The German staffing firm Orizon Gruppe recorded “solid growth” after the low of the economic crisis and reported revenues for the year ended 31 December 2011 of €293 million, an increase of over 20%.

The firm, which comes 10^th in Staffing Industry Analysts’ ranking of top staffing firms in Germany, also increased its headcount in the year by +18% and now employs around 9,830 staff.

“It has been proven that flexible personnel management has made a fundamental contribution to overcoming the economic crisis," commented Orizon CEO Dieter Traub.

He also pointed out that the labour market in the country is changing and that particularly employment agencies would have to respond to this.

"Since 2011 the Orizon GmbH, including its operating subsidiaries, has focused on a new strategic direction that differs from a pure supplier function [and now specialises in the provision] of recruitment consultants for clients, employees and applicants,” Mr Traub said.

At the beginning of the year, companies were reluctant to increase their staff. Due to the economic stabilisation and the increasing shortage of skilled workers, temporary staff are taken on more and more which, according to Mr Traub, results in a moderate increase of headcount in the industry.

"We think this a necessary consolidation after our change of strategy. [Our services] are gaining importance. This way we are reacting to the changing labour market and simultaneously accelerate fair and equal treatment for temporary workers," Mr Traub added.

In light of shorter economic cycles and the synchronised high demand for permanent workers in Germany, the firm argues that temporary work is the future model for labour. Mr Traub emphasised that the firm was keen to make temporary employment more attractive in a country where it is often perceived negatively. This, he argued, can only be achieved through equal pay. Germany is in the middle of a political “equal pay” discussion for temporary employees and talks between trade unions and employer federations will start next month.

Orizon GmbH is a privately owned company, which was founded in 1999 as holding company of the three nation wide staffing firms -  jobs in time (Berlin), RKM (Munic) and RP Personal (Augsburg). The firm specialises in the recruitment of industrial, technical, commercial and medical employees.