A new survey of recruitment companies belonging to the Almega business association showed the firms increasing their turnover for the eleventh quarter in a row. Takings were up 20 percent on the same period in 2006, despite a fall of five percent for recruitment firms in Stockholm.
The fall in Stockholm was down to increasing problems in recruiting suitable staff. Stockholm accounts for 40 percent of the industry’s earnings.
“The regions outside Stockholm have grown by between 30 and 50 percent,” said Henrik Bäckström, manager of Almega’s section for recruitment companies.
Turnover in the recruitment sector has increased by 60 percent since the fourth quarter of 2004, and is expected to reach 15 billion kronor this year.
Bäckström said that the government’s employment policies needed reforming.
“It’s a scandal that the slowness of [state employment agency] AMS and the government’s unwillingness to open for alternative routes into the employment market lead to people missing the chance to get a job. This requires reform of employment policy as a whole, which means that AMS needs to be opened up for competition,” he said.