An increase in the penetration of recruitment companies in the Portuguese labour market could reduce the number of Portuguese at risk of poverty or social exclusion, reports O Jornal Economico, citing a study by Randstad. The staffing giant stated, “The mediating role of recruitment companies in the labour market can speed up the connection of companies' talent needs with the right professionals to satisfy them. Employment levels can increase, inequalities can be reduced and the levels of development of some economies can advance, which, in comparative terms, already have advanced development standards.”

Randstad added that this scenario is not the same in the various countries of the European Union, since the penetration rates of recruitment companies (that is, the share of full-time temporary workers in the total working-age population) vary. Randstad’s study in Portugal found a correlation which indicates that the presence of one more point of penetration of recruitment companies in the labour market is accompanied by poverty rates 2.96 points lower. This means that in Portugal, if the rate were 2%, around 306,000 people could have the opportunity to leave a situation of risk of poverty or social exclusion.