Economic Report 2021

About the World Employment Confederation
The World Employment Confederation is the voice of the private employment services industry at the global level,
representing national federations as well as workforce solutions companies from across the world. Members of theWorld Employment Confederation represent a wide range of HR services, including agency work, direct recruitment,
career management, Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) and Managed Service Provider (MSP).
The World Employment Confederation works to broaden recognition of the positive economic and social role which
the private employment services industry plays in enabling work, adaptation, security and prosperity. This role involves
building networks with relevant stakeholders such as policy makers, social partners and the academic world; settinghigh recruitment and employment standards and practices; acting as a thought-leader shaping futureproof andcompetitive labour markets and providing strategic data on employment issues.
Should you have any questions regarding the facts and figures published in this Economic Report, do not hesitate to
get in touch with the World Employment Confederation’s Head Office at info@wecglobal.org.

Contents

Foreword

02

Overview of Private Employment Services
Key Findings

03
04

Private Employment Services Industry

05

HR services
Agency Work
Direct Recruitment
Career Management
MSP
RPO

12
18
19
20
21

Regional focus
North America
South America
EuropeAsia Pacific

22
23
24
25

Glossary

26

Methodology

27

WEC Economic Report 2021|

1

Foreword

The Covid-19 pandemic has upended economies and labour markets around the world,with significant contractions of GDP observed in many countries. Entire sectors were shut
down for a considerable length of time, generating hardship for many businesses and workers alike. The private employment services industry was no exception and the sector experienced unprecedented declines across many countries, both in terms of the number ofworkers placed in the labour market and in industry revenues.
The crisis put a halt to the growth that the global private employment services industry
had experienced for the past couple of years. In 2019 the industry was worth €495 billion,
an increase of 5% compared to the previous year. Once again, when looking at the market
evolution the MSP and RPO markets have outperformed the other segments of the industry, achieving double-digit growth across most regions. Direct recruitment also saw strong
growth at 6% compared to the year before. Tight labour market conditions undoubtedly
played a role in the positive trends in those sectors. The agency work sector, the largest
segment of the global industry in terms of sales revenues, grew by 1% at a global level, withmarket developments varying considerably across the sector’s largest markets. A depreciation of the Euro against some of the largest markets’ currencies inflated growth rates in Euroterms. On a constant currency basis, the private employment services industry was up by 2%
in 2019 - slightly below the IMF’s growth estimates for global GDP and slightly above 2019
GDP growth in advanced economies.
Looking at 2020, we estimate that the global agency work sector contracted by as much as
18% in the first half of the year alone. While a path towards recovery can be observed across
many markets, they have not returned to pre-crisis levels and the future remains uncertain.
Nevertheless, the private employment services industry stands ready to support businesses
and workers in this crisis and in the recovery. Helping people and companies to managechange is in our sector’s DNA and the sector’s performance before the crisis shows how
it can help in these trying times. In 2019, more than 60 million individuals were placedin the labour market - a contribution which deserves recognition in the current context.
We encourage you to also consult our 2020 Social Impact Report, which analyses social
protection levels across various categories of labour relationships - a critical topic in this timeof crisis - and provides examples and case studies of how the industry created innovative
solutions to alleviate challenges and risks for people in the labour market.

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WEC Economic Report 2021

Denis Pennel
Managing Director

Even Hagelien
Chair of the Economic
Affairs Committee

Private Employment Services
Overview of the private employment services represented in this reportManaged Services
Providers
Agency WorkIs a triangular employment relationship,
defined in ILO Convention 181 as: “Services
consisting of employing
workers with a view tomaking them available
to a third party, who may
be a natural or legal person (“user enterprise”)
which assigns their tasks
and supervises the execution of these tasks”.

MSP is a service whereby
a company takes on
primary responsibility for
managing an organisation’s contingent
workforce programme.
Typical responsibilities of an MSP include
overall programmemanagement, reporting
and tracking, supplierselection and management, order distribution
and often consolidated
billing. An MSP may or
may not be independentof a staffing provider.

DirectRecruitment
Services for matchingoffers and applications for employment,
without the private
employment agency
becoming a party to theemployment relationships which may arise
therefrom (Source:
ILO Convention 181),
including executive
search and selection.

CareerManagement
Recruitment
Process
Outsourcing
A service by a thirdparty specialist provider,to assume the role ofthe client’s recruiting
department by owningand managing part or
all of its recruitment
process and related
recruitment supply
chain partner relationships, provide the necessary skills, activities,
tools, technologies, andprocess methodologies.

Services which enable
jobs, skills and businessperformance to beviewed in an integrated
way and with a longterm perspective. It
includes primarily
services such as
outplacement andcareer transition,
redeployment andother development
activities designed tohelp organisations
and individuals tomanage changes in thepractices, processes,
conditions and basis of
employment.

WEC Economic Report 2021|

3

Key Findings

In 2019, the year before the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted the world economy,
the global private employment services industry was worth an estimated €495
billion – equivalent to a 5% increase on 2018.1 The agency work sector remains by
far the largest segment of the industry, generating €391 billion of total revenues(including agency work revenues generated via an MSP), or 79%. Excluding MSP
activities, the agency work market grew by 1% in 2019. Direct recruitment activities produced €63 billion in turnover, up by 6% from 2018, while the market forManaged Services Providers (MSP) and Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO)
expanded by 13% and 25% in 2019, to reach €135 billion and €5.7 billion, respectively. The career management sector experienced a decline of 1% in 2019 with anestimated value of €1.9 billion.
The largest 15 markets in the global agency work sector represent 91% of global
industry turnover in 2019. Nearly one-third is generated in the US market alone
and the top 5 largest markets (USA, Japan, UK, Germany, France) contribute over
two-thirds of global revenues, showcasing the concentration of the global agency
work market. In terms of regions, Europe generates 43% of global revenues, with
North America being the second largest region (33%) and APAC (21%) and SouthAmerica (1%) contributing a combined one-fifth of global agency work turnover.
In Europe, the evolution of revenues in 2019 varied across countries, with somelarge markets experiencing growth - such as the Netherlands (+4.5%), Spain (+3.5%),
Switzerland (+5%) and the UK (+13.2%), while others declined - such as France(-1.1%), Germany (-9.3%), Italy (-4.5%) and Sweden (-8.4%). Across the Atlantic, theUS and Canadian markets grew by an annual rate of 4.1% and 7.1% respectively.

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WEC Economic Report 2021

Asian and Pacific agency work markets also experienced strong growth, with theAustralian, Chinese, Japanese and Indian markets being up 5.8%, 17.1%, 4.8% and18.7% compared to 2018.
Overall, the evolution of the direct recruitment market in 2019 was strong. Asianand Pacific markets expanded significantly, with Japan and China having grownby 30.1% and 17.1% respectively, while the US market size was up by 9%. The UK
market for direct recruitment by contrast fell by 16.8%. MSP and RPO market size
grew by double-digits across all regions (Americas, APAC and EMEA).
The global penetration rate of the agency work sector, which indicates the share ofagency workers in full-time equivalents among the working population, remained
stable at 1.6% in 2019. Most of the largest markets have a penetration rate above
the global rate, with the rate in the UK, the Netherlands and France being almost
twice as high.
In 2019, more than 161,000 private employment agencies delivered services tocompanies and individuals thanks to the over 3 million internal staff employed
across branches in 41 countries worldwide.
The global Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns implemented aroundthe world resulted in many sectors contracting at unprecedented rates, theagency work sector being no exception. Our estimates indicate that the global
market turnover fell by as much as 18% in the first half of 2020, compared to thefirst half of 2019.

1

All growth estimates refer to growth in Euro terms unless indicated otherwise.

Private Employment Services Industry
Private Employment Services Industry Global Market
2019: €495bn
Agency Work: €390.3bn

79%

Top 5 Markets (sales revenues)
2019: €316bn

DirectRecruitment:€63.0bn64%

13%

of global revenues

In 2019, the global private employment services industry generated an
estimated €495 billion of revenues.

...through an agency €289.2bn

59%

MSP
€33.7bn
7%...through an MSP €101.1bn 20%
RPO: €5.7bn
Career Management: €1.9bn

1%

Of the five industry segments, the agency work sector contributed the lion’sshare of the industry turnover, reaching €391 billion – equivalent to 79% of
total turnover. The activities of Managed Services Providers (MSP) resulted
in revenues of €135 billion. Agency work accounts for the majority of MSP
activities, and those MSP activities that do not include agency work contributed around €34 billion to total industry revenues - some 7% of total turnover. Direct recruitment has reached a market turnover of €63 billion (13%),
while Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) generated €5.7 billion (1%).
The career management industry produced a turnover of €1.9 billion (0.4%)
While the estimates in this report only include countries that are members of
the World Employment Confederation, their combined market share of the
global private employment services market is close to 100%.1

Note: Statistics gathered from WEC national federations and Staffing Industry Analysts. Around 75% of MSP
activities fall under agency work. This is represented in the split of agency work revenues.

1

Based on own calculations using statistics from Staffing Industry Analysts.

WEC Economic Report 2021|

5

PRIVATE EMPLOYMENT SERVICES INDUSTRY

Covid-19 impacts agency work sector deeper than the Great Recession

Y-O-Y agency work activity - Europe (quarterly growth)%

Y-O-Y Evolution of GDP volume - EU28 (EU27 since 1Q20)

20
10
0
-10
-20
-30

Agency work markets around the world were significantly impacted by the pandemic and subsequent lockdown policies. The sector is a proven early warning
signal for the state of economic health, and its observation of declines in the largest agency work markets were quickly followed by official GDP statistics reporting
contractions in many countries. Both the volume and value of the agency work
sector have reached record-lows, sinking even lower than they had during theGreat Recession in 2009. The speed at which markets are recovering is, however,quicker than during the previous global economic crisis. Our estimates show thatthe first half of 2020 alone resulted in a year-on-year contraction of the global
agency work sector by 18%, taking into account countries whose combined share

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WEC Economic Report 2021

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

‘20
Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

‘19
Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

‘18
Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

‘17
Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

‘16
Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

‘15
Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

‘14
Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

‘13
Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

‘12
Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

‘11
Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

‘10
Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

‘09
Q4

Q1

Q2

‘08

-40

of global industry revenues amounts to 74%. March 2020, along with the widespread implementation of lockdowns in many countries, marked the beginning of
the crisis. The contraction in H1 2020 therefore does not convey the full impactof the crisis on the sector.
Looking at the second half of 2020, the sector began a gradual path towards
recovery, as economies had opened up again during the 2nd and 3rd quarters.
In the last quarter of 2020, as the pandemic gained momentum once more andlockdowns had to be reintroduced across many countries, this recovery has
somewhat slowed but was not halted.

Source: WEC members; Eurostat

PRIVATE EMPLOYMENT SERVICES INDUSTRYY-O-Y agency work activity - US (quarterly growth)%

Y-O-Y Evolution of GDP volume - US

20
10
0
-10
-20
-30

Source: American Staffing Association; Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis |

1

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

‘20
Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

‘19
Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

‘18
Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

‘17
Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

‘16
Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

‘15
Q4

Q1

In terms of volume, i.e. activity, the European agency work sector was down
36% in the second quarter of 2020 on an annual basis, which is a decline 10
percentage points higher than during the Great Recession in 2009. In the USA,the fall in the second quarter was 33% - 5 percentage points more than in 2009.
Over the course of the third quarter, major markets gradually moved towards recovery,
with the number of agency workers’ hours worked in Europe down 17% year-onyear and activity in the US market down 21%. The fourth quarter saw a slowed
recovery in Europe - still down 8% year-on-year, while the US market is still down
9% in the fourth quarter. Full figures for 2020 were not yet available at the time

Q2

Q3

‘14
Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

‘13
Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

‘12
Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

‘11
Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

‘10
Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

‘09
Q4

Q1

Q2

‘08

-40

this report was released, but some countries have already reported annual contractions of agency workers’ hours worked of 14% or more compared to 20191.
The World Employment Confederation provides a regularly updated factsheet on
the development of the agency work sector at global level which is available on
its website. For more recent information, please consult the page dedicated to
the Covid-19 pandemic.

France: -24%. Belgium: -16%. Switzerland and the Netherlands: -14%. Norway: -20%.

WEC Economic Report 2021|

7

PRIVATE EMPLOYMENT SERVICES INDUSTRY

MSP and RPO markets experience particularly strong growth

Global sales revenues of service segments:

Career management

RPO

Direct recruitment

MSP (including
agency work
activities)

Agency work
(excluding MSP
activities)

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WEC Economic Report 2021

2018

2019

% change2018 | 2019-1%

€1.9bn€5.7bn+25%+6%€63.1bn+13%€134.8bn€289.5bn+1%

Note: Statistics gathered from WEC members and Staffing Industry Analysts.

PRIVATE EMPLOYMENT SERVICES INDUSTRY

Global sales revenues for the private employment services industry grew by 5% in Euro terms
in 2019.1 Compared with the industry’s growth in 2018, this represents a stronger expansion.
The agency work sector (excluding the estimated share attributed to MSP activities) grew by
1%, whereas turnover in the MSP market is up 13%, contributing a large share to the totalindustry growth. While the direct recruitment sector saw solid growth (+6%), RPO turnover
expanded by as much as 25%. The career management sector declined slightly at a global
level, down by 1% in 2019.

+5.0%
y-o-y

€495bnThe depreciation of the Euro against the currencies of several large markets - such as USA,UK, India and Japan - has contributed to stronger growth rates in Euro terms. When eliminating currency effects, the global industry grew by 2%. Agency work sector turnover remained
unchanged from 2018 on a constant currency basis, with negative growth in local currency
in the US (-1.3%) and Japanese markets (-1.8%) turned positive; and growth in the UK (+12.2%)
and Indian (+16%) markets inflated in Euro terms.

Global private
employment
services industry
2019

Positive growth in the global direct recruitment industry was driven primarily by strong developments in the US, Australian and Chinese markets, whose combined turnover makes up
nearly two-thirds of global revenues. This was despite a contraction of direct recruitment turnover in the UK.

Direct recruitment

Strong growth in the global MSP markets can be contributed to a fast uplift in the Americas,
the largest region for MSP, while the still relatively small APAC region expanded the most in
turnover size. Looking at RPO, the EMEA region grew at the fastest pace.

Agency work

Career management
Recruitment Process
Outsourcing
Managed Services
Providers

The contraction of the global career management sector in 2019 is due to the decline in someof the largest markets, namely the US, the Netherlands and the UK, whose combined turnoveraccounts for around one half of the global sector.

1 On a constant currency basis, the global private employment services industry grew by an estimated 2%.

WEC Economic Report 2021|

9

PRIVATE EMPLOYMENT SERVICES INDUSTRY

2019 saw another increase in the number of service providers

Temporary work agencies
In 2019, a combined 161,600 private employment agencies
were operating in the 41 countries around the world where
figures were available.

PrivateEmployment
Agencies:

Direct recruitment agencies

Branches of agencies around the world employed 3.3 million
people (based on figures from 31 countries), delivering employment services to companies and individuals.

161,600

Managed Services Providers
Recruitment Process Outsourcing

Considering those countries for which comparable figures
were available for 2019 and 2018, the number of agencies
operating grew by 2% in 2019, whereas the total number ofinternal staff was up by 1%.1
These agencies provide client companies and workers withvarious HR services including agency work, direct recruitment, career management, MSP and RPO. Complementing
the public employment services, they contribute to well-functioning labour markets by matching employers with jobseekers.
The majority of agencies are in Europe, followed by AsiaPacific (APAC), North America and South America. For moreregional market information, consult the “Regional Focus”
section of this report.

Career management firms

Internal Staff:

3.3
MILLION10|WEC Economic Report 2021

1

Countries considered for the two indicators assessed are not the same. Note: Real figures are most likely higher, as statistics are not available for all countries.

PRIVATE EMPLOYMENT SERVICES INDUSTRY

More than 61 million people were placed in the labour market in 2019
Agency work headcounts 2019
In 2019, more than 61 million people were placedin the labour market by private employment agencies in 40 countries around the world – a year-onyear increase of 7%.5USA

16,000,000

Canada (3)625,000

Czech Rep.(2)53,280China

11,740,000

Colombia

415,059

Argentina

43,512

Japan

4,794,355

Switzerland

385,674

GreeceAs in 2018, the number of placements by temporary work and direct recruitment agencies in 2019
grew at a faster pace than the revenues of boththe agency work and the direct recruitment sector.
This underpins the challenge of pricing pressure
and reduced margins faced by a large number ofcompanies operating in the sector.

Mexico4,685,356

Australia

361,000

New ZealandBrazil

3,353,000

Chile

230,000

Romania

India (3)3,300,000

Sweden190,900

Slovenia

France2,750,000

Finland150,000

Denmark

UK (3)

1,600,000

Russia109,881

Croatia (2)14,176

Netherlands (1)1,057,661

Slovakia

99,912

Latvia (2)10,550

Most placements by the sector are attributed to theagency work industry, with more than 57 million
people placed in the labour market in 2019. Morethan half of all people placed in jobs by the agency
work sector are in the USA, China and Japan.

Germany895,472

Austria

93,585

Hungary

Italy

816,000

Norway80,324

Estonia (2)

6,000

Spain

780,000

Portugal (2)69,211

Luxembourg (2)4,164Poland712,327

Ireland (3)53,400Lithuania (4)3,010

Belgium

693,029

China and the UK account for most of the placements by direct recruitment firms, with the former
alone contributing to nearly one half of all recorded
placements. As China is a labour market that istraditionally centred more around open-ended
employment, this is not surprising.

Change in methodology: 2019 figure includes all agency workers, when in
the past the figure only included those with an address in the Netherlands
2Eurostat (figures likely underestimate the number of agency workers)
3
2018
4
FTEs
1

5

Based on countries where comparable data for both years was available

Number ofpeople placed byprivate employment
agencies globally:

61.5
MILLION

Numberof placements
through direct
recruitment:

4.2
MILLION

41,881(3)

40,60037,93334,332(2)(2)

15,1798,394

Numberof placements
through temporary
work agencies:

57.3
MILLIONWEC Economic Report 2021|

11

HR SERVICES

Market evolution varies across the largest agency work markets
4.0
43.1

6.3

17.7

6.2

31.1

21.9

8.5

5.6

10.5

122.1

4.8

5.0

Top 15 agency work markets, sales revenues (billion €), 2019

12

|

USA

Japan

UK

Germany

FranceNetherlands

Australia

Italy

Switzerland

CanadaBelgium

Spain

India

China

Sweden

122.1

52.3

43.1

31.1

21.9

17.7

17.3

10.5

8.5

6.3

6.2

5.6

5.0

4.8

4.0

WEC Economic Report 2021

Note: Statistics gathered from WEC members and Staffing Industry Analysts. Figure for the Netherlands is an estimate based on CBS figures.

HR SERVICES

In 2019, the 15 largest agency work markets represented 91% of the sector’s global turnover. The threelargest markets – the USA, Japan and the UK – contribute 56% of the total, with the US agency work industry being by far the largest market, accounting for nearly one-third of the global figure.

52.3

The largest region is Europe, with 9 of the largest 15 agency work markets being located there. Those markets contribute 38% to the sector’s global revenues. The evolution in the size of those markets varied considerably, with some having seen strong growth in 2019, such as the UK (+13%), the Netherlands (+4%)1,
Switzerland (+5%) and Spain (+4%), while other markets saw a decline. In Germany, the sector contracted
by 9% in 2019. This is partially attributable to a legislative change resulting in increased sectoral restrictions,but also due to a sharp decline in the crucial automotive industry. Italy also saw a contraction (-5%), after
several years of growth, which can be explained by less favourable legislation introduced in 2018. Sweden
and France were also among the retreating markets, down by 8% and 1% respectively. While differences
across countries are stark, the combined turnover of the 9 largest European markets grew by 1.4% in 2019.
Across the Atlantic, the US agency work market grew by 4% in Euro terms, while actually having slightly
contracted in US dollar terms (-1.3%). A tight labour market with a slowdown in employment growth overall are factors that explain the decline.
Turning to the largest markets in the APAC region, most saw relatively pronounced growth in 2019, with
the Australian market up 6% (+8% in local currency), while the Chinese and Indian markets experienced
double digit growth rates – up 17% and 19% respectively. The exception is Japan, which saw a slightdecline in local currency terms (-2%).
The year before the global pandemic already marked a period of slowdown for many of the largest agency
work markets. 2020 was characterised by unprecedented downturns of the sector, both in terms ofrevenues and volume of workers. For more detail on the impact of the crisis on the sector, please consult
pages 6 and 7 of this report.

17.3

1

Estimate based on CBS figures

WEC Economic Report 2021|

13

HR SERVICES

Most large agency work markets have penetration rates higher than the global average
Agency work penetration rate, 2019 (%)

3.0

3.0
2.9
2.7
2.4
2.3
2.1

2.0

2.0

2.0
1.9
1.8

A M E R I C A S 1.8%
1.7
1.6

A P A C 1.6%
1.5

1.5

1.5

1.4

G L O B A L 1.6%
EUROPE

1.2

1.4%

1.1
1.0
0.9

UK

14

|

NL

FR

AU

WEC Economic Report 2021

BE

JP

IE

CH

SE

US

DE

BR

AT

FI

CN

CO

IT

NZ

LU

PT

NO

PL

0.9

LV

0.8

0.8

CZ

ES

0.7

HR

HR SERVICES

In 2019, the global weighted average penetration rate stood at 1.6%, unchanged from 2018. This rate
represents the share of agency work in overall employment and can be subject to various factors. Labour
market regulation typically plays an important role, as more restrictive policies in terms of hiring flexible
workers tend to reduce the share of agency workers. Some countries can be characterised as having amore liberal approach to labour market regulation and hiring and firing, weighing the trade-off between
efficiency and responsiveness in labour market transitions on the one hand and job protection on theother. Another factor can be the maturity of the agency work sector within a country. A higher penetration rate typically indicates an industry that has moved closer to maturity, while low penetration rates
showcase to an extent the potential future growth of the sector in the country.
Many of the largest agency work markets showcase a penetration rate that is above the global rate,suggesting a higher level of industry maturity in countries such as the UK, the Netherlands and France.

0.6
0.5

EE

GR

0.5

CL

0.4

DK

0.3

RO

0.3

AR

0.2

LT

0.1

HU

0.02

Note: Rates are calculated by dividing the number of agency workers in full-time equivalents (sources: WEC members; estimates based on Eurostat
figures) by the working-age population (source: ILO). Regional rates were calculated by dividing the sum of FTEs by the sum of the working-age
population. The European rate is lower than reported in the past, due to a contraction of the agency workforce in several markets and the inclusionof additional smaller agency work markets in the calculation.

RU

WEC Economic Report 2021|

15

HR SERVICES

Services sector employs majority of agency workers, with regional differences
Sectoral distribution of agency workers across regions (%)
1
3

5

4

4

10
28

2

3
25

3

36
8
48

8

43

51

Global9

APAC

Europe

1

2

1
3

6

Public Administration
Services

29

Construction

35

Manufacturing
Agriculture

65

55

2

Other

1

16

|

WEC Economic Report 2021

Eastern Europe

Southern Europe

Croatia, Czechia, Estonia, Poland, Romania, Russia

Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain

HR SERVICES

1
8

4

33

41
The largest share of agency workers at a global level work in the services sector (48%), while nearly onethird are employed in the manufacturing industry (28%). Construction is the third largest sector at 8%,
while the agricultural sector employs just 4% of agency workers globally.

13

Central & Northern Europe
Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany,
Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland.

16

12

22

47

Comparing the sectoral distribution of agency workers to that of the overall employed population at
global level, we see that the agency work sector is in line with those trends. Half of global employment isin the services industry, according to statistics published by the World Bank. This share has been consistently growing over the past decades, as economies shift away from the agricultural and manufacturingsectors on their development paths.
In the regional breakdown, we can make some noteworthy observations. The more developed regions
showcase a lower-than-average share of agency work employment in the agricultural sector, while having
an above-average share in the services industry. Agency work employment in the agriculture sector isparticularly high in the countries within the South American region, while the manufacturing sector comprises a majority of agency workers in Eastern European countries.

3

South America

WEC Economic Report 2021|

17

HR SERVICES

Top three markets make up nearly two-thirds of global turnover in direct recruitment
Top 15 markets in direct recruitment, sales revenues (billion €), 2019
22.0

The global market for direct recruitment services is estimated to be worth €63 billion in 2019, an increase of 6%
from 2018. The three largest markets are the USA, China and Australia and represent nearly two-thirds of the global
turnover (63%). The US direct recruitment market alone contributes more than one-third of sector revenues (35%).
With 39% of global turnover, the Asian Pacific region is the largest. Along with Australia and China, Japan and India
are also among the top 15 largest markets. Growth has been particularly strong in the Japanese and Chinese direct
recruitment markets in 2019, up 30% and 17% respectively.
Europe represents 24% of the global direct recruitment sector revenues in 2019 - primarily driven by the UK and German markets. In Europe, most large markets saw a decline in direct recruitment turnover in 2019, with the UK market
having contracted by as much as 17%.
In North America by contrast, both the US and Canadian markets saw strong growth with turnover from the direct
recruitment industry up by 9% and 10% in Euro terms respectively, although part of this strong growth is due to thedepreciation of the Euro against the US and Canadian dollar.
At a global level, the direct recruitment sector grew faster than the agency work sector in 2019, potentially due to afurther tightening of labour markets across many countries that year.

8.9

8.8

5.2

4.9

4.4

1.1

USA

18

|

China

Australia

WEC Economic Report 2021

UK

GermanyJapan

New
Zealand

0.8

0.7

0.6

0.6

0.5

0.5

0.4

0.4

India

Spain

Italy

Switzerland

South
Africa

South
Korea

Netherlands

FinlandNote: Statistics gathered from WEC members and Staffing Industry Analysts. For Germany, figure is for 2018.

HR SERVICES

Career management contracts pre-pandemic, while future looks promising
Top 10 largest career management markets, sales revenues (billion €), 2019

0.59

0.33

0.20

0.19

0.13

0.10

0.09

0.08

0.08

0.07

USA

FranceNetherlands

Japan

UK

Germany

Australia

SwedenBelgium

CanadaThe global career management sector saw a 1% decline in 2019 with an estimatedvalue of €1.9 billion.
The two largest markets are the USA and France, which are estimated to represent
almost one half of the sector’s global turnover (48%). Together with the Netherlands,
Japan and the UK, they make up the top 5 largest markets which contribute aroundthree-quarters of total revenues.
Most of the largest career management markets either remained stable or saw adecline in 2019, with the American, Dutch and British markets being down 2%, 2%
and 3% respectively. The German and Australian markets expanded on the other
hand, up 2% and 5%.

Note: Based on estimations by members of the World Employment Confederation’s Career Management Group.

The year before the Covid-19 pandemic upended the global economy, labour
markets were becoming increasingly tight, with more open jobs than jobseekers
in many countries. This partly explains the contraction of demand for careertransition and outplacement services - the major share of career management
activities. With the global pandemic, many workers were displaced and companies
needed to restructure. Career transition support is therefore likely to grow indemand in 2021. A company survey conducted in December 2020 amongst thesector’s main professional associations, WEC and ACF International, indicates thatthe sector is expected to grow by up to 10% across the North America, Europe and
APAC regions.

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19

HR SERVICES

MSP markets record double-digit growth over three years across regions

Managed Services Providers, regional market value (billion €)Americas

EMEA

APAC

Global

135

116
106
95
7

9

10
37

119
10

13
46

42

33

30
77
69
63

The global MSP market experienced considerable growth in recent
years, with global market spend having expanded by nearly 30%
over the course of three years. All regions saw double-digit growth
rates between 2016 and 2019, with the smaller EMEA and APAC
regions having experienced particularly strong growth.

67

59

2015

20

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WEC Economic Report 2021

2017

2018

The global MSP market spend is estimated at a value of €135 billion
in 2019 - equivalent to an increase of 13% from 2018. The Americas
are the largest region in terms of the share of global revenues, generating 57% of market spend. The MSP market in the Americas saw
strong growth in 2019, up 15% compared to 2018. Generating morethan half of global MSP revenues, the USA is by far the largest market
in the region and globally. The second largest region is Europe, theMiddle East and Africa (EMEA), contributing one-third to global MSP
spend. Nearly half of the region’s MSP spend is generated in the UK,
which is also the second largest MSP market globally. The EMEA
region saw moderate growth of 8% in 2019. Just under one-tenth ofglobal MSP spend is generated in the APAC region, which, at 23% in
2019, saw the strongest growth of all regions in terms of MSP spend.
Australia contributes more than two-fifth to the APAC region’s MSP
market value.

2019

Firms which specialise in MSP are third-party service providers taking over a client company’s contingent workforce management. The
major share of MSP spend (75% in 2019 according to Staffing Industry
Analysts) comprises temporary employees and independent contractors - meaning that the spend of a large part of MSP programmes can,in effect, be attributed to revenues from the agency work sector. The
remaining share of MSP spend is raised by statement of work and/or
outsourcing activities by the service provider.

Source: Staffing Industry Analysts.

HR SERVICES

RPO markets keep growing steadily, with EMEA topping the list

Recruitment Process Outsourcing, regional market value (billion €)Americas

The global market value for RPO has reached €5.7 billion in 2019,an increase equivalent to 25% compared with 2018. All regions(Americas, EMEA and APAC) saw double-digit growth in 2019, with
the EMEA region topping the list at 33%. However, the Americas
remain the largest region in terms of market value, generating 47%
of global revenues, and having expanded by 20% since 2018. The
smaller APAC region contributes one-fifth to the global RPO market
and saw an annual growth of 24% in 2019.
Looking further back, the global RPO market has expanded significantly across all regions, growing by a staggering 50% between
2016 and 2019.The EMEA region in particular grew by 66%, while theAmericas and APAC regions are up 50% and 30% respectively in thatthree-year time span.
The years leading up to the global Covid-19 pandemic were characterised by increasingly tight labour market conditions, in which
many firms struggled to hire suitable employees. This trend helps
explain the solid growth performance of RPO services, as companies - and in particular large ones - turn to specialists to manage
their hiring processes.
RPO is a service whereby a third-party provider takes over a client’s
recruiting department. Going beyond the provision of a contingent
workforce, RPO providers characteristically also specialise in recruiting a firm’s direct employees, without remaining a part of the resulting employment relationships.

EMEA

APAC

Global

5.7

1.1
4.6
4.2
3.8
3.3

0.9

0.9

1.9

1.4

0.8
1.1

2.7

1.0
2.2
1.6

2015

Source: Staffing Industry Analysts. Note: No figures for 2017 available. 2017 growth is estimated at 13% by Staffing Industry Analysts.

1.8

2016

2017

2018

2019

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REGIONAL FOCUS

North America is the largest placer of agency workers due to size of US market

Countries included in figures:

Placements

21.3

PrivateEmployment
Agencies:

27,800Internal
Staff

428,400

CanadaMexicoUSAMILLION

Agency Work Revenue

MSP Revenue€129.8€75.9

BILLIONBILLION

Direct Recruitment
Revenue

RPO Revenue

BILLIONBILLION

€22.6

€2.5

North America is the largest region when looking at various metrics of the private employment services industry- mostly due to the size of the US market alone. The region was responsible for 37% of workers placed in jobs in
2019. 75% of the region’s placements were in the USA. One-third of global agency work revenues were generated
in North America, while the USA accounted for 94% of the region’s sector revenues. 36% of global revenues fromdirect recruitment in 2019 are attributed to North America, with the USA again claiming most of the region’s share.
The region also contributes half of all global MSP and RPO revenues.

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WEC Economic Report 2021

Note: Statistics gathered from WEC national federations and Staffing Industry Analysts.

REGIONAL FOCUS

Further contraction of largest South American market reduces the region’s industry size

Countries included in figures:

PrivateEmployment
Agencies:

Argentina

Placements

Brazil4.0

Chile
Colombia

Internal
Staff

82,0008,500

MILLION

Direct Recruitment
Revenue

Agency Work Revenue

€4.1

€0.3

BILLIONBILLIONRPO Revenue€0.22
BILLION

South America is the smallest region when taking into account the above indicators. 7% of global placements takeplace in this region, while only 1% of global agency work revenues are generated there. Brazil is by far the largest
market in the region, with 83% of the region’s placed workers, 75% of operating agencies and nearly two-thirdsof South America’s agency work revenues. While most of the region’s agency work markets saw growth in 2019,
Brazil’s agency work market experienced a significant contraction. As the largest market, Brazil leads the region
overall into a decline in 2019.

Note: Statistics gathered from WEC national federations and Staffing Industry Analysts.

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REGIONAL FOCUS

Europe sees diverging trends across agency work markets

Countries included in figures:

Placements

11.5

PrivateEmployment
Agencies:

73,800Internal
Staff

594,600

MILLION

Agency Work Revenue€167.9BILLIONMSP Revenue€43.4
BILLION

Direct Recruitment
Revenue€14.9
BILLION

Europe is the largest region in terms of agency work revenues, generating 43% of the global sector’s turnover in
2019. With nine out of the 15 largest agency work markets globally located in Europe, this is not a surprise. 2019 saw
countries’ market evolution vary considerably across Europe, with Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and the
UK having experienced growth, while France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Sweden saw contractions. Next to agency
work revenues, Europe holds the highest number of operating private employment agencies and also generates
24% and 32% to global direct recruitment and MSP revenues respectively.

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WEC Economic Report 2021

Austria

Lithuania

Belgium

Luxembourg

Bulgaria

Netherlands

Croatia

NorwayCzech Rep.

PolandDenmark

PortugalEstonia

Romania

Finland

RussiaFranceSlovakia

Germany

Slovenia

GreeceSpain

Hungary

SwedenIreland

Switzerland

Italy

TurkeyLatviaUK

Note: Statistics gathered from WEC national federations and Staffing Industry Analysts.

REGIONAL FOCUS

Australia, China and Japan drive strong position of APAC region

Countries included in figures:
Australia
China
India
Indonesia
Japan

Placements

20.3

PrivateEmployment
Agencies:

48,400MILLIONInternal Staff

2.2
MILLION

New Zealand

Agency Work Revenue

MSP Revenue

€79.8

€12.7

BILLIONBILLION

Direct Recruitment
Revenue

RPO Revenue

BILLIONBILLION

€24.2

€1.1

The Asian and Pacific region is home to several of the global private employment services industry’s largest markets. Chinais the region’s largest placer of workers with 58% of the region’s placements, while Japan generates the highest share ofagency work revenues (64%). Australia is a strong market for direct recruitment and MSP. Overall, the APAC region is responsible for 35% of global placements, generates one-fifth of global agency work revenues and is the strongest region globallyin terms of direct recruitment revenues, contributing 39% to global sector turnover, largely due to Australia, China and Japan.

Note: Statistics gathered from WEC national federations and Staffing Industry Analysts.

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ANNEX

Glossary of Terms Used and Acronyms

Agency Work

Direct Recruitment

Private Employment Services / Employment Industry

Agency work is a triangular employment relationship,
defined in ILO Convention 181 as: “Services consistingof employing workers with a view to making themavailable to a third party, who may be a natural or legal
person (“user enterprise”) which assigns their tasks
and supervises the execution of these tasks”. It can be
named Dispatched Labour in Asia, Labor Hire in Africaor Temporary Staffing in the USA.

Services for matching offers of and applications for
employment, without the private employment agency
becoming a party to the employment relationships
which may arise therefrom (Source: ILO Convention181), including search and selection.

Agency work is usually one of several other HR services
provided by recruitment and employment agencies,
along with direct recruitment, career management,
RPO and MSP. The collective name for these services isprivate employment services. The employment agency
provides a professional service to a user company
by taking over (a part of) the recruitment and HR
process. In this sense, private employment services arecomparable to other professional and business services
such as auditing and accounting, communications andmarketing, facilities management, etc.

Career Management
Career Management services enable jobs, skills andbusiness performance to be viewed in an integrated
way and with a long-term perspective. It includes primarily services such as outplacement and career transition, redeployment and other development activities
designed to help organisations and individuals to manage changes in the practices, processes, conditions
and basis of employment.
Daily Average Number of Agency Workers (in FTEs)
Total number of hours worked by all agency workers
in a country over a period of one year divided by theaverage number of hours worked over a period of one
year by a worker with a full-time job with an openended contract.

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WEC Economic Report 2021

Managed Services Provider (MSP)
MSP is a service whereby a company takes on primary
responsibility for managing an organisation’s contingent workforce programme. Typical responsibilities
of an MSP include overall programme management,
reporting and tracking, supplier selection and management, order distribution and often consolidated billing.
The vast majority of MSPs also provide their clientswith a vendor management system (VMS) and may
have a physical presence at the client’s site. An MSP
may or may not be independent of a staffing provider.
Penetration Rate
Daily average number of agency workers (in FTEs)
divided by the working population (as defined by the
ILO as follows: “The employed comprise all persons ofworking age who during a specified brief period, suchas one week or one day, were in the following categories: a) paid employment (whether at work or with a
job but not at work); or b) self-employment (whether
at work or with an enterprise but not at work).”

Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO)
A service by a third-party specialist provider, to assume
the role of the client’s recruiting department byowning and managing part or all of its recruitment
process and related recruitment supply chain partner
relationships, providing the necessary skills, activities,
tools, technologies and process methodologies.

ANNEX

Methodology

The data presented in this report is for the calendar year
2019, unless stated otherwise. Sources vary dependingon the data, although the majority of the figures are collected by the World Employment Confederation fromits national federation members. This is primarily thecase for the agency work market. Some national federations gather data directly from their respective members, whereas others collect data from public sourcesor research partner institutions. The World Employment
Confederation also partners with Staffing Industry
Analysts (SIA), allowing for a more complete assessmentof the industry across the various HR services (e.g. MSP,
RPO). Whenever a figure did not come directly frommembers of the World Employment Confederation, it
is indicated throughout the report.

To minimise the extent of double counting, a certain
share of total MSP sales revenues was subtracted andattributed to the total agency work sales revenues. This
share is estimated by Staffing Industry Analysts to bearound 75%.

For the calculation of the total global market size of theprivate employment services industry, five service segments have been included: agency work, direct recruitment, MSP, RPO and career management services. Dueto the fact that a major share of MSP activities fall into
the agency work category, there exists the risk of double counting sales revenue figures. This is especiallytrue, since the sources used to gather sales revenue
figures differ for the two service segments in question.

In case of questions on the statistics presented oron the methodology applied, please contact Robin
Lechtenfeld, Labour Market Intelligence Officer at the
WEC Head Office (robin.lechtenfeld@wecglobal.org)

It must be noted that some figures presented in thisreport may be underestimating the true picture of
the global industry, since the World Employment
Confederation does not have members in every country providing statistics. This is specifically the case forthe number of agencies and internal staff. Note alsothat a lack of information on specific countries does
not mean that private employment services are not provided in that country.

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Members of the World Employment Confederation

National Federations
NORTH AMERICANORTH EAST ASIAEUROPE

Canada (CA) - ACSESS
Mexico (MX) - AMECH
USA (US) - ASA

China (CN) - CAFST
Japan (JP) - JASSASouth Korea (KR) - KOHRSIALATIN AMERICAAPAC SOUTHERN

Argentina (AR) - FAETT
Argentina (AR) - CAPE
Brazil (BR) - FENASERHTT
Chile (CL) - Agest
Colombia (CO) - ACOSET
Peru (PE) - AETT

Australia (AU) / New Zealand(NZ) - RCSA
India (IN) - ISF
Indonesia (ID) - ABADI
Philippines (PH) - PALSCON

Austria (AT) - ÖPDBelgium (BE) - Federgon
Croatia (HR) - HUP
Czech Republic (CZ) - APPS
Denmark (DK) - Dansk Erhverv
Estonia (EE) - EPREL
Finland (FI) - HPLFrance (FR) - Prism’emploi
Germany (DE) - BAP
Greece (GR) - ENIDEA
Ireland (IE) - NRF
Italy (IT) - Assolavoro
Latvia (LV) - LPDAA
Lithuania (LT) - LIIA

AFRICASouth Africa (ZA) - APSO

Corporate Members

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WEC Economic Report 2021

Luxembourg (LU) - FESNetherlands (NL) - ABU
Norway (NO) - NHOSH
Poland (PL) - Polskie Forum HR
Portugal (PT) - APESPE RH
Romania (RO) - AFSRU
Russia (RU) - ACHAZ
Slovakia (SK) - APAS
Slovenia (SI) - ZAZ
Spain (ES) - ASEMPLEO
Sweden (SE) - Kompetensföretagen
Switzerland (CH) - swissstaffing
Turkey (TR) - OIBD
United Kingdom (UK) - REC

Disclaimer
This Economic Report is owned by the World Employment Confederation, whose registered office is at Tour &Taxis Building, Avenue du Port 86c, Box 302, 1000 Brussels, Belgium. Care and precaution were taken to ensurethat the information published in this report is accurate but the World Employment Confederation publishes thiscontent as supplied and is not responsible for its accuracy or timeliness. You must take appropriate steps to verify
this information before acting upon it. Any use of this report or its content, including copying or storing it inwhole or in part, other than for personal, media-related purposes or non-commercial use, is prohibited without
the prior permission of the World Employment Confederation. In any case, the source of the information to be
published should be mentioned as ©World Employment Confederation – Economic Report 2020.

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