Corona drives flexibilisation

This past year has been one that will go down into our history books due to global impact of the coronavirus. Companies closed their offices, trains have never been so quiet and the labour market changed. The virus demanded adaptability from everyone and it made people think twice about their next step. This also applied for our CEO, Han Kolff. Especially because of this new year in which people will be vaccinated worldwide for COVID-19 what will again influence the way we live. For example, what will this change do for the labour market in 2021? Kolff shares his predictions.

Impact COVID-19 on external hiring

“The impact of the coronavirus on the hiring market for knowledge-intensive functions in 2020 has remained limited,” says Kolff. “Naturally, in the beginning we saw a setback in new hiring requests and worked hours. However, the positive trend started carefully from May onwards. Also the number of professionals whose assignments were actually terminated, was very limited. There are three reasons for this; 1) highly educated knowledge workers can perform work for clients remotely, 2) they are often working in business-critical processes of organisations, with the result that these projects simply continued and 3) government organisations make a lot of use of external professionals, they proved to be a stable hiring party during the corona crisis.

Also for ‘permanent’, this statement is supported by figures from the CBS. At the end of 2019, a record level of 286 thousand open vacancies was reached. As a result of the corona crisis, there was a 30 per cent drop, causing the number to fall by 86 thousand. Nevertheless, by the end of September the number of unfilled vacancies had risen again to 216 thousand. This is expected to increase further in the last quarter of 2020 and to rise even more in 2021.

Prediction for 2021

“Corona is driving the flexibilisation of the labour market in 2021, stemming from the further increasing need for organisations to move with the market, the need to get a grip on hiring and a new boost in digitalisation,” says Kolff. He explains these three causes as follows:

• By allowing the cost of staff to move with projects, business pressures, the market and the economy, it is possible to work more cost effectively. In addition, the urge for flexible working is as great as ever among professionals. Being able to determine their own working hours, working days, assignments and rates is still attractive to many. With the half-life of skills shrinking fast, and the fact that many jobs now come and go in a matter of years, professionals heavily increase their employability by working across different assignments and companies, training themselves on the job for the next gig.

• Organisations that have a grip on their external hiring know exactly who is hired at which location in the organisation and why. Organisations that did not have that picture at the start of the corona crisis proved to be less capable of moving with market developments.

• Location-specific work proved to be a risk factor. During the crisis, work as we knew it before changed to mass working from home, which made the need to automate – unfortunately painful – clear. This gives a new boost to the digitalisation drive of organisations. This results in more demand for online and IT specialists, who relatively often work on the basis of a flexible employment relationship.

Kolff states that service providers who can respond to these needs with relevant data-driven services and a good balance between tech (digitization of processes) and touch (personal contact, good advice), will be the winners of the year.

Finally, Kolff expresses his confidence that “the new cabinet to be formed in 2021 shows the ambition to align labour market legislation – with the DBA act of course as a hot topic – to the desire for flexibility of clients and professionals, of course with sufficient social security for everyone who wants it.”

HeadFirst Group secures €75 million investment from Kartesia

HeadFirst Group (“HeadFirst”), the leading technology enabled HR sourcing platform for employing professionals, announces it has secured an initial EUR 75 million investment from Kartesia. The transaction will include the European investment fund acquiring a minority stake in HeadFirst Group, which provides HR services for more than ten thousand professionals at hundreds of clients every day.

The flex market is expanding and for intermediaries and managed service providers, a sector in which HeadFirst Group is a major player, it is growing fast. The company is active with its platform solutions in the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Scandinavia, Poland and Switzerland and sees opportunities to add clients in other European countries as well. CEO Han Kolff of HeadFirst Group said: “The support of a strong financial partner like Kartesia helps to accelerate our growth strategy, both within the Netherlands and across Europe. The focus is on expanding HeadFirst’s role as a full-service HR services provider, innovating with smart online solutions and adding value for our clients with rich data.”

In Kartesia, HeadFirst has found a partner that suits the company and its entrepreneurial culture. Kartesia is a leading provider of capital solutions for mid-market companies in Europe. Recently, Kartesia has invested in a number of technology-enabled business services companies including, among others Sewan, the French market leader in digital telephony, Richardson Sales Performance, the global leader in sales training and performance improvement and Main Energie, a supplier of innovative energy supply solutions focused on SMEs across the Netherlands.

Jean Diercxsens, Director at Kartesia, added: “HeadFirst is one of the leading players in the HR services market in the Benelux, offering innovative, value-added solutions for its extensive client, supplier and freelance base. The group has a proven track record of both organic and external growth, gaining market share through technology-enabled services in a competitive environment. We look forward to working closely with the team to continue to unlock the company’s potential across Europe.”

About HeadFirst Group
HeadFirst Group is market leader in the Benelux in the field of professional organization of external hiring. The Company offers a variety of flex solutions, including contracting, matchmaking, msp-services and business consultancy. Daily, more than ten thousand professionals work for over 350 clients in Europe, with which HeadFirst Group realizes an annual turnover of more than €1bn. HeadFirst Group’s main brands are intermediaries HeadFirst and Myler and managed service provider Staffing Management Services.

About Kartesia
Kartesia is a pan-European, independent and privately-owned specialist provider of credit and capital solutions, focused on offering customised resources across the capital structure to leading mid-market companies from a wide range of industries, with the view to accelerate their pace of growth. Kartesia manages over €2.5bn in assets and is operated by a team of 50 experienced professionals across investment and operating teams led by its four founding Managing Partners. The group has offices in Brussels, Frankfurt, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Munich and Paris.

For further information
Do you have any questions or comments about this press release? Please contact Bart van der Geest, manager marketing & communication at HeadFirst Group, at +31 (0)23 – 568 56 30 or bart.vandergeest@headfirst.nl.

HeadFirst Group rises to second place in Flexmarkt Turnover Ranking

HeadFirst Group climbs to second place in this week’s published Flexmarkt Turnover Ranking Top-100 2020, which includes the hundred largest organizations in the flexible labour market in the Netherlands based on their turnover in 2019. Last year we reached the top 3 for the first time and were we the biggest grower in the flex market. This year we reach a new milestone with the second place. With a revenue of more than 1 billion euros we are proud to be the largest – and growing – intermediary and MSP-organization in the Benelux.

The Flexmarkt Turnover Ranking Top-100 is a prestigious list, which companies in the flexible labour market eagerly look forward to every year. Mike Korenvaar, CFO at HeadFirst Group: “This list shows the giant steps we take. Last year we experienced an organic growth of over 100 million euros, an increase of 13% compared to 2018. An unprecedented performance in a year which, after two acquisitions, was partly dominated by operational integration of working methods and locations in Utrecht, Rotterdam and Hoofddorp and the migration of the various IT systems. That makes me enormously proud.”

Corona crisis will not bring the hiring market down
Still, it is special to look back on figures from 2019, while we are currently in the middle of the corona crisis. The economy is under considerable pressure, which of course also has an impact on the hiring of flexible labour market. Gert-Jan Schellingerhout, CEO at HeadFirst Group, talks about his view: “We saw that the number of new hirings decreased rapidly in March. The pandemic also has an impact on the number of hours worked by the 12,000 professionals who work for clients via us. Overall, we can say that the impact for us has remained limited to date. The type of professionals we mediate, mostly highly educated knowledge workers and often working in business-critical processes in organizations, can carry out their work for our clients remotely. And we have a good, healthy spread of clients in various sectors, including many government organizations that have remained stable hirers”.

These observations give a slightly positive outlook. Schellingerhout: “Despite the corona pandemic and a number of uncertainties, we are continuing our growth and acquisition strategy. Entrepreneurial and hardworking as we are,  we are doing everything in our power to make the year 2020 the festive year that we originally had in mind because of our 25th anniversary”.

Source: flexmarkt.nl

About Flexmarkt Turnover Ranking Top-100
The Flexmarkt Turnover Ranking gives an overview of flex companies, from small to large, with various forms of personnel mediation and hiring services. In addition to temporary employment agencies, it also includes numerous payroll companies, as well as secondment companies, freelance-intermediaries and MSP service providers. The Flexmarkt Turnover Ranking Top-100 is published annually by Flexmarkt in cooperation with Corporate Finance International (CFI). In terms of revenue, this leading ranking covers more than half of the total Dutch flexible labour sector and provides a clear, representative picture of developments in the market.

About HeadFirst Group
HeadFirst Group is market leader in the Benelux in the field of professional organization of external hiring. The organization offers a variety of flexible hiring solutions, including contracting, payrolling, matchmaking, global sourcing, Managed Service Providing and business consultancy. Currently more than 12,000 professionals work daily for more than 200 clients in Europe, with which HeadFirst Group realizes an annual turnover of more than 1 billion euros. HeadFirst Group includes the organizations HeadFirst, Myler, Staffing Management Services, Source, Pitch Payroll and Select.

For further information
Do you have any questions or comments about this message? Please contact Bart van der Geest, manager marketing & communication at HeadFirst Group, at +23 568 56 30 or bart.vandergeest@headfirst.nl.

HeadFirst Group announces Han Kolff as CEO

HeadFirst Group, market leader in the field of professional organization of external hiring, has announced Han Kolff – also chairman of the board – as CEO. He takes over this role from Gert-Jan Schellingerhout.

The growth strategy of the organization, both nationally and internationally, will be continued under the leadership of Han Kolff. The focus is on consolidating and expanding its role as a full-service HR service provider, innovating with smart online solutions and adding value with rich data. Han Kolff: “We believe that scale, strengthened by our online platform, and combined with a personal approach is the key to success. I am looking forward to realize our ambitions together”.

In 25 years, market leader in external hiring
Schellingerhout has been active for twenty years in various roles at the organization, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. Schellingerhout: “Together we have grown the organization from 3 employees to over 150 now. We serve hundreds of wonderful clients by connecting them to our network of thousands of suppliers and independent professionals. I am enormously proud to have been able to build the organization as it stands today with a passionate team for two decades: the market leader in organizing external hiring”.

About Han Kolff
Kolff has a long track record at large international organizations, including ten years in HR services. He previously held leadership positions at Randstad, Danone and Heineken, among others. He has also been involved in digital business transformations, HR tech start- and scale-ups. Since March of this year Kolff has held the position of Chairman of the Board at HeadFirst Group.

About HeadFirst Group
HeadFirst Group is market leader in the Benelux in the field of professional organization of external hiring. The organization offers a variety of flexible hiring solutions, including contracting, matchmaking, managed service providing and business consultancy. Daily, more than 10,000 professionals work for over 350 clients in Europe, with which HeadFirst Group realizes an annual turnover of more than 1 billion euros. HeadFirst Group’s main brands are intermediaries HeadFirst and Myler and managed service provider Staffing Management Services.

For further information
Do you have any questions or comments about this press release? Please contact Bart van der Geest, manager marketing & communication at HeadFirst Group, at +31 (0)23 – 568 56 30 or bart.vandergeest@headfirst.nl.

HeadFirst Group and Between Staffing Group join forces

HeadFirst Group, operating in the market of flexible staffing and external hiring, acquires sector partner Between Staffing Group. In a constantly evolving labour market, the demand for full HR services providers is increasing and scalability is an important success factor. By combining the strengths of HeadFirst Group and Between, the new group is able to take optimally advantage of opportunities in the market and to continue the growth strategy together.

Between Staffing Group, consisting of the brands Between, FastFlex, Yellow Friday and EXPR, is one of the largest intermediaries for temporary employment in the Netherlands; over four thousand professionals work for clients via the organisation on a daily basis. HeadFirst Group offers a variety of solutions for flexible staffing, including contracting, matchmaking, MSP services and hiring consultancy. Daily more than ten thousand professionals work for more than three hundred and fifty clients in Europe via HeadFirst Group, realising an annual turnover of more than EUR 1 billion. Together, HeadFirst Group and Between become the market leader in the Benelux in organising external hiring.

Full HR services provider
Han Kolff, CEO of HeadFirst Group: “By merging HeadFirst and Between we strengthen our position as a full HR services provider. We hold the key to expand this role, both nationally and internationally. With our smart online solutions, rich data and expert advisors we increase the customer experience every day. I am looking forward to realise our ambitions together”.

Rein Buijtelaar, CEO of Between Staffing Group, adds: “The energy and ambition of HeadFirst Group fits very well with the DNA of Between. We complement each other well, as shown by the complementary client portfolio and our different sourcing formulas. Together, we have a winning online platform where supply and demand in the flexible labour market meet. I am looking forward to the next steps of the new combination”.

Besides clients, HeadFirst Group sees the suppliers and independent professionals (zp’ers) in its network as equally important client groups. Kolff: “With this step we become even more interesting for suppliers and freelancers. Together we create the largest assignment platform in the Netherlands, where these entrepreneurs have direct access to hundreds of clients. But together we can also innovate faster and on a larger scale. This contributes to our profile as the partner for a lifelong flexible career”.

About HeadFirst Group
HeadFirst Group is market leader in the Benelux in the field of professional organization of external hiring. The Company offers a variety of flex solutions, including contracting, matchmaking, msp-services and business consultancy. Daily, more than ten thousand professionals work for over 350 clients in Europe, with which HeadFirst Group realizes an annual turnover of more than €1bn. HeadFirst Group’s main brands are intermediaries HeadFirst and Myler and managed service provider Staffing Management Services.

About Between Staffing Group
Between Staffing was founded in 2000 and searches, finds and contracts professionals for interim assignments at large clients. The company works with the strength of personal staffing and total market access, advising on hiring processes and benchmarking on quality and rates. Its clients include a large part of central government, banks, insurers, provinces, universities, multinationals and system integrators. Between achieved an annual revenue of around €475 million in 2019.

For further information
Do you have any questions or comments about this press release? Please contact Bart van der Geest, manager marketing & communication at HeadFirst Group, at +31 (0)23 – 568 56 30 or bart.vandergeest@headfirst.nl.