The UK is the Third Largest Recruitment Market in the World

The UK retained its position as the third largest recruitment market globally – that’s according to the World Employment Confederation’s (WEC) Economic report 2020 published today.

The report, which is produced annually, provides a comprehensive picture of the private employment industry’s market and demonstrates how the industry contributes to better functioning labour markets. In 2018, the private employment services industry reached global revenues of £418.8 billion (€473.4 billion). That’s up by 2% compared to the year before.

Our place in the world

The WEC report gives UK recruiters a sense of their contribution to the global recruitment market. It also gives an insight into how well the industry is functioning compared to other countries. What’s clear is that UK recruiters are making a huge contribution:     

• It is the third largest market by agency work revenues, behind the USA (1) and Japan (2). These three markets make up the majority of revenues (54%) at the global level.
• It is the fourth largest market in permanent recruitment globally, behind the USA, Australia, and China.
• In Europe, the UK is the largest market, responsible for nearly 10% of all placements. It generates 23% of all agency work revenues and 42% of sales in the permanent recruitment market.

A testament to good recruitment

With economic uncertainty, skills shortages and regulatory reforms dominating the agenda in the UK during that period, the country’s substantial contribution to the global recruitment market is testament to the great work recruiters put in.

WEC’s findings echo those of our own research. As our Recruitment industry trends 2018/19 report reveals, recruiters placed over a million people into permanent positions, generating £5.5 billion in revenues. There were more than 1.1 million temporary workers on assignment on any given day, generating £33.4 billion in revenues. This performance was achieved through the contribution of 119,000 professionals across the country, part of a growing recruitment workforce.

If the outstanding performance of the UK industry is anything to go by, recruiters will continue to demonstrate resilience and the ability to respond to changing needs with agility.

You can download the Recruitment industry trends 2018/19 here.