Published on 27th March 2019
In 2017, the private employment industry generated €457 billion in global sales revenue, a 13% year-on-year growth rate. Worldwide, the industry placed 53 million individuals in employment through a network of 165,000 agencies. The number of internal staff working within private employment agencies reached 2.7 million.
“Most indicators from our 2019 Economic Report show positive growth and paint a satisfactory picture of our industry for 2017,” says Denis Pennel, Managing Director of the World Employment Confederation (WEC). “It demonstrates that as the world of work is continually changing, the services provided by private employment agencies are increasingly sought after and contribute to positive labour market outcomes.”
Yet, other services gained traction, with the most significant increase observed in direct recruitment (over 50 percent). The report includes revenue figures for Managed Services Providers (MSP), Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO), Direct Recruitment and Career Management.
Amongst the five main HR services covered by the industry, agency work remains the core activity; creating the majority of revenues and employment relationships. In Europe, the five largest markets (Italy, the Netherlands, France, the United Kingdom and Germany) all experienced growth. The USA remains by far the largest market worldwide in terms of sales revenues.
The Economic Report also dives into the main geographical areas covered by the World Employment Confederation. The trends observed are also positive with countries including Mexico, Brazil, Spain, Italy and Japan becoming strong performers.
“Our Economic Report is primarily based on a data collection exercise that we conduct annually with the members of the World Employment Confederation,” explains Even Hagelien, Chairman of the WEC’s Economic Affairs Committee. “We are constantly striving to improve that process and for this 2019 edition, we have updated our methodology to deliver a more accurate picture of our industry. We also work with external partners such as Staffing Industry Analysts and Everest Group to ensure the most complete assessment of the different HR services.”
