After losing almost 280,000 workers because of the recession, the German temp market is recovering, though the number of temps has yet to reach its pre-recession levels.

Michael Wehran, head of communication at German agency trade association BZA, whose members include Adecco, Randstad and Manpower, said that between May and September the number of temporary agency workers in Germany increased from 520,00 to 588,000.

Wehran told Recruiterthat after a “huge decrease” between the summer of 2008 and May 2009 “things are getting better and better”.

Wehran said that those sectors of the German economy that had been hit hardest by the recession, and “nearly died” such as the automotive and blue-collar sectors, were now recovering.  At the same time, sectors such as IT and accountancy, which did well “even during the crisis”, were continuing to prosper.

Wehran said he couldn’t say what impact the rise in temporary workers had had on the number of consultants in the German recruitment industry.

However, he speculated that companies such as Randstad who had taken advantage of German government subsidies to cut consultants’ hours rather than jobs might return them to full-time hours rather than take on more staff.