Recruitment Industry

Whilst the recruitment industry remains unregulated, it can be difficult to know what to expect from an agency supplier. Whilst the intention to improve supply arrangements is a great start, the key to implementing effective supply-management strategies depends on businesses having knowledge about the marketplace they are dealing with and a full understanding of agency responsibilities. This report breaks down what you should expect from agencies generally and within specific industries. It demystifies rates and rate calculations, and lists key questions you might want to ask of all your agency suppliers before going into partnership.

Current statistics relating to the recruitment industry include:

• The number of recruitment agencies operating in the UK is circa 10,000
• Industry turnover is £27.006 billion, a 1.3% increase on last year
• On average a total of 1.220,310 temporary agency workers are placed each week 
• Overall turnover for temporary/contract staff decreased 1.8%  to £22.730 billion
• Total turnover for permanent staff rose significantly by 21.7%  to £4.276 billion
• The temporary share of the total business was 84.2% and permanent 15.8%
• The largest number of temporary placements was in the blue collar sector (18%)
• Construction placements followed at 14% and education/teaching at 11%. 
• The largest number of permanent placements was in the medical sector with 15%
• Secretarial/clerical  followed at 14% and technical/engineering at 11%.
• Staff employed in the recruitment industry roseto 108,883, an increase of 7.5%.