Contractors 'fared better than permanent staff in recession'

Contractors found work easier to secure during the economic downturn than permanent employees, new figures have suggested.

SThree, a recruitment agency, revealed that its revenues for 2009 were steeply down and described the year as one of the worst ever recorded for the industry.

Its revenues fell by 17.8 per cent last year compared to 2008, while its operating profit dropped by more than two-thirds on the same period, Contract Eye reported.

But despite this, the company revealed that placements of temporary workers performed better than some analysts would have predicted.

Job offers for contractors fell by around a quarter over the 12 months, while permanent staff suffered a 40.8 per cent decrease.

"It is generally accepted that temporary hirings tend to be more resilient than permanent placements during downturns," the news provider pointed out.

This news comes after TalentPuzzle claimed that more than three-quarters of businesses in the UK are unhappy with the value for money provided to them by recruitment agencies.

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