The recent fall in temporary employment could be the first sign of a weakening labour market, the federal employment agency (BA) warned. Following last year’s high, the latest statistics revealed that the staffing industry has not been able to maintain its momentum as the number of agency workers dropped to 871,700 in December 2011 from 927,100 in August 2011.

In a new labour market report on temporary staffing, the BA now warned that “temporary employment is an early indicator on the labour market, reacting quickly to economic changes.” The report says that despite the boom Germany has experienced in temporary labour, “for several months there has been a slowdown in [temporary] employment.”

The BA said that developments in temporary labour have been flat for over a year now, and clarifies that the falling but still high demand could have two explanations: contingent workers are increasingly taking on as permanent staff, or simply pursue other types of employment outside temporary staffing.

When compared to other European countries, temporary staffing in Germany is still slightly above the European average. The number of temporary employment agencies in Germany has also increased by +7% year-over-year to 17,700 as of December 2012.

Separately, the research indicates that around 71% of temporary workers in Germany are male while almost half of the temporary assignments end in less than three months.