International News from APSCo

A round-up of international news from APSCo around the globe

United Kingdom

The UK recruitment landscape is still set against a backdrop of skill shortages. One of the big issues is that since Brexit, there has been no visa route for highly skilled professional contractors to enter the UK which has exacerbated an already skill short hiring landscape.

Year-on-year comparisons continue to show significant growth in revenues from placements for UK recruitment firms with our latest data showing a 49% uplift in sales for permanent placements and a massive 80% uplift in contract sales.

The UK public policy team continues to meet with Government to demonstrate the value of a globally focused recruitment sector, a globally mobile talent pool of independent contractors and the benefits of introducing a work visa for self-employed.

Germany

APSCo is also arranging a trade delegation to Berlin in Germany and Zurich in Switzerland, in June. Both the German and Swiss recruitment markets have enjoyed indexed revenue growth of over 30% since 2013. Zurich is seen as Switzerland’s economic powerhouse and is one of the world’s most important financial centres while Berlin is one of Germany’s most important locations for industry and the service sector. This growth makes Germany and Switzerland ideal target destinations for staffing firms looking to expand their global footprint and diversify their growth strategies.

Whatever sectors you are operating in, the business opportunities in Germany and Switzerland are immense and our fully supported programme of seminars and hosted meetings will provide you with all the expert information you need to inform your business planning and drive future growth. You can download the brochure here.

Asia

APSCo continues to ramp up operations in South East Asia and will launch a new dedicated website for the region in mid-April. While historically APSCo has primarily been focused on Singapore, we are now growing the service offering to support organisations across the ASEAN region including Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, The Philippines Thailand and Vietnam. From a lobbying perspective, for example, we have developed strong relationships the Ministry of Manpower (MoM) – an approach we aim to replicate with stakeholders across South East Asia.