The history of recruitment agencies

Recruitment agencies have been your partners in helping you find jobs for hundreds of years. Work provides us with valuable experience, new skills and last but not least, money, thanks to which we can go out and enjoy a nice meal or spend a great weekend with the kids at a water park. Although a recruiter’s job is extremely demanding, we love what we do. Seeing the smiles on our candidates’ faces and the joy in their eyes is what drives us forward and onward. We work hard every day to make sure you get your dream job. And the best thing about it is that no matter where you go, you don’t have to pay a dime for it and this is how it’s always been.

So, when did this actually all begin?

The first recruitment agencies were originally all British. According to the book by Thomas Martinez “The Human Marketplace: An Examination of Private Employment Agencies“ this idea came about in England in the middle of the 17^thcentury. Back then, British businessman and author, Henry Robinson suggested that the Parliament open up an “Office of Addresses and Encounters”. This office would be a point of contact for workers and a meeting place for people, who are looking for jobs. The British Parliament had no interest in the matter, but Henry was persistent in his idea, so he eventually ended up opening the office himself. Unfortunately, the office didn’t stay open for long. However, considering it was 1650 and the Baroque period, this was a very progressive idea. Nevertheless, the idea of the recruitment agency survived.

Another well-known office, Gabbitas and Thring, was established in 1873. This office primarily recruited teachers for public schools in England. The A. E. Johnson Employment Agency was established in 1890. This agency hired personal servants, gardeners, chefs and maids for upper class citizens. The agency’s clients included Roosevelt, Carnegie, Rockefeller, Ford and many other famous names. 

Staffing for companies

Services of recruitment agencies did not just stop at providing work, they also lent a helping hand to people, who were re-entering the workforce following various life-altering events. According to “The Professional Recruiter's Handbook: Delivering Excellence in Recruitment Practice” Katherine Felton established one of the oldest recruitment agencies in the United States in response to the earthquake and fire in San Francisco in 1906. Although there are records of at least three recruitment agencies from around the same time, this field hadn’t become a national phenomenon until much later.

The federal “New Deal” program provided support for employment services to help recover from the Great Depression in the USA. The legislation was originally called the Wagner-Peyser Act of 1933, which wasn’t updated until sixty-five years later, at which time it was established as the Workforce Investment Act. Such a government program standardized the status of recruitment agencies, thereby enabling clients to meet the demands for qualified workers by means of agencies. 

How WWII changed industry

Recruitment agencies were booming during WWII, when factory owners saw their employees leaving because they were sent to war and they needed to new employees to fill vacant positions. Once the War was over, large corporations began growing again, as did the need to ensure new employees. Both of these factors led to a huge demand for employees, which led to the establishment of more recruitment agencies. 

This also consequently led to a rise in “temporary employment.” There was a rise in “semi-permanent” employees (who are currently referred to as temp employees) in the 1960s and 1970s, who were mainly assigned to temporary work in companies. The temp employees helped out with short-term assignments or filled positions, when the permanent employees needed time off or were on sick leave. While temp employees were mostly hired for blue collar positions in the past, the field has gradually expanded to engineering, accounting and other specialized positions.

What types of agencies are there?

We have already mentioned the difference between employment agencies and recruitment agencies. Another difference in the agencies is what branch they recruit for or what type of professions the agencies are looking to fill. The most popular industries include production, administrative work, managerial, engineering, IT, science, finance or heath care. 

Therefore, specialized recruitment agencies are popping up more and more nowadays. It obviously has to do with the needs on the labour market and the dynamics of the economies of individual countries. Nevertheless, today, this phenomenon has a clear position on the labour market, no matter if we’re talking about the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Turkey or Sri Lank. The Czech Republic has a combination of international recruitment agencies and local providers. However, the common denominator is always to help candidates find work and to help employers find employees. 

There are currently more than 39,000 recruitment agencies in the USA. In the Czech Republic, the number is growing to two thousand. What were the beginnings like for recruitment agencies in the Czech Republic? You can look forward to reading all about it in the following articles!

Is there anything we did not mention in this article? Do you have any questions? Contact us!