As much as we love our industry, there’s no denying that recruitment is a tumultuous sector that can be tricky to work in sometimes. With constant fluctuations in demand, new legislation that can cause havoc, and thousands of companies all competing against each other, it can be a mess even when you’ve been part of it for decades.

Understanding why recruitment is like this is key for any temporary recruitment agency to succeed. You can plan ahead, weather the inevitable storms, and come out stronger than ever while some of your peers may falter.

So today we’re going to take a deeper look at the industry as a whole and explain what new start-ups and established agencies should be doing in 2025, and should continue doing for years to come.

 

Why the Recruitment Industry is All Over the Place

If you’ve spent any time working in recruitment, you’ll have seen first-hand that it doesn’t always ‘behave itself’. It’s unpredictable, even when it’s at its best, and recruiters that have been doing well might suddenly struggle through no fault of their own.

But why is this? Well it’s often because the recruitment industry is intertwined with every other industry. Every sector needs employees, both permanent and temporary, meaning there is always demand for expert recruiters. This is great for agencies, as you can work with one specific sector, attracting a higher calibre of workers and becoming a known figure in that industry because you’re more niche.

However, if that industry isn’t doing so well, your niche agency is now also being affected. These changes can be fairly predictable though. If you specialise in teaching, for example, you’ll naturally be in less demand during school holidays when substitute teachers aren’t needed, but that quickly picks up again when term starts.

From an outside perspective, the recruitment industry may look a lot more chaotic than it actually is. You might see a headline saying: ‘employment rates fall’, but a recruitment expert will explain that this happens every year, or that the rates have been trending upwards consistently for a while, so a small drop isn’t a big deal.

 

Is Temporary Recruitment More Reliable?

We exclusively work with temporary recruitment agencies, which is why we often sound biased when talking about the pros and cons of temporary recruitment when comparing it to the traditional recruitment industry.

But many of our team have a background in recruiting, so while we may not be directly involved in traditional recruitment any more, we still keep our finger on the pulse. Just last week we attended the 2025 Recruitment Expo, meeting agency representatives from across the country and attending talks that revealed how things are going, some of which we weren’t aware of, especially in the world of AI.

So what about temporary recruitment? Well it’s been in increasingly high demand over the last few years, with even small start-ups finding success faster than the equivalent permanent agency. This is because more businesses, in more industries, are seeing the value of hiring temporary workers. The benefits have always been clear, they allow a company to save on costs and don’t have to over-employ just to get a project over the line, or hire someone with a niche skillset that won’t be needed all the time.

Many recruitment agencies are switching to temporary recruitment because of this increased demand, using their existing foothold to give themselves an advantage. It’s still incredibly competitive, and has its ups and downs, but it’s the best way to run a recruitment agency at the moment.

However, there is still a lot an agency should do to ensure that any changes or developments don’t hit hard.

 

How to Manage an Ever-Changing Industry

The temporary recruitment agencies that succeed even when the odds are stacked against them all have a few things in common.

The first is scalability. When you’re a relatively new company, and the money is starting to roll in, it can be very tempting to invest a lot of your earnings into your agency. This is great, you get to upgrade your systems, spend more time building trust with clients, and build up your team.

But the latter can be a double-edged sword. If you expand too quickly, and then work starts to slow down, you end up with a large team and not enough work to keep them busy. This is a drain on resources with little benefit – you should always ensure that your agency is scalable, but is still tight-knit, to keep a good balance.

It can also be good to follow your own advice and bring in temporary workers. It may seem ironic, but you know better than anyone how useful they can be.

Another thing you should do is quite simple: pay attention to the industry. This is especially important for established agencies, whose success might lead them to lose touch with the wider industry. They can then be caught off guard by a change in legislation that they weren’t aware of, or start to lose temporary workers because they aren’t offering benefits that are now industry standard.

For example, earlier this year the UK government released their Employment Rights Bill, which directly affects temporary recruitment agencies. There was a crackdown on zero-hour contracts that many temporary workers used, and agencies were offering to their candidates. If you weren’t aware of this ahead of time, it would’ve been a sudden shock that left you scrambling to make some rapid changes in order to stay compliant.

This is something our clients never have to worry about.

 

Work with us to Succeed in Recruitment

At Back Office Support Services, we do more than just offer a great service. Your invoices, payroll, and credit control will be handled by the best in the business, and our 100% recruitment funding gives you access to the funds you need to keep your temporary workers paid on time.

But we also go one step further. We believe in building strong connections with our clients, keeping things professional but also learning all we can about them and their business. This allows us to tailor our service, but also improve communication.

Like we said, keeping our finger of the pulse of the recruitment industry is important to us. If any of our clients haven’t stayed up to date, we take the time to give them a heads up alongside our regular reports, so they can adapt accordingly. It’s just one of the many ways we go the extra mile to help you succeed.

If you feel like the industry is getting a little out of hand, get in touch to find out how we can help.