HeadFirst Group is for the third year in a row in the second position of the Flex-market Turnover Ranking Top-100 2022, the prestigious ranking of the 100 largest flex companies in the Netherlands, based on their turnover in 2021. With a turnover of over EUR 1.547* billion, the HR service provider is even the FlexTopGrowth leader in the segment 'MSPs and intermediaries'.

Influenced by an improving economy, the need for digitalization and further flexibilization of the labor market, the demand for professionals in 2021 rose to great heights: HeadFirst Group received a record number of assignments (23,263) to match candidates. The organisation was able to fulfil them successfully. A record number of 26,938 professionals worked through HeadFirst Group at some point in 2021.

Marion van Happen, CEO HeadFirst Group, explains, "2021 was a year of connecting people. This was mainly because our core business, connecting professionals with wonderful clients, was running at full speed. The year was also marked by the integration of Between Staffing Group - acquired at the end of 2020 - and HeadFirst Group. In addition, we started our cooperation with recruitment specialist Sterksen. By taking this step, we have become a unique one-stop shop for Total Talent Management (TTM) solutions, offering a solution for every staffing need."

Creativity needed by scarcity

The developments in 2021 have been demonstrably successful. Existing large master contracts have been extended with, among others, NS, CAK, the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment and the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport. In addition, several new European tendering procedures and tender processes were won at Action, Airbus, Alliander, the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM) and the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA).

For these and hundreds of other clients, HeadFirst Group feels the need to pull out all the stops, as it too faces a challenging market with major shortages - permanent and flex - of personnel. Van Happen: "That is why we have to be more creative than ever and find talent in new places. For example, we recruit talent from abroad or from traditionally underrepresented talent pools. We also let professionals work for our clients completely remotely from another country and we train professionals for positions that are and remain scarce. We do everything we can to make the best possible use of all the available labor potential.

 

Leading international platform

Meanwhile, HeadFirst Group continues to focus on strengthening the foundation of the organization. "To improve the user experience of our online platform, we are developing a new front-end. We are also applying the Lean philosophy to streamline and simplify our processes, making them more attractive to our customers and employees. We have established a Growth Board to work on product innovation, with the primary focus on a new smart matching solution for the mid-market. All these steps will help us achieve our main goal: to be the leading international platform in the labor market by 2025," concludes Van Happen.

 

* In the Flexmarkt Turnover Ranking Top-100, HeadFirst Group has a turnover of 1,627.0 billion euros. This is the turnover including part of 2020, calculated due to the extended financial year of HFBG Holding B.V. The correct turnover of HeadFirst Group for 2021 is EUR 1,547.0 billion.

 

About Flexmarkt Turnover ranking Top-100

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