Temporary staffing in 2022

The interim management and temporary staffing belong to the most common forms of employment abroad. The popularity of temporary assignments is also growing among Czech companies and, especially in the last couple of years, it has been gaining the status of a sought-after flexible recruitment solution. Dominika Žůrková, the Team Leader of Temporary Services team in Hays, is providing insights into the current market developments in this area.

The area of interim management and temporary employment in general is experiencing unprecedented growth this year, which is related to the overall recovery of the labour market. Compared to the previous year, we record a higher demand for candidates for qualified temporary jobs, especially with companies operating in the finance and accounting, HR, customer service, logistics or sales sectors.

When we analysed the official data, the largest growth in the demand for temporary workers was registered after summer of 2021. Qualified candidates available on the labour market can therefore have various opportunities to join interesting projects, they can get new experience from different sectors and reach their career goals much faster. With temporary assignments, companies can quickly appoint qualified staff for their new projects or obtain immediately available candidates. In terms of the seniority of these jobs, approximately 30 % of the roles available are in the middle management and 70 % of the offerings are roles suitable for graduates or juniors with up to two years of experience.

If we look at the age groups of jobseekers who are interested in temporary jobs, almost half of them are under the age of 30, which shows the potential of this service at a time when people are entering the labour market and thinking about their careers. If we focus on the academic level of the qualified temporary positions that are being offered, almost 60 % of them target professionals with a university degree.

We are the most successful in filling the temporary roles in administration, in the financial segment, but also in logistics, HR or marketing. Highly qualified IT positions and engineering specialists are the most difficult roles to fill. We often successfully complete several recruitment projects within a week or two; but on the other hand, the complex projects requiring candidates with special qualifications or skills usually take longer.

Seasonality used to be typical for temporary jobs in the Czech Republic. We usually recorded the greatest demand during the summer and September, and relatively low demand at the end of the calendar year. Companies were using the temporary service mainly to deal with a lack of personnel during the holiday season, or to strengthen their teams during the period of yearly closings. This trend is gradually changing, and we are seeing higher demand throughout the year, due to greater recruitment needs, opening new departments, working on new projects.

 

The Temporary solution is also used while the company grows faster than their budgeted headcount. We therefore assume that this trend will further strengthen, the number of temporary opportunities will continue to increase and the offering of projects for a longer period, e.g., 1 year and more, and their diversity will positively affect the interest in these roles among candidates.

We can divide the positive impact of this solution into two levels, from the point of view of the companies and from the point of view of the applicants.

Companies can fully outsource the recruitment process, assign an employee to a project that is currently urgent, supplement the current skills or obtain qualified advice on which recruitment solution is most appropriate in each situation, including legislative consultation. They can use the temporary assignment to “extend” the probation period of the candidate and they can have the flexibility to extend the contract several times with limited period. There is also a certain flexibility connected to the termination of the employee. 

 

And finally, this solution gives the candidates the opportunity to integrate into the labour market, to gain experience and desired career growth faster; junior applicants especially appreciate the opportunity to gain diverse experience and get to know different corporate cultures and positions and they have an opportunity to get higher salary with the upcoming projects.

 

For more senior profiles, the motivation is the opportunity to provide an added value through their know-how and get professional experience participating on an interesting project they wouldn´t have a chance to experience otherwise.