French jobseekers and employees rate recruitment firms highly on their ability to them find a job, according to a survey conducted by French Staffing association Prism'emploi and the job board Meteojob, according to the daily Le FIgaro.

Temporary agencies are popular, at least this is the conclusion of a survey conducted for the second consecutive year with 2,160 employees, temporary workers and jobseekers.

“Dense branch coverage across the country", "understanding of local issues and drivers", "close relationships with companies" are the main advantages staffing firms have to offer, according to Gilles Lafon, President of Prism'emploi to explain these good results.

The survey reveals that 49% of workers actively looking for a new job thought staffing firms were able to help them succeed. Furthermore, according to the survey 82% of temporary workers indicated they applied for temporary work in order to land a permanent job in the future: 59% of temporary workers believe temporary work can help them quickly find a stable job. In addition, temporary agency work is perceived as a way to improve career prospects: the opportunity to acquire new skills and experience is valued by 29% of respondents, while 46% take the chance to try different working environments.

A majority of employees in fixed term contracts (CDD) and permanent roles (CDI) agree that temporary agency work played a decisive part in the building of their career; 66% of them indicate that the experience helped them gain confidence.

Finally, the proportion of agency workers considering temporary work as a "lifestyle choice” increased to 15%, improving by 2 percentage points compared with last year’s survey.