Wednesday, 22 October 2025
Temporary employment, long used to fill short-term staffing needs during peak production or retail periods, is becoming a core element of workforce strategy worldwide. Analysts forecast continued expansion of the global temporary staffing industry over the rest of the decade, driven by greater demand for flexibility, advances in recruitment technology, and changing attitudes toward non-permanent work.
According to sector studies, the global staffing services market was valued at roughly USD 600 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach between USD 820 billion and USD 900 billion by 2030, implying average annual growth of around 5 percent. Within this, the temporary and contract employment segment is expected to grow at approximately 4.5 to 6.5 percent per year to 2032, depending on definitions and regional variations. Estimates published by research groups such as Consegic Business Intelligence and Verified Market Research place the temporary labour market in the mid-hundreds of billions of dollars by the early 2030s.
“The need to respond quickly to shifting market conditions and manage costs efficiently is making flexible employment an essential tool for many companies,” said Edyta Kuczys, Sales Director at Opteamic Group, a provider of process outsourcing and employee leasing solutions. “Technological advances, including AI-based recruitment platforms and automated screening systems, are speeding up candidate selection and improving job matching. At the same time, globalisation and labour mobility have blurred professional boundaries, making temporary work more acceptable to both employers and workers.”
While growth prospects remain strong, analysts also warn of potential headwinds. Economic slowdowns in major markets or tighter labour regulation could limit the freedom of staffing agencies and their clients. In Poland, for instance, the Act of 20 March 2025 on the Labour Market and Employment Services, which entered into force in June, has introduced new rules for hiring foreign nationals and increased compliance requirements for employers. Rising wage pressures and higher labour costs in manufacturing and logistics may also affect the profitability of flexible-employment models.
Despite these challenges, Kuczys said that the market in Poland still has significant room to expand. “Even with thousands of licensed employment agencies, temporary work remains underdeveloped compared to Western Europe. Global trends offer important signals for local growth. Flexible hiring is becoming a key component of cost stability strategies and a way to address persistent skill shortages,” she noted. “This is the right moment to invest in digital tools, build competencies in flexible staffing, and develop long-term partnerships based on service quality.”
Industry observers see the projected expansion of temporary and contract staffing as part of a broader reorganisation of labour markets. The ability to scale workforces up or down rapidly is increasingly viewed as a cornerstone of organisational resilience. For recruitment firms and outsourcing providers, the coming years may prove decisive — those that invest early in technology and quality standards are likely to benefit most from the structural shift now reshaping global employment.
