Staffing firms look beyond the pandemic

A YEAR AGO employers were furloughing staff. Now many of them are desperately looking for more. The rapid bounce-back in some bits of the labour market—notwithstanding the risk of a new pandemic flare-up—has been good news for workers angling for a pay rise. It is also a boon for staffing agencies, which match firms with potential hires. Beyond short-term dislocations to the workforce, the changing way in which people want to work should keep the recruiters busy.Firms globally spend over $400bn on human-resources services, according to Royal Bank of Canada. Much of the limelight is hogged by headhunters that poach chief executives, star bankers or . In fact the bulk of the business consists of placing low-level office hands and blue-collar workers, often on temporary contracts. The industry is heavily fragmented, but a few global players have emerged, such as Adecco in Switzerland, Manpower in America and Randstad in the Netherlands.