Impressive 6.9% growth in the staff leasing industry in the 2nd quarter

The Swiss economy is recovering. This is great news for the approximately 800 staff leasing companies in Switzerland, which recruit temporary staff for large corporations and SMES in all sectors. According to the Swiss Staffingindex, the number of hours worked by temporary workers rose by about 6.9% in the second quarter of 2017. This is a clear indication of an upturn in the Swiss economy.

The staff leasing industry creates 5,000 full-time-equivalent jobs

Recession at ABB, redundancies at Bombardier - the headlines are dominated by bad news from the economy. How does this fit with the dynamic development of the staff leasing industry? "Bad news from large international corporations often steals the limelight from business success," states swissstaffing economist Marius Osterfeld. "In the last quarter, Swiss staff leasing companies created around 5,000 new full-time-equivalent jobs." A large number of success stories lies behind this development, for example the move to a permanent position following a brief period as a temporary worker, additional earnings for the summer holidays or work during semester holidays to finance studies. Whether times are good or bad, the staff leasing market remains a flexible bridge in the labor market.

200 staff leasing companies, 40% market share, one index

The new Swiss Staffingindex combines the hours of work from around 200 Swiss staff leasing companies to create a single indicator for the temporary market. These companies include industry giants such as Adecco Human Resources AG, Manpower AG, Randstad Schweiz AG, Kelly Services Schweiz AG, Interiman Group Holding SA, dasteam ag and Bellini Personal AG. With 66 million hours of work, the index covers 40% of the Swiss temporary market and is representative of the sector's development.

Looking to the future with confidence

"At the half-year point, the staff leasing sector has recorded a pleasing 5.3% increase in working hours compared to the previous year," says swissstaffing economist Marius Osterfeld. "In view of the strong world economy and the positive growth forecasts, the sector can therefore feel optimistic about the second half of the year." Despite this, humility is still required. "The fact that the franc remains strong and the great increase in real wages can put the fragile upturn at risk. Caution and restraint are therefore advocated with regard to flat-rate wage increases through collective agreements. The good economic climate is opening up a broad range of opportunities for all employees to benefit financially and professionally."

More information:

The next page shows the index's key data and the development of the underlying index values. Other statistics are available at by clicking on this link: http://ots.ch/Kn1IJ

Swiss Staffingindex key data

   Staff leasing companies included     200 companies 
   Working hours recorded per year      66 million 
   Market coverage                      40% 
   Frequency of publication             Quarterly 
   Data collection                      Monthly 
   Next provisional publication date    26 October 2017

Source: swissstaffing, Q2/2017.

Overview of the development of the Swiss Staffingindex (basis: Q1 2012)

          2012    2013    2014    2015    2016    2017 
   Q1     100     104.1   114.3   110.9   112.4   116.1 
   Q2     136.3   144.3   148.9   143.0   143.1   153.0 
   Q3     153.8   159.9   160.9   154.4   158.3 
   Q4     138.2   147.5   145.7   139.6   144.5

Source: swissstaffing, Q2/2017.

swissstaffing is the centre of excellence for staff leasing companies in Switzerland. As an employers' association, swissstaffing represents the interests of its over 370 members in matters of policy, the economy and society. swissstaffing is a social partner of CBA Staff Leasing, the contract covering the majority of Switzerland's employees.

Study of the situation of temporary workers in Switzerland

The market research institute gfs-Zürich completes regular surveys on behalf of swissstaffing. The current study can be found by clicking on this link: http://ots.ch/Kn1IJ

Contact:

Marius Osterfeld, Economist
Tel: 044 388 95 40 / 079 930 45 25, marius.osterfeld@swissstaffing.ch

Blandina Werren, Head of Communications
Tel: 044 388 95 35, blandina.werren@swissstaffing.ch