Looking to expand your program? A report from Staffing Industry Analysts provides insight into the different strengths and weaknesses of a wide range of markets. While developed as a tool for staffing firms to evaluate given marketplaces, the data provided can also be used equally well by contingent workforce program managers. The “Most Attractive Staffing Markets Globally 2019Most Attractive Staffing Markets Globally 2019” report uses objective methodology to evaluate the potential of 60 markets across six continents..

This report evaluates the markets according to 10 components:

  • Market size. According to staffing revenue in order to evaluate market maturity.
  • Protection of permanent employees. Because strong protection acts as one of the main drivers of demand for temporary staffing in many markets.
  • Regulations on temporary agency work. Looks at the legislation as it pertains directly to temporary and contract staffing.
  • Ease of doing business. How easy it is to start a business, register property, get credit, protect investors, pay taxes, enforce contracts, and trade across borders.
  • Economic growth. Based on International Monetary Fund GDP forecasts.
  • Short-term growth. Based on SIA’s market growth forecasts for 2019.
  • Long-term growth. Based on SIA staffing market penetration rates.
  • Market competition. SIA’s assessment of the level of competition within each staffing market
  • Political stability. Is the government stable? Is there an absence of violence? Is there good
  • regulatory quality and is corruption controlled?
  • Human capital. The quality of education systems, ability to train and upskill workers, and access to skilled talent.

* Note that language and culture were not considered as factors in this market assessment.

Going global to any degree always requires the right reason, the right people, the right partners and the right strategy, so evaluate your options with your organization’s goals and culture in mind. An attractive market to you is also attractive to your competitors, but it’s also where you may find more qualified talent, for example. Meanwhile, the less-developed and less-crowded markets may seemingly provide more cost savings, but costly reskilling and training may be necessary, and the infrastructure may be less than ideal.

And knowing the differences between attractiveness to staffing firms and to CW programs is helpful to the evaluation process. According to David Papapostolou, author of the report and senior research analyst with SIA, a high score for the competition component (i.e., a low staffing attractivity score) is actually good for buyers because they can command a good price.

Ireland topped the list as the most attractive staffing market globally. Conversely, Venezuela is among the least attractive markets.

For those of you wanting to dig a little deeper into Europe, “The European Employment Barometer” is a complementary interactive research tool that covers key labor market indicators across 33 countries and enables users to access pertinent insights related to the employment situation and agency work in Europe. The tool can be used to track data and market trends over time and for specific geographies. The Barometer is a joint initiative between SIA and the World Employment Confederation

 Human capital. In terms of human capital, staffing suppliers and CW programs would be on the same page — needing quality and/or trainable quantity. The report also ranked countries in terms of developing their human capital and the ease of finding skilled employees. Finland tops the ranking with three other Scandinavian countries in the top 10. The largest declines were recorded by Argentina, followed by Lithuania, Nigeria, Venezuela and Norway. The US scored highly in terms of ease of finding skilled employees.

Related tools. While the “Most Attractive Staffing Markets Globally 2019” gives an assessment for the relative attractiveness of economies for staffing companies wishing to expand their geographical coverage, there are some key takeaways for program managers as well. Identifying the best location is only part of the journey and is likely driven by the business need.

A related CWS Council report — “Most Complex Contingent Markets Globally” — looks at global market complexity from an enterprise buyer perspective rather than attractiveness. CWS Council members can also utilize SIA’s “Global Compliance Trends for 2019, Global MSP Governance Structure” and a variety of country overviews known as “Look Ats” to gather data and support decisions on a given locale. And our complementary “Global Readiness Indicator” can help guide and support your global contingent workforce expansion.

print