The temporary employment market in France: from crisis to growth thanks to digital?
What are the new challenges facing the temporary employment market in France in recent years? And how can you maintain your competitive edge as an employment agency?
If you're involved in the temporary employment sector, whether you're the head of an agency or a temporary employment network, are you looking for a better understanding of what digital temporary employment represents?
Here's an overview of this fast-changing sector, and some ideas on how digital technology can help you meet the emerging challenges of temporary work!
Overview of the temporary employment market in France in 2019 and 2020
5 key figures
According to the work of DARES (December 2019 data), here is a global overview of the temporary employment market in France:
- 10,273 employment agencies
- 30,400 permanent employees
- 2,749,650 temporary employees
- 21,212,425 contracts signed
- 47,934 permanent temporary contracts
Source: Temporary Work and Recruitment Observatory (OIT)
Breakdown of temporary work by region and sector of activity
By region
Temporary employment agencies are concentrated in 4 regions:
- Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes,
- Île-de-France
- Nouvelle-Aquitaine,
- PACA.
By sector of activity
Temporary work is mainly in the sectors of :
- Construction
- industry
- transport
- and services.
Temporary employment players: what market share?
The three leading French temporary employment agencies, Adecco, Manpower and Randstad, together account for more than half of the temporary employment market, with 60% of the volume of work carried out.
Their strengths include
- investing heavily in staff training
- using specialist consultants
- diversifying their offerings to bring greater value to businesses.
However, this dominance is tending to decline. The digital transformation of the recruitment world is changing the game and opening the door to emerging players, such as 100% digital temporary employment platforms, which are beginning to conquer the market.
The impact of the crisis and the outlook for the post-crisis period
A year of ups and downs in 2020
Like many sectors of the economy, the health crisis in 2020 had a major impact on the temporary employment market:
- during the first containment period, a fall of 54.3% was recorded between February and April 2020 ;
- When economic activity recovered, temporary work picked up for 6 months;
- following the second containment in November 2020, a further fall was recorded, with the number of temporary workers at 89% of the February 2020 level, before the effects of the crisis.
According to the November 2020 figures, temporary work has fallen by 14.5% compared with November 2019. Most sectors have been negatively impacted, including:
- industry
- construction
- services
- trade.
The only sector to see an upturn is transport (Source: Prismemploi.eu).
Signs of a recovery in 2021?
While the figures for early 2021 are still tentative, forecasts of a gradual recovery in activity are optimistic.
Indeed, companies have been through difficult times, and may be adapting the way they recruit in order to adjust to fluctuations in demand and limit the risks.
Lacking visibility in an increasingly uncertain economic climate, they may be turning to temporary recruitment for greater flexibility.
Temporary work, a sector in the throes of transition with the rise of digital practices, could benefit from this and return to growth.
Towards the temporary work of tomorrow
New challenges for temporary employment agencies
Temporary employment agencies are facing new challenges that they need to meet if they are to remain competitive:
- guaranteeing better protection for employees,
- easier access to training
- greater emphasis on accessibility,
- accelerating the adoption of digital tools,
- changes in the behaviour of temporary workers, who are more mobile, etc.
This reflects a transformation of the employment market that has accelerated since the start of the crisis. And its players still have some interesting cards to play if they are to make the transition.
[Focus] The digital temporary employment market
Still relatively undeveloped, the digital temporary employment market is gaining momentum and could well see its role grow in importance over the next few years.
In addition to pure digital players, 1% of companies are now digitalising 100% of their processes, from recruitment to administrative management. More and more companies are taking part in the digital transformation of the temporary employment sector, by integrating new technologies into their strategy.
According to certain forecasts, 10% of the temporary employment market could be digitalised by 2025, which would correspond to more than 400,000 people having completed a temporary assignment over the course of a year (Source: Xerfi).
Success factors for a temporary employment agency in 2021
To adapt to changes in the sector, remember to :
- remain attractive to both temporary workers and user companies, by working on your brand image ;
- increase the loyalty of your temporary workers and reduce staff turnover;
- Make your staff more autonomous;
- reduce the amount of time spent on administrative tasks, freeing up for higher added-value tasks such as consultancy, training and human contact, etc.
So where do you start? Equip yourself with a specialised temporary employment tool and optimise all your temporary employment agencies' activities and processes. For example, the Troops full web platform is designed to meet your needs and simplify your day-to-day work. As a bonus, a dedicated advisor will help you define your strategy.
Are you ready to make the transition to digital working? Find out more when choosing your tools - there are tailor-made packages to help you transform the way you do business!
Article translated from French