Demand for temporary staff stays low

Temporary recruitment agencies in Belgium have been affected by a slowdown this year, with research showing that demand for workers is not as strong as a year ago, Staffing Industry reports. Data from Federgon, the Belgian federation of staffing agencies, also indicates that temporary staff worked fewer hours last month compared to in 2011, with the number of hours worked down 9.5 percent year on year. Blue-collar workers in particular have been hit, seeing an 11.6 percent fall in activity. For white-collar workers, the downturn was not as steep, with a decline of 5.3 percent. For the whole of 2012, Federgon expects the Belgian market to contract by 8 to 9 percent. Month on month, the number of hours worked fell by 2.4 percent. The impact of the closure of car manufacturer Ford Genk on the market was much smaller than expected, according to Federgon. “Between 2005 and 2006, there were over 400 temporary workers at Ford Genk, and also many at parts manufacturing sites. But the peak periods are long gone,” says Paul Verschueren, research director at Federgon.