randstad international trends and workplace survey report

www.randstad.com 

randstad international 

trends and workplace 

survey report 

2013

preface 

Although the content of this 

publication has been composed 

with the outmost care, the 

publisher cannot be held responsible 

for any errors and omissions 

which may occur. 

No rights may be derived from 

this document. 

This survey has been conducted 

by ICMA Group, Waterloo 

Belgium. 

Welcome to the annual Randstad international trends and workplace survey. We are 

pleased to present the 2013 issue. This report offers insights into various trends and 

developments impacting your business, collected from companies operating within 

various industries, as well as salary statistics for all the different markets and geographic 

regions in which they operate. 

From October to December 2012 our consultants interviewed 1,001 key decision 

makers and human resources executives across 8 countries. The report explores subjects 

related to the economy, talent and recruiting, sustainability, trends & innovation in the 

workplace, compensation and benefits, etc. The employment market is continuously 

changing, not in the least brought on by the volatility of the economic environment. 

While companies have focused on emphasizing their core competencies, they are also 

planning for the future, in order to remain competitive and successful, and grasp opportunities 

for growth if and when they arise. This year’s survey discusses these developments 

as well as many others. An executive summary highlights our key findings on 

page 6. 

At Randstad we remain focused on providing the quality talent our clients need to 

impact their organization’s bottom line and its future success. In our business, relationships 

are key, and we extend a sincere thank you to everyone who participated in this 

year’s survey. 

Ben Noteboom 

CEO Randstad Holding 

randstad 

international 

trends and 

workplace 


2 

Randstad international trends and workplace survey report 2013 Randstad international trends and workplace survey report 2013 

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2013

contents 

1 Structure of the report 5 

2 Key findings 6 

3 Company 10 

4 Participant profile 12 

5 HR and challenges 14 

6 Employment and recruitment strategies 16 

7 Trends and innovation in the workplace 19 

8 Economic impact and outlook 22 

structure of 

the report 

In this report you will find: 

Key findings 

Overview of the main findings. 

Company 

Detailed information on the companies that have participated in the survey. 

Participant profile 

Detailed information on the participants, i.e. the decision makers and 

HR executives. 

HR and challenges 

Current and future challenges that are or will be affecting HR and organizations 

in the future as well as an outline on how companies deal with skill 

shortages and the type of benefits they offer to their employees. 

Employment and recruitment strategies 

Perspectives on the sources and processes used to recruit and assess talent, 

explanations on whether companies are willing to hire temporary or 

permanent staff and reasons why organizations might fail to attract 

top talent. 

Trends and innovation in the workplace 

Important changes and new ways of working in the workplace and recruitment 

processes. 

Economic impact and outlook 

How does the current economic situation impact the organizations’ 

initiatives and future perspectives. 

4 Randstad international trends and workplace survey report 2013 Randstad international trends and workplace survey report 2013 

5 

1 






2013

key findings 

I General 

This salary, benefits and workplace trends 

report presents the results of a series of in-depth 

interviews conducted among 1,001 key decisionmakers 

at companies in 8 countries. Fieldwork took 

place between October and December 2012. 

The Manufacturing/Industry, Services, Computer/ 

Software services/Internet and Financial services 

sectors constituted the largest groups in our 

sample, followed by organizations defined within 

the FMCG and Healthcare/Medical/ Pharmaceutical 

sectors. The industries varied from country to 

country as some focused on specific sectors, such 

as Chile on Engineering and Services, for instance, 

while Switzerland focused more on the Computer/ 

Software Services/Internet sector. 

45% of the companies interviewed had up to 

100 employees, 43% had a workforce of more 

than 100 and up to 1,000 people and 12% were an 

organization with more than a 1,000 employees. 

63% of the organizations surveyed generated a 

turnover up to 50 million euro within their country. 

Overall (globally), 41% of 801 companies were 

organizations with a turnover > 500 million euro, 

which indicates they were (part of) a multinational 

organization or were associated with one. 

When looking at the participants’ profiles in more 

detail, we see that the most common job title 

(37%) was ‘Manager’, followed by ‘Director’. Most 

of the respondents were working within HR (58%) 

and found their current position mostly through 

professional contacts/referrals (29%) or by means 

of recruitment companies (15%) and internal 

promotion (14%). 

Respondents tended to keep abreast of business 

trends via networking (58%), professional 

networking sites (52%) such as LinkedIn and 

professional associations (50%). Newspapers, trade 

journals and web-based sources (blogs, newsletters, 

etc.) also scored reasonably highly. 81% 

were a member of LinkedIn, 52% had a Facebook 

account and 1 in 4 used Twitter. 

Respondents use these social networking sites 

mostly to expand their network (72%) and to 

connect with friends and family (48%). They 

also used it to recruit or to look for new job 

opportunities. 

The networking methods most commonly used 

were attending conferences/conventions (57%), 

professional networking (54%) and social 

networking sites. 1 in 4 also used sector-specific 

organizations (federations, etc.). 

II HR and challenges 

The key productivity challenges for 2013 within 

the companies in the different countries surveyed 

were developing leadership skills for the next 

phase of growth (49%), filling critical vacancies 

created by business expansion (30%), government 

legislation impacting workforce flexibility (30%) 

and making up for the lack of specialist skills to 

drive innovation (24%). The lack of specialist skills 

to drive innovation was frequently mentioned by 

respondents in The Netherlands and Switzerland. 

2 






The top 3 challenges identified within HR were: 

1. increasing performance and productivity 

2. retaining top performers 

3. avoiding losing top talent to competitors 

The most important leadership competencies for 

managers to obtain in this year’s survey were the 

ability to: 

1. motivate and inspire others 

2. adapt to changing business demands 

3. analyse problems and solve them 

Additionally, we identified that only 1 in 3 respondents 

believed that their managers or employees 

had the ability to effectively adapt to changes in 

business demands. 

To address the issue of shortage of skills, companies 

would conduct education and training programs 

(60%), followed by offering more flexible working 

options for employees (24%) and increasing the 

number of hired contractors (21%). At country 

level, companies sometimes dealt with other 

priorities. Organizations in Switzerland and Chile 

indicated that they had to focus on hiring talent 

from other countries. 

III Employment and recruitment strategies 

60% of the companies within the countries 

that experienced an economic downturn hired 

permanent staff in 2012 and 44% hired employees 

on an interim basis. Switzerland was the country 

that showed the highest rate of hiring permanent 

staff (94%). The lowest percentage with regards 

to employment of permanent staff was in 

Greece: 46%. 

79% of the companies within the countries that are 

in an economic upturn situation hired permanent 

staff in 2012 and 37% hired employees on an 

interim basis. Poland was the country that showed 

the highest rate of hiring permanent staff with 89%. 

44% of the organizations said they estimated 

attrition rates to be the highest with employees 

that had been with the company for longer than 

5 years on average. 

1 in 3 organizations believed they had the ability to 

attract top talent. The main reasons the organizations 

failed to attract talent were strong competition 

for available talent, lack of internal career opportunities 

and uncompetitive salary and/or benefits. 

Recruitment companies, employee referrals, 

company websites, print advertising and job boards 

were the primary sources when recruiting talent. 

For those respondents that used social networking 

sites, 48% claimed they were successful for 

recruiting and used them as their channel when 

looking for staff-level employees or management 

candidates. 

Reference checks were the main standard 

background checks conducted in the hiring process, 

followed by degree verifications and background 

checks and assessments. Criminal checks were 

frequently conducted in Turkey, IQ and emotional 

intelligence tests in Argentina. 

Bonuses, medical insurance and career development 

were the most common benefits within 

the organizations. Specifically for The Netherlands 

we found the pension plan to be the most common 

benefit offered, whilst Switzerland offered 

predominately flexible working options. 

IV Trends and innovation in the workplace 

Professional and social networks were seen by 

28% as a new trend in recruitment. The less 

conventional recruitment methods, such as 

virtual career fairs, hosting a free lunch to chat 

with potential candidates or holding a contest or 

speed-dating-style recruitment event, were not 

frequently used. 53% of the respondents did not 

have an opinion on this matter, although in Poland 

virtual career fairs appeared in the top 2 new 

recruitment trends. 

To manage changes in the workplace 60% of 

the organizations prepared their managers/supervisors 

or involved people in the change process. 

Other changes implemented included building up 

a strategy for implementing the change within the 

organisation and providing information about the 

change early on and often. Creating a “we can do 

better” spirit also scored reasonably well. 

Top changes that have been implemented included 

adding new duties to existing jobs (63%) and 

different forms of training and education (41%). 

Specific to Switzerland was that a nice working 

atmosphere/environment came top of the list of 

new changes implemented (88%). 

With regard to implementing new ways of 

working, organizations mostly implemented a 

broader and more embedded collaboration, added 

a process and skill reconfiguration or adapted 

specific technologies that made smarter working 


7 

2013

practices valuable. In Chile and Poland, creating an 

environment in which employees learned as well 

as taught appeared top of the list of new ways 

of working. 

1 in 3 companies said they were prepared to handle 

different generations in their working environment. 

They handled this by implementing different 

HR policies. 33% said they were not prepared and 

the remaining 36% did not answer the question. 

The most commonly used working policies for the 

youngest generation (generation Y) were more 

variation in the job by adding different work tasks 

(50%), flexible working hours (49%) and career 

development plans (48%). 

Employees belonging to generation X were 

offered career development plans (47%), flexible 

working hours (42%) and different forms of 

compensation/benefits (37%). 

Top of the list for the more senior generation 

(babyboomers) was flexible working hours (42%), 

organizing work gatherings to keep older workers 

engaged and motivated (33%) and being part of 

mentoring programs (32%). 

V Economic impact and outlook 

The effects for those countries (Argentina, Chile, 

Poland and Turkey) that had benefited from 

the economic upturn predominantly resulted in 

the recruitment of employees (49%), extended 

hiring (31%) and larger budgets (25%). 31% 

mentioned that the current economic climate had 

had a significant impact on their workload and 

1 in 2 mentioned that company loyalty had been 

impacted by changes implemented within the 

organization. Recruitment most often occurred 

in Sales and Operations (both 40%), followed by 

Accounting/Finance (38%). 

Despite these countries being in an economic 

upturn, 36% of all respondents said they believed 

the country was currently experiencing the effects 

of the global economic situation, while 1 in 3 

thought they would be doing so during 2013. Half 

of the respondents said they did not anticipate any 

economic decline in 2013. 15% said they did expect Andorra 

check no 1 market 

a decrease, whilst the remainder either did not Angolaposition 

know or were doubtful. 17% said that they had Argentina 

already implemented a freeze on hiring employees Australia 

in 2012 and 22% would do so in 2013 or thereafter. Belgium 

Brazil 

The majority either did not know or did not 

answer the question. 

The main opportunity that the respondents 

had taken advantage of as a direct result of the 

economic situation was that they had created new 

partnerships, targeted new customer segments, 

optimized technologies and restructured the 

organization. 

The consequences for those countries (Greece, 

The Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland) that had 

been impacted by an economic downturn resulted 

predominately in budget cuts (62%), cut or frozen 

compensations (46%) and employee layoffs (40%). 

39% mentioned that the current economic climate 

global Randstad presence 






had had a significant impact on their workload 

but 73% mentioned that company loyalty had 

not been impacted by the changes implemented 

within the organization. 

Most layoffs occurred in Operations (26%) and 

Sales and Accounting/Finance (23%). 

Only 7% of the respondents said they were 

currently recovering from the economic downfall. 

1 in 4 believed they would recover during 2013 

but the majority, with 68%, thought this would 

be after 2013. Remarkably, the majority, with 

39%, anticipated growth in 2013. 24% believed 

there might be a possibility for expansion within 

Canada 

Germany Japan 

New Zealand Spain 

Turkey 

France Germany Greece Hungary India Italy Japan Luxembourg Malaysia Mexico Mozambique Netherlands 

Chile 

Greece Luxembourg Norway 

Sri Lanka United Arab Emirates 

China & New Hongkong Zealand Norway Hong Poland Kong Portugal MalaysiaSingapore 

Slovakia Poland Spain Sri Lanka Sweden Switzerland United Kingdom 

Czech Republic Hungary Turkey Mexico United Arab Emirates Portugal United Kingdom United Switzerland States UruguayUnited 

States 

Denmark 

India 

Mozambique Singapore 

Thailand Uruguay 

France 

Italy 

Netherlands Slovakia 

(August 2011) 

a year and 28% of the respondents said that they 

did not foresee any growth within the next year. 

1 in 3 respondents were currently hiring (project) 

employees and 26% would do so during 2013. 

46% of the companies showed concern with 

regard to an increase in job turnover as the 

economy picks up again. Positively, the economic 

crisis allowed 59% of all respondents to negotiate 

better terms with their supplier, encouraged their 

employees to think differently (44%), restructured 

their organization (40%) and created new partnerships 

(37%). 

8 Randstad international trends No. and 1 workplace market position survey report 2013 Randstad international trends and workplace survey report 2013 

9 

Major positions in Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, Greece, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, UK, United States 

2013 

Andorra Angola Argentina Australia Belgium Brazil Canada Chile China / Hong Kong Czech Republic Denmark 

N = 1,001

company 

This section shows an overview 

of the companies that 

participated in the survey, 

providing information about 

the company’s size, industry, 

and the number of employees 

within the organization and per 

department. 

The main sectors included in this survey were 

Manufacturing / Industry, Services, Computer / 

Software business / Internet and Financial 

Services, as shown in fig. 3.1. In Chile, 1 in 4 

organizations belonged to either the Engineering 

or Services sectors and in Switzerland, 

1 in 3 companies were defined within the 

Computer / Software / Internet business sectors. 

Figure 3.1 Industries 

Manufacturing / Industry 13% 

Services 12% 

Computer / Software services / Internet 12% 

Financial services 11% 

FMCG 7% 

Healthcare / Medical / Pharmaceutical 7% 

Engineering 5% 

Construction / Real estate / Property management 5% 

Transportation / Logistics 4% 

Advertising, Marketing, PR 2% 

Government / Public / Nonprofit 1% 

Other 20% 

3 







11 

2013 

Figure 3.2 Size of company total level 

30% 

8% 

63% 

€ 0 - € 50 million 

€ 51 - € 500 million 

> € 500 million 

63% of the companies surveyed generated a 

turnover of up to € 50 million within their country. 

If we take a closer look at the overall size (globally) 

of these companies, 41% of 801 companies were 

part of a > € 500 million organization, meaning 

they belonged to (part of) a multinational or 

were associated with one (as illustrated in 

fig. 3.2 and 3.3). 

45% of the companies surveyed had up to 

100 employees (particularly in Greece, Spain, 

Switzerland and Turkey). 43% had between 

100 and 1,000 people in their workforce (particularly 

in The Netherlands, Argentina, Chile and 

Poland), with the remainder working with more 

than 1,000 (particularly in The Netherlands and 

Argentina), as shown in fig. 3.4. 

Figure 3.5 Number of employees per department 

50 

101-1000 

No answer 

Finance 63% 28% 10% 6% 

IT 67% 21% 12% 13% 

Engineering 55% 24% 21% 31% 

Sales and Marketing 41% 34% 25% 14% 

41% 

43% 

12% 

24% 

35% 

45% 

€ 0 - € 50 million 

€ 51 - € 500 million 

> € 500 million 

0-100 

> 1000

participant 

profile 

This chapter provides information about the people who have been 

interviewed: the sector they work in, their job title, as well as the 

number of staff members that report to the respondents. Information 

is given on how they found their current position and the degrees 

and certifications that are most common in their line of business. 

This chapter also illustrates the methods participants use to network 

and keep abreast on current business trends. 

Figure 4.1 Job level Figure 4.2 Department 

37% Management level 

24% Director level 

11% Employee level 

10% Supervisor level 

8% CEO / CFO / COO level 

3% Controller level 

3% Vice President level 

5% Other 

Most participants held a management title, 

followed by directors (fig. 4.1). 

As shown in fig. 4.2, most respondents worked 

in HR. Finance followed at a great distance. 

In The Netherlands, the majority of the 

respondents worked within a finance department. 

58% HR 

14% Finance 

9% Sales / Marketing 

5% Engineering 

2% IT 

12% Other 

23% of respondents had 1 to 2 people that 

reported directly to them. 34% had no employees 

reporting directly to them. 

The participants found their current position 

predominantly through professional contacts and 

referrals, through recruitment companies and by 

means of internal promotion (fig. 4.3). 

4 






Internal promotion was popular in Turkey and in 

The Netherlands the use of recruitment companies 

scored the highest. Finding a job position through 

job fairs, an internal recruiter or the company 

website was not very common. 

The preferred methods of networking were 

attending conferences and conventions and 

through professional and social networking sites. 

Mentors and coaches were unpopular, as shown 

in fig. 4.4. 

In The Netherlands, Greece, Switzerland and 

Poland, networking by means of attending conferences 

and conventions was the most common. 

To keep up with current business trends (fig. 4.5) we 

see that networking, professional networking sites 

(LinkedIn) and professional associations were the 

most frequently used resources. In The Netherlands, 

Chile and Poland educational seminars scored the 

highest in this context. For Spain and Argentina, 

one of the most popular resources for keeping up 

with current business trends was trade journals. 

The survey showed that 81% of respondents 

were members of LinkedIn. In second place, with 

52% we find Facebook, followed at a distance 

by Twitter (25%). These sites are mainly used for 

networking, followed by connecting with friends 

and family, recruitment and looking for jobs. Plaxo 

was very popular in Switzerland and used by 45% 

of the respondents. 


13 

2013 

Figure 4.3 How did you find your current role? 

Professional contact / referral 29% 

Recruitment company 15% 

Internal promotion 14% 

Internet job board 9% 

Executive search firm 8% 

Prof. networking site 4% 

Print advertising 2% - 

Internal recruiter 3% 

Print advertising 7% Other 8% 

networking by means of professional 

networking sites, such as linkedin are very 

popular to keep current on business trends 

Company website 2% - 

Figure 4.4 Methods you use to network 

Conferences / conventions 57% 

Professionals networking sites 54% 

Social networking sites 36% 

Higher level professionals 29% 

Alumni associations 25% 

Mentors and coaches 11% 

Other 4% 

None 6% 

Figure 4.5 Resources most frequently used to stay abreast 

of business trends 

Networking 58% 

Professional networking sites ( ) 52% 

Professional associations 50% 

Newspapers 46% 

Trade journals 40% 

Web based sources (blogs, eNewsletters) 40% 

Social networking sites ( , 

) 22% 

Government tax authorities 16% 

Other 5% 

None 3%

HR and challenges 

Detailed overview of some of the challenges companies are facing within 

the organization or their department in the current climate. Additional 

information in this section relates to the choice of benefits companies offer 

to their employees and on how they handle skills shortages. 

The top 3 challenges within HR included increasing 

performance and productivity, knowing how to 

retain top performers and knowing how to avoid 

losing top talent to competitors. Managing skills 

shortages and internal change programs or salary 

expectations were not considered to be urgent 

challenges within the organization, as shown in 

fig. 5.1. Additionally, we identified that 1 in 3 

respondents believed that their managers or 

employees had the ability to effectively adapt to 

changes in business demands. 

Asking organizations about the key productivity 

challenge, the most frequent answer given by 

1 in 2 respondents was developing leadership skills 

for the next phase of growth, followed by filling 

critical vacancies created by business expansion and 

government legislation impacting workforce flexibility 

with 30% (fig. 5.2). Employees that use online media 

during working hours were not really considered 

to be a danger to productivity. The lack of specialist 

skills to drive innovation was frequently mentioned 

by respondents in The Netherlands and Switzerland. 

5 






Looking at fig. 5.3 it seems that the next 

generation of leaders will be required to have the 

ability to motivate and inspire others, to adapt 

to changes in business demands and to analyze 

problems and have the skills to solve them. 


15 

2013 

Figure 5.1 Challenges within HR 

Increasing performance and productivity 62% 

no answer 

6% 

Retaining top performers 53% 5% 

Avoid losing top talent to competitors 40% 8% 

Attracting talent for the next phase of growth 35% 7% 

Keeping employees informed 31% 15% 

Manage internal change programs 30% 10% 

Managing skill shortage 25% 10% 

Manage salary expectations 24% 7% 

companies need managers 

that have the ability to motivate 

and inspire others 

When asked how they would address the skills 

shortage, most respondents answered that 

they would tackle this issue through education 

and training programs, as shown in fig. 5.4. 

Other ways to address the problem included 

offering more flexible working options for 

employees and increasing the use of external 

hired contractors. Hiring talent from other 

countries was a key factor in Switzerland and 

Chile in dealing with the shortage in skills. 

Figure 5.2 Key productivity challenges the 

organization will face in 2013 

Developing leadership skills for the next phase of growth 49% 

Filling critical vacancies created by business expansion 30% 

Government legislation impacting wokrforce flexbility 30% 

Lack of specialist skills to drive innovation 24% 

Knowledge loss created by increased employee turnover 21% 

Lack of skills to benefit from advancements in tehnology 16% 

Employees accessing online media during work hours 5% 

No answer 10% 

Figure 5.3 Most important leadership competencies 

for your managers 

3 out of 4 respondents claim that shortage in skills 

should be addressed through education and training 

the key productivity challenge for 

organizations is to develop leadership 

skills for the next phase of growth 

high 

no answer 

Ability to motivate and inspire others 71% 3% 

Adapting to changing business demands 61% 6% 

Analyze and problem solving skills 58% 5% 

Build trusted relationships 54% 10% 

Vision for the future 41% 5% 

Ability to innovate and drive creativity 48% 5% 

Other 4% 94% 

Figure 5.4 What will you do to address the shortages 

in skills in 2013? 

Education and training programs 60% 

Offer more flexible work options to employees 24% 

Increase use of externally hired contractors 21% 

Outsource business functions 19% 

Hire talent from other countries 17% 

Hire more part-time workers 10% 

Other 10% 

No answer 5%

employment 

and recruitment 

strategies 

In this section you will find specific information on HR 

questions regarding competencies and employment. 

It also provides an overview of the resources used in 

recruitment processes, identifies whether organizations 

will hire permanent or interim staff and looks at the 

standard practices they conduct to check the background 

of future employees. 

The main reason organizations failed to attract top talent was 

the strong competition for available talent, the lack of internal 

career opportunities and uncompetitive salaries/benefits, as 

shown in fig. 6.1. 1 in 4 mentioned the fact that their industry 

was less appealing than it used to be and ongoing talent 

shortages as other causes. The absence of social responsibility 

had little impact and should not be taken into account in 

this context. 

6 







17 

2013 

Figure 6.1 What could be the reasons your organization is 

failing to attract top talent? 

Strong competition for available talents 44% Recruitment companies 58% 

Lack of internal career opportunities 40% Employee referrals 54% 

Uncompetitive salary and / or benefits 33% Company website 42% 

Industry is less appealing than it used to be 27% Print advertising 41% 

Ongoing talent shortages 27% Job boards 38% 

Lack of internal career opportunities 22% Networking sites 29% 

Ineffective recruitment strategies 14% Executive search firms 28% 

Lack of flexible work options 12% College recruiting 23% 

Poor reputation of organization / employer brand 12% 

Lack of corporate social responsibility 4% 

Other 8% 

Figure 6.3 For what positions do you find network sites 

most helpful? 

Staff level 

Management level 

Executive level 

Support level 

Do not use 

37% 

32% 

16% 

12% 

40% 

In fig. 6.2 we see that recruitment companies and 

employee referrals were the most widely-used 

resources for finding talent. Company websites, 

print advertising and job boards were also used 

frequently. Career fairs were less popular. Job 

boards were the main resource for recruitment in 

Turkey whereas company websites were the main 

resource in The Netherlands. 

the main reason that organizations fail to 

attract top talent is the strong competition 

for available talent 

Figure 6.2 What sources are primarily used to recruit 

talent 

Career fairs 14% 

Other 10% 

Figure 6.4 What is the estimated attrition rate in your 

organization? 

3% < 1 year 

10% 1-2 year 

13% 2-3 years 

17% 3-4 years 

14% 4-5 years 

44% > 5 years 

As shown in fig. 6.3, people who used networking 

sites mostly used them to look for staff level 

or management candidates. 40% did not use 

networking sites at all for this purpose. 

Fig. 6.4 shows that most companies predicted job 

turnover to be the highest with employees that 

had been with the company for more than 5 years 

on average.

Figure 6.5A Did you use interim staff or hire permanent 

staff in your department? Downturn 

Total 630 

interim staff permanent staff 

Figure 6.6 Standard practices background checks in our 

hiring process 

Reference checks 83% 

Degree verifications 55% 

Background check and asessements 33% 

Criminal checks 33% 

IQ test 11% 

Emotional intelligence test 10% 

Credit checks 9% 

Culture fit test 8% 

Drug screening 4% 

Other 7% 

3% 

53% 44% 36% 60% 

Yes, using interim staff 

Not using interim staff 

No answer 

4% 

Yes, hiring permanent staff 

Not hiring permanent staff 

No answer 

Figure 6.5B Did you use interim staff or hire permanent 

staff in your department? Upturn 

Total 371 

interim staff permanent staff 

5% 

58% 37% 

Yes, using interim staff 

Not using interim staff 

No answer 

17% 

4% 

79% 

Yes, hiring permanent staff 

Not hiring permanent staff 

No answer 

As shown in fig. 6.5A 60% of the companies 

within the countries that experienced an economic 

downturn hired permanent staff in 2012 and 44% 

hired employees on an interim basis. Switzerland 

was the country that showed the highest rate of 

hiring permanent staff (94%). The lowest percentages 

with regards to employment of permanent 

staff were in Greece with 46%. 

As shown in fig. 6.5B 79% of the companies within 

the countries that are in an economic upturn 

situation hired permanent staff in 2012 and 37% 

hired employees on an interim basis. Poland was 

the country that showed the highest rate of hiring 

permanent staff with 89%. 

Reference checks were the main standard background 

checks in the hiring process across all of the countries 

surveyed, followed by degree verifications and 

background checks and assessments, as shown in 

fig. 6.6. Drug screening tests were only performed 

by 4% of the companies surveyed. Criminal checks 

were frequently conducted in Turkey, IQ and 

emotional intelligence tests in Argentina. 

When looking at fig. 6.7 we see that bonuses, medical 

insurance and career development were the most 

common benefits, followed by a competitive salary. 

Specific to The Netherlands we found the pension plan 

to be the most common benefit offered, whilst Switzerland 

offers predominately flexible working options. 

Figure 6.7 Benefits within your organization 

Bonuses 67% 

Medical insurance 62% 

Career development 59% 

Competitive salary 50% 

Life insurance 40% 

Flexible working options 39% 

Disability insurance 23% 

Pension plan 20% 

Profit sharing 14% 


innovation in 

the workplace 

Entering the second decade of the 21 st century, babyboomers are 

starting to retire and the outflow of talent is greater than the inflow. 

At the moment there are three generations in the workforce, which 

presents a different challenge for HR. This section gives a short 

overview on new trends and resources companies use to deal with 

different generations. 

When we look at trends and innovation in recruitment 

we can see that professional and social 

networks scored highest in this category, as shown 

in fig. 7.1. The less conventional recruitment 

methods, such as virtual career fairs, hosting a free 

lunch to chat with potential candidates or holding 

a contest or speed-dating-style recruitment event, 

were not frequently used. 53% of the respondents 

did not have an opinion on this matter. In Poland, 

virtual career fairs appeared in the top 2 new 

recruitment trends. 

When asked about the methods companies used to 

handle changes in the workplace, 3 in 4 respondents 

said they involved people in the change 

process and they prepared their managers/ 

supervisors. 1 in 2 responded that they provided 


19 

7 






Figure 7.1 Innovative recruitment methods used 

Social networks 28% 

Professional networks 28% 

Virtual career fairs 6% 

Hosting a free lunch to chat with potential candidates 5% 

Holding a contest 3% 

Speed dating version of recruitment 2% 

Other 3% 

Video resumes 2% 

No answer 53% 

2013

adding new duties to existing jobs was the main 

change that has been implemented in the workplace 

Figure 7.2 Methods to affect change in the workplace 

Involve people into the change 60% 

Preparing managers and supervisors 60% 

Building up a strategy to implement change 47% 

Information early and often 47% 

Creating a “we can do better” 45% 

Showing people how change will contribute to their working environment 39% 

Initiate a follow up after changes have been implemented 37% 

Give people time to adjust to the changes 35% 

Have a mechanism in place to answer any questions regarding change 26% 

Acknowledge emotions 26% 

Reviewing compensation and performance to support the change initiative 24% 

Increase emotional intelligence 15% 

Build up strategies to for dealing with emotions regarding te changes 

that will be implemented 13% 

Other 1% 

Figure 7.3 Changes implemented in the workplace 

New duties added to existing jobs 63% 

Different ways of Training and Education 41% 

Flexible work hours 35% 

Nice work atmosphere/environment 35% 

More internal career opportunities 31% 

Possibility for home office 30% 

New leadership styles 27% 

Better working conditions 26% 

More international wareer opportunities/international 

exchange 22% 

Different wages and benifits based onalternativeoptions 16% 

Other 3% 

None 3% 

information for their 

employees early on and often 

and built up a strategy for 

implementing changes within 

the organisation (see fig. 7.2). 

Other popular methods were 

creating a “we can do better” 

spirit amongst the employees. 

63% mentioned that adding 

new duties to existing jobs 

was the change they implemented 

the most often in 

the workplace, followed 

by offering different forms 

of training and education, 

flexible working hours and 

a nice working atmosphere/ 

environment (which was top 

of the list in Switzerland), 

as shown in fig. 7.3. 

Figure 7.4 Introducing new ways of working 

Broader and more embedded collaboration 31% 

Process and skill reconfiguration 28% 

Adapted specific technologies that make smarter 

working practices valuable 28% 

An environment in which employees equally learn 

and teach (learning organization) 25% 

Increased creative capable workforce 20% 

Integrated real time information into dedision making 19% 

Don't know 6% 

No answer 28% 






Figure 7.5 Is your organization prepared for 

3 generation work planning 

Fig. 7.4 illustrates that new ways of working 

mostly included establishing a broader and more 

embedded collaboration, adding process and skill 

reconfiguration and adapting specific technologies 

that made smarter working practices valuable. 

Creating an environment in which employees 

learned as well as taught came top of the list of 

new ways of working. 

1 in 3 respondents said they were prepared to 

handle a workforce of 3 different generations, as 

shown in fig. 7.5, while the remainder could not 

or would not answer this question. 

The most commonly used HR policies for the 

youngest generation (generation Y) were more 

variation in the job by adding different work 

tasks (50%), flexible working hours (49%) and 

career development plans, as seen in fig. 7.6. 

Figure 7.6 Generation Y HR policy (born 1981-1999) 

Total 301 

Different work tasks (variation in job) 50% 


Career development plan 48% 

Customized training programs 38% 

More international career opportunities 38% 

Involvement in research and development projects 32% 

Use of social networks in the company 31% 

Part-time options 26% 

Involve in company strategy 27% 

More leisure time 15% 

Possibility for sabbatical leave 15% 

Other 6% 

Figure 7.7 Generation X HR policy (born 1965-1981) 

Total 277 

Career development plan 47% 


Offering different ways of compensation benefits 37% 

Home office opportunities 33% 

More working social events 26% 

Adapting internal communication strategies 25% 

Less time to travel to work 22% 

Use of social networks in the company 22% 

Part-time options 19% 

Other 5% 

In fig. 7.7 we see that employees belonging to 

generation X were offered career development 

plans, flexible working hours and different forms 

of compensation benefits. 

Top of the list for the more senior generation 

(babyboomers) were flexible working hours, work 

gatherings to keep older workers engaged and 

motivated and making them part of mentoring 

programs (fig. 7.8). 

Figure 7.8 Generation babyboomers HR policy 

(born 1946-1964) 

Total 231 


Work gatherings to keep older workers engaged and 

motivated 33% 

Being part of mentoring programs 32% 

Adapt the job their doing do their physical condition 29% 

Re-training programs 27% 

Home office opportunities 27% 

Less travelling time to work 19% 

Shorter week or adapted shifts 15% 

Repeatedly cycle between periods of work and leisure 15% 

Free-lance programs 12% 

Other 8% 


21 

2013 

36% 32% 

36% 32% 

33% 

33% 

Yes 

No 

No Yes answer 

No 

No answer 

flexible working hours is an HR policy 

offered to each generation

economic impact 

and outlook 

In this section the impact of the economy is considered as well 

as how companies perceive their future and potential growth. 

Information is also provided on actions companies have taken 

to deal with the current economic climate and whether changes 

have had an impact on the loyalty of employees. 

Part A 

countries impacted by an economic downturn 

(Greece, The Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland) 

The impact of the economic downturn on the 

companies surveyed is shown in fig 8.1a, showing 

that 62% of respondents had to cut budgets. 

Other countermeasures included cut or frozen 

compensations or bonuses and employee layoffs. 

17% answered that they did not experience any 

impact due to the current economic situation. 

Spain and The Netherlands mentioned in 3 rd place 

the implementation of a halt on recruitment. 

Figure 8.1A How has your organization been impacted 

by the economic downturn? 

Total 625 

Budget cuts 62% 

Cut or froze compensation (bonus, wages) 46% 

Employee layoffs 40% 

Implemented hiring freezes 37% 

Elimination of consultants / temp employees 24% 

Reduced benefits offered 17% 

Have not been impacted by the economic downturn 17% 

Other 4% 

No answer 1% 

8 






Fig. 8.3A illustrates that CSR initiatives had only 

been impacted by the current economy in 16% of 

organizations. 

According to only 31% of our sample, companies 

believed they already were recovering or would 

recover from the economic downturn in 2013. 

The majority believed it would be after 2013 

(fig. 8.4). In Switzerland, 55% of those surveyed 

claimed they were currently in recovery. 

Fig 8.5A illustrates that 39% anticipated growth for 

their company in 2013, while 28% did not foresee 

any expansion. Another 24% thought there might 

be a possibility for growth. A key factor in this 

anticipation might be, when asked about the 

companies’ revenue in terms of sales volume, that 

it increased for as many as 44% of respondents and 

remained stable for 12% in 2012. 


23 

2013 

Figure 8.2A Has company loyalty been impacted by changes 

in the organization? 

Total 518 

23% 

73% 

27% 

Yes 

No 

No answer 

Figure 8.3A Has the economy impacted your company’s involvement in Corporate and Social Responsibilities Initiatives? 

Yes, all CSR initiatives have been put on hold 

2% 15% 

Yes, some CSR initiatives 

have been put on hold 

36% 

No, the economy has not 

impacted CSR initiatives 

Figure 8.4A When do you believe your country will be 

impacted by an economic downturn? 

Total 630 

7% Currently being impacted 

1% Early 2013 

3% Mid 2013 

21% Late 2013 

68% After 2013 

1% No answer 

Figure 8.5A Do you anticipate growth for your company 

in 2013? 

Total 623 

39% Yes 

28% No 

24% Maybe 

9% Don’t know 

1% No answer 

in the economic downturn more 

than half of the companies 

negotiated better terms with 

their suppliers 

While the majority of respondents said they had 

not noticed a change in the loyalty of employees, 

27% claimed that changes implemented by the 

organization had had an impact and 18% said they 

did not know, as illustrated in fig. 8.2A. 

39% of the respondents said that the economic 

downturn had had a significant impact on their 

workload. In Greece, 1 in 2 respondents experienced 

a significant change in their workload. 

11% 

Don’t know 

36% 

No answer 

Total 615

Figure 8.6A When will your company begin hiring (project) 

employees again? 

Total 371 

33% Currently hiring 

8% Early 2013 

13% Mid 2013 

6% Late 2013 

15% 2013 or later 


2% No answer 

Figure 8.7A In which departments – if any – have layoffs 

occurred in 2012? 

Total 630 

Operations 26% 

Sales 23% 

Accounting / Finance 23% 

IT 16% 

Marketing / Com. 13% 

Facilities 10% 

HR 10% 

R & D 4% 

Product management 3% 

Training / Development 3% 

Legal 2% 

Other 33% 

No answer 16% 

Figure 8.8A What opportunities – if any – has your 

company taken advantage of as a direct result 

of the economic upturn? 

Total 630 

Negotiating better terms with suppliers 59% 

Encouraging employees to think differently 44% 

Restructuring 40% 

Creating new partnerships 37% 

Tergeting new customers segments 33% 

Optimizing technology 27% 

Improving products of services 26% 

Other 4% 

No answer 10% 

1 in 3 companies mentioned that they were 

currently hiring (project) employees and 26% 

would be hiring new people during 2013. 

1 in 6 respondents said this would be after 2014 

and 23% did not know, as illustrated in fig. 8.6A. 

Most layoffs within the companies occurred 

within Operations (26%), followed by Sales and 

Accounting / Finance (23%). Legal, Training / Development, 

Product Management and R&D departments 

were not really impacted (fig. 8.7A). Switzerland 

experienced the most layoffs within the 

IT department. 

One factor that was identified as positive due to 

the current economic situation was that 59% of 

the companies surveyed negotiated better terms 

with their suppliers, encouraged their employees 

to think differently and restructured the organization. 

Other advantages included creating 

new partnerships and targeting new customer 

segments (fig. 8.8A). 






Part B 

countries impacted by an economic upturn 

(Argentina, Chile, Poland and Turkey) 

The impact of the economic upturn on the companies 

surveyed is shown in fig 8.1B, illustrating that 

half of the respondents recruited employees, 31% 

extended their hiring operations and 1 in 4 provided 

larger budgets. 

30% answered that they did experience an impact 

on their workload due to the current economic 

climate. 

1 in 2 respondents said they had noticed a change 

in the loyalty of employees, they claimed that 

changes implemented by the organization did 

have an impact, as illustrated in fig. 8.2B. 

Fig. 8.3B illustrates that CSR initiatives had not 

been impacted by the economy in 31% of cases. 

14% said that they put some or all CSR initiatives 

into action. The majority of the respondents could 

not answer this question. 

Figure 8.1B How has your organization been impacted 

by the economic upturn? 

Total 345 

Recruitment of employees 49% 

Implemented extended hiring 31% 

Larger budget 25% 

Extra compensation (Bonus, wages) 17% 

Extra benefits offered 15% 

Recruitment of consultants / temp employees 14% 

Have not been impacted by the economic upturn 30% 

Other 3% 

No answer 7% 


25 

2013 

Figure 8.2B Has company loyalty been impacted by changes 

in the organization? 

Total 226 

Figure 8.3B Has the economy impacted your company’s involvement in Corporate and Social Responsibilities Initiatives? 

Total 338 

Yes, all CSR initiatives have been put on hold 

4% 10% 

11% 

49% 51% 

Yes, some CSR initiatives 

have been put on hold 

31% 

Yes 

No 

No answer 

No, the economy has not 

impacted CSR initiatives 

36% of the respondents said they were currently 

feeling the effects of an economic downturn, while 

only 35% anticipated that the impact would come 

during 2013 and 13% anticipated this to be after 

2013 (fig. 8.4B). 

11% 

Don’t know 

Figure 8.4B When do you believe your country will be 

impacted by an economic downturn? 

44% 

No answer 

Total 371 

36% Currently being impacted 

14% Early 2013 

18% Mid 2013 

3% Late 2013 

13% After 2013 

17% No answer

26 

a positive factor is that 1 out 

of 3 companies targeted new 

customer segments 

Figure 8.5B Do you anticipate an economic decline for your 

company in 2013? 

Total 351 

15% Yes 

48% No 

23% Maybe 


5% No answer 

Figure 8.6B Do you think your company could freeze 

the hiring of (project) employees? 

Total 371 

5% No 

17% Currently freezing 

9% Early 2013 

5% Mid 2013 

4% Late 2013 

4% 2013 or later 


25% No answer 

Figure 8.7B Which department has recruited in 2012? 

Total 371 

Sales 40% 

Operations 40% 

Accounting / Finance 38% 

IT 28% 

HR 25% 

Marketing / Com. 20% 

Facilities 15% 

R & D 12% 

Product management 9% 

Legal 8% 

Training / Development 6% 

Other 13% 

No answer 13% 






Fig. 8.5 illustrates that 48% did not anticipate a 

decline for their company in 2013, while 15% did 

expect a decrease, 15% did not know and 23% 

were not sure. One factor in this anticipation of 

the majority might be, when asked about the 

companies’ revenue in terms of sales volume, 

that it increased for 54% of the respondents and 

remained stable for 5% in 2012. 

17% of the companies mentioned that they were 

currently freezing the hiring of employees and 18% 

said they would halt recruitment during 2013. 

4% of respondents said this would most likely be 

after 2013 but the majority did not know or could 

not answer the question, as illustrated in fig. 8.6B. 

Recruitment mainly occurred in Sales, Operations 

and Accounting/Finance (fig. 8.7B). 

One factor that was identified as positive due 

to the current economic situation was that 1 in 

3 companies targeted new customer segments. 

Other advantages included optimizing technology, 

restructuring the organization and improving 

products and services (fig. 8.8B). In Poland, 1 in 

2 created new partnerships. 

Figure 8.8B What opportunities – if any – has your 

company taken advantage of as a direct result 

of the economic upturn? 

Total 371 

Creating new partnerships 32% 

Targeting new customers segments 27% 

Optimizing technology 21% 

Restructuring 20% 

Improving products of services 20% 

Negotiating better terms with suppliers 19% 

Encouraging employees to think differently 14% 

Other 2% 

No answer 37% 

Randstad international trends and workplace survey report 2013 

2013

randstad international trends and workplace survey report

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