28%).

“Despite slightly better figures in July compared to June, the temporary staffing industry continues to operate in a difficult and uncertain economic environment,” Paul Verschueren, director research and economic affairs, said. “This is reflected in the level of volume of hours worked, which remained more than 7% below the July 2022 level.”