Recruitment and Provision Market (Outstaffing)

2023: Growth of the volume of the Russian outstaffing market of IT specialists to 224 billion rubles

In 2023, the volume of the outstaffing market for IT specialists in Russia amounted to 224 billion rubles. This area shows steady growth against the background of rapid development of technologies and an increase in demand for IT services. Industry trends are addressed in a study by SkillStaff and BCGroup, the results of which TAdviser reviewed in early December 2024.

As part of the study, representatives of companies that need IT specialists and organizations wishing to offer their specialists in the outstaffing (rental) model to the business were interviewed. As of 2023, it is estimated that about 1-1.3 million IT specialists are listed in Russia (taking into account individual entrepreneurs and self-employed), of which about 5% (approximately 50 thousand) are available at any time according to the IT outstaffing format.

The survey showed that approximately 61% of customer companies have experience in using IT outstaffing, while 29.5% did not use this service, but would like to do so. Among the most common reasons for refusing to use IT outstaffing, respondents name the absence of necessity (26%) and the use of familiar recruitment methods (16%).

Research data showed that in 2023, companies mainly chose 1C developers (20%) and Android developers (14%). Most of the companies surveyed require additional IT specialists when implementing new projects (58.3%), creating import-substituting solutions (54.3%), when introducing import-substituting resources (51.1%) and when adding new functions to existing projects (22.1%). Among the most popular areas are development (55.8%), analytics (45.7%), design (34.8%) product and project management (33%), as well as testing (31.2%) and support (25%).^[1]

2016

Reduction in the volume of the permanent staff recruitment market from 6.9 to 6.5 billion rubles

In August 2017, the results of the research on the recruitment and provision of personnel conducted annually by the Association of Private Employment Agencies (ACAZ) with the help of the independent marketing research agency MAGRAM Market Research were summed up.

The largest companies are members of the Russian Association of Private Employment Agencies (ACAZ), including Anchor, Adecco, Beagle, Brunel, Fircroft Group, GI Group, Kelly Services, Leader Team, Manpower Group, STS Group, MPH-CIFAL RUS, VENTRA, Unity, with the active participation of Antal companies, Personnel Empire, Contact, and other participants in 2016.

In 2016, the turnover of the permanent recruitment services market amounted to 6.5 billion rubles (6.9 billion rubles in 2015). Experts agree that the market for constant selection has become more demanding. Due to the strengthening of the internal selection function in employer companies, experts note a trend towards complicating the profile of vacancies that are transferred to agencies. Another trend was that employers began to pay more attention to the quality of services provided and increasingly turned to agencies for complex personnel solutions, such as RPO (Recruitment Process Outsourcing) and other design solutions.

According to the results of the study, the total number of vacancies transferred to agencies decreased by 18% compared to 2015, while the average cost of the position increased. The average cost of a position in mass selection increased by 37% and amounted to 69,160 rubles, the average cost in professional selection increased by 17% and amounted to 283,160 rubles.

"The increase in the value of the average position is associated with two factors: an increase in employers' requirements and an increase in salaries. For example, the seller's position in the massmarket segment, in addition to standard requirements for experience in a certain area today, may include knowledge of English or Chinese. In addition, the cost of a vacancy is also influenced by the complexity of the position in terms of market elaboration at the time of its transfer to the agency. Often we get positions in work with huge stop lists, which entails the use of not standard search sources, as in classical recruitment, but the use of headhunting technologies. This leads to an increase in cost in proportion to the efforts made to find the relevant candidate, "− comments Ekaterina Kalianidi, Head of Professional Recruitment at ManpowerGroup Russia & CIS.

Due to the unstable economic situation, 2016 was difficult both for most employer companies and for the Russian recruitment and provision industry. The leading trend in the field of recruitment of permanent personnel was the strengthening of the internal function of recruitment by employer companies.

In the field of labor provision, the beginning of the year was marked by the entry into force of the FZ-116, obtaining accreditation to carry out activities to provide labor for workers and adapting business strategies and processes to new market conditions. Of course, this affected the dynamics of the development of personnel services. In 2017, players continue the process of adapting to changing market conditions and the introduction of new technologies and approaches aimed at improving the effectiveness of personnel solutions.

Tatyana Baskina, Deputy General Director for work with the professional community of the ANKOR personnel holding:

labor market is becoming more mature. The structure of human resources services, the balance of supply and demand is changing. Employers in 2016 sought to pick up permanent staff on their own. This led to an increase in demand for high-tech solutions to increase the efficiency of recruitment and cost optimization: automated programs, services for remote interviews, mobile applications, robots and chatbots for primary screening of applicants, etc. Clients transfer specialized, complex and resource-intensive tasks to personnel companies. Their implementation requires both modern IT solutions and highly qualified personnel. The course towards the "technologization of recruitment" in 2017 will not only continue, but will also intensify. "

"One of the trends in 2016 was the growth of the number of" complex vacancies "with high requirements for experience, competencies and narrow specialization, as well as the development of sourcing - search services for" passive "candidates who do not put their resumes in the public domain. Attracting such candidates requires sophisticated search and hunting systems. As a result, there is a need to find such candidates throughout Russia, which the company cannot cope with on its own. This applies to all areas where there is a shortage of specialists. First of all, in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), IT, engineering, NaturalResources and Life Science, "− said Ekaterina Gorokhova, CEO of ACAZ and CEO Kelly Services Si-I-Es (Kelly) Russia and Poland.

Most often, companies representing the following business areas applied for the selection of permanent employees:

• Retail, restaurants, hotels -17%,
• Consumer goods -16%,
• Natural Resources (Oil and Gas, Chemistry, Production, Processing, Power) - 15%,
• Hi Tech (IT & Telecom, B2B) - 14%,
• Industrial production (excluding FWS) -12%,
• Life Science - 11%,
• Finance, Banks, Investments and Insurance - 10%.
• Transport and Logistics - 8%,
• Consulting and service - 6%,
• Construction and Real Estate - 6%,
• Automotive - 5%,
• Agro-industrial complex - 4%.

Elena Tonkikh, CEO of Adecco Group Russia: "In connection with the regional expansion of large retail chains (Magnit, X5 Group, Dixy and others), we saw an active growth in selection in the retail industry. The sphere of Consumer Goods traditionally shows active growth, which leads to high demand for professionals in the field of sales, brand management and consumer marketing.

In recent years, category management experts have become more and more in demand, and this trend continues to be relevant. In addition to traditional positions in the TNP, the selection of specialists capable of developing e-commerce and omni channel becomes more relevant.

There is still a shortage of candidates in (Oil and Gas, Chemistry, Production, Refining, Power), Industrial Production, as well as in IT and Telecom. The problem of selecting and attracting IT professionals is more acute than ever, while Russian employers have to compete with offers from Europe and other countries, where the best specialists are offered a full social package and assistance in legalization, which makes the demand for them even more lively.

Compared to 2015, there was an increase in selection in the Financial and Banking Sphere Transport and Logistics, but at the same time, we consider it important to note that employers have become more demanding on the professional competencies of candidates and their previous experience. "

Most often, companies searched with the help of agencies:

• Specialists (36%), up from 41% in 2015,
• Line managers - 33% (21% in 2015).

Compared to 2015, the number of recruitment requests for Initial positions decreased (19%) 25% in 2015, as well as the selection of Senior Managers 11% compared to 14% in 2015.

"We highlight two categories of positions that companies in 2016 sought to close independently: these are initial positions without experience and high requirements, as well as high-level positions. If the search and selection of employees for the first category, as a rule, does not require a deep examination of the labor market, then the second is a strategic direction, and vacancies are closed either by internal candidates, or companies are ready to spend time and effort to find and select candidates in accordance with the tasks of the organization. The volume of mid-level vacancies increased compared to 2015, requirements for work experience and competencies increased. To close such positions, companies prefer to get acquainted with many candidates, sometimes from related areas, "− comments Elena Velyaeva, Operating Director of GI Group

Temporary recruitment market RUB 12.7 bln

After the FZ-116 came into force, the market for the provision of temporary staff was divided into a service for the provision of labor of workers in accordance with the FZ-116 and outsourcing of services. It was a projected split. As the study showed, many companies began to actively use the service of providing labor for workers in accordance with the FZ-116 and the total market volume for this service in the Russian Federation amounted to experts' estimates of 12.7 billion rubles (about 35 thousand temporary employees), which is about 2.5-3 times less than the number of personnel who were involved before the entry into force of the new legislation.

"The division of the workforce services market was expected. We hoped that many employers would make their choice in favor of a new, now regulated by the Law and understandable to all service, although we understood that many customers would not be enough 9 months. ACAZ carried out a lot of explanatory work for market participants. But the restriction for up to 9 months has become a significant obstacle to the development of the service. We expect that the legislator will take into account the needs of the market in dynamic solutions and expand the period for attracting workers, as, for example, in Poland or the Netherlands, where businesses are allowed to attract personnel for a period of 1.5 - 2 years, "said Ekaterina Gorokhova, General Director of ACAZ and General Director of Kelly Services Russia and Poland

In 2016, companies from the following industries most often resorted to using the service of providing labor for workers in accordance with the FZ-116:

• Natural Resources (Oil and Gas, Chemistry, Production, Refining, Power) - 27%,
• Industrial production (except for FWS) - 11%,
• Retail, restaurants, hotels -11%,
• Consumer goods - 11%,
• Consulting and service - 10%,
• Transport and Logistics - 7%,
• Automotive - 4%,
• Hi Tech (IT & Telecom, B2B) - 4% each,
• Finance, Banks, Investments, Insurance - 3%,
• Agro-industrial complex - 3%,
• Life Science - 2%,
• Construction, Real Estate - 2%.

Elena Sentsova, head of the HR department of STS Group: "The largest number of calls both in the field of recruitment and in the field of personnel provision, in 2016 fell on the areas of Retail, Industrial Production and Consumer Goods (TNP). The increase in the recruitment of personnel in these areas was associated with the expansion of the geography of the presence of wholesale-retail and production operators in the regions. At the same time, during the year, demand shifted from standard to more specialized specialists, for example, with engineering or geodetic education, knowledge of English or Chinese. In the field of Natural Resources, there was an increase in demand for the provision of specialists in Refining and Petrochemical.

The demand for the provision of IT and Telecom specialists of various levels is still high. At the same time, more and more highly specialized specialists are selected and released from other regions, including for work in Moscow. Requirements for specialists in the field of Consulting and Service, Transport and Logistics, as well as in the financial and banking sector have increased. "

"The high share of companies in the fuel and energy sector in the use of labor services is due to the increase in the number of projects in the industry compared to 2014-2015, when the market was in a state of shock as a result of the collapse in hydrocarbon prices. At the same time, the companies of the sector are cautious in matters of long-term planning, in connection with which they prefer the model of providing labor for temporary workers, reducing the number of requests for the search and selection of permanent personnel, "− comments Evelina Balunova, director of business development at MPH-CIFAL RUS.

As in the field of recruitment, the market for personnel services has confirmed a trend towards an increase in the requirements for employee professionalism. According to the results of the study, 61% of temporary workers in 2016 were from the white collar category: office employees, employees, managers, engineering staff and others. 39% of employed workers were blue collar workers employed in working specialties. Compared to the previous year, the number of blue-collar workers has decreased. Experts attribute the increase in the number of "white" collars to the complication of personnel technologies and decisions used in recruitment.

Evelina Balunova, Director of Business Development at MPH-CIFAL RUS: "Indeed, the complexity of tasks in the professional selection sector has increased. Often, companies turn to agencies after they independently conduct a large-scale search, which was unsuccessful. Agencies are engaged to carry out painstaking and skillful work to find pearls, carry out huge analytical work, work on assessing professional skills, actively work with the motivation of candidates. "

The percentage of men and women among temporary staff also changed in 2016: the number of men increased to 56%, compared with 44% women (51% and 49%, respectively).

"The increase in the number of men compared to women is due to the difficult situation in the labor market and some other factors. Among the main ones: an increase in job requirements, which makes them more interesting for men; the emergence of more project vacancies, which are traditionally more willing to go to male applicants; the time of uncertainty in the labor market by many women is considered as an occasion to go on maternity leave and devote themselves to family and raising children, "− said Mikhail Tuzov, head of the analytical service of ManpowerGroup Russia & CIS.

Outstaffing and smartstaffing in the IT industry

Main article: Outstaffing and smartstaffing in the IT industry

See also

• How to befriend outsourcing and outstaffing with authentication systems

Notes