Indian Staffing Industry 2015

The Staffing Industry includes companies which list employment vacancies, place applicants in employment, supply temporary workforce and all other employment related services. Market size of the Indian staffing industry was INR 26,650 crore in 2014 and is growing between 10-15% year on year. [i]

The industry is broadly classified as:

Temporary/Flexi Staffing:

Firms which retain workers and supply temporary workforce to other companies for specific assignments. This is the largest segment with a market size of INR 19,900 crores which is 75% of the market. This is primarily because of pass through salary costs included in the revenue of such firms.

Permanent recruitment:

Sourcing, screening, and on-boarding of candidates from junior level to positions to CXO-level positions (CXO level hiring is called Search). The industry forms about 12% market with a size of INR 3,250 crores. It includes only the net fees from each successful referral/hire.

Other Employment Services:

Market size of other employment services is at INR 3,500 crores which is 13% of the overall market. Other categories primarily include

-        Payroll administration

-        Recruitment process outsourcing

-        HR management and consulting

-        Employment training

-        Online job portals

Top Staffing Companies in India[ii]

Staffing Industry Private equity and M&A deals[iv]

Listed Staffing Companies

Indian Staffing Industry Facts

• India has one of the largest flexible staffing workforce numbers in the world, next only to China and the US.[vii]
• The government employs a temporary workforce of about 12.3 million[viii]
• Flexi staffing market is poised to grow 10% to 15% year-on-year
• The retail sector is expected to witness growth to the tune of 10% to 12% per annum, making it the most lucrative option for a massive growth in flexible staffing.
• The penetration of contract staff in the IT and [IT-enabled-Services] industry is also likely to increase from 10% to 20% in the next few years.
• According to the Indian Staffing Federation, there are at present 1.3 million temporary workers in the organised sector, which is likely to increase to 9 million workers in the next 10 years.[ix]

Staffing Industry Trends

• Virtual talent marketplaces where automated process  are used to rank and scout for fresh talent are proving to be disrupting the staffing industry[x]
• Social recruiting is now the norm — 93% of recruiters use or plan to use social to support their recruiting efforts. [xi]
• Temporary or contract-based work is on the rise as many of the top talents are taking up freelancing or on contract jobs, in this process, staffing firms will play a pivotal role in easing the relationship between freelancers and their clients.[xii]
• Training is the starting point for developing a temporary work-force. A company with training facilities has an edge in terms of an employment-ready and local temporary workforce.

Target industries for Staffing Businesses

The major industries being served by Staffing industry include:

• IT/ITES
• Retail Industry
• Public Administration & Education sector[xiii]