Temporary employment agency: what to prepare

For a temporary employment agency to start recruiting effectively, it needs more than an approximate headcount. Information about the role, employment conditions, shifts, start dates, onboarding and work organisation all affect the recruitment process. Missing details increase the risk of delays, candidate withdrawals and problems during the first shifts.

1. Recruitment starts with understanding the job

“We need 25 warehouse workers” tells a staffing agency how many people are required, but it is not enough to start an effective recruitment process.

To recruit the right people, the agency needs to understand the actual job. This includes the tasks employees will perform, the tools or machinery they will use, the pace of work and the environment in which they will work.

Why does this matter?

Because temporary workers are not one interchangeable group of people suitable for every position. Recruiting someone to pick lightweight products requires a different candidate profile from recruiting for a job that involves repeatedly moving heavy items. The same applies to work in cold storage, food production or other environments with specific working conditions.

Candidate requirements should therefore be defined just as carefully. The company should distinguish between mandatory and preferred criteria. Not every position requires previous experience, a particular language level, a certificate or qualifications to operate machinery. The client should also specify whether a particular skill is required from day one or whether training can be provided after the employee starts.

These details determine which candidates the employment agency can realistically target. If a language requirement or essential qualification only becomes clear later in the recruitment process, candidates who have already been sourced and interviewed may no longer match the position.

The same applies to physical working conditions. Candidates should know before accepting a job whether they will work in a noisy environment, at a particular temperature, at a demanding pace or in a standing position for most of the shift. Providing this information only after they arrive at the workplace increases the risk of an early withdrawal.

2. Headcount is only the beginning of workforce planning

The agency should know not only how many people are required, but also when they are needed, how the headcount will be distributed between shifts and how long the project is expected to last.

Suppose a company needs 25 warehouse workers. If 10 need to start in three weeks, another 10 one week later and the final 5 after five weeks, the recruitment process can be planned differently from a project where all 25 people need to start on the same day.

The shift system is equally important. A temporary employment agency needs to know the expected working hours, whether night and weekend work is involved and whether overtime is likely. Candidates do not need to receive every future schedule before they are recruited, but they do need an accurate picture of how working time is organised.

The company’s actual onboarding capacity also matters. If 25 workers are required from next Monday but only 10 can be trained before then, the planned start of the full team needs to be reconsidered.

This is why a desired start date is not always the same as a realistic start date for the entire workforce.

For seasonal or gradually expanding projects, a forecast is also useful for workforce planning. Knowing that 20 people are required today but the team may grow to 60 within six weeks affects the scale of sourcing, the candidate pipeline, accommodation, transport and coordination planning.

3. Pay needs to be explained beyond the hourly rate

How much an employee will earn and under what conditions is one of the most important parts of an offer.

A staffing agency therefore needs more than the basic hourly rate. It should also know about shift allowances, night and weekend premiums, overtime, public holiday payments, holiday allowance, bonuses and any other elements that affect total remuneration.

This is also a legal requirement in the Netherlands. Rijksoverheid states that a company hiring agency workers must provide the employment agency with information about the employment conditions that apply within its organisation before the worker is assigned to the company.

“Are you, as an employer, hiring a temporary worker? If so, you are required to provide the temporary staffing agency with your organization’s terms and conditions of employment. This must be done prior to the worker being assigned to your company.”

These conditions include pay and allowances such as travel reimbursement, working and rest hours, breaks, overtime, public holidays, night work and holiday entitlement.

From 31 December 2026, the importance of providing a complete picture of employment conditions will increase further. Under legislation approved in July 2026, temporary agency workers must receive at least equivalent employment conditions to employees directly employed by the client company in comparable roles. This part of the new legislation enters into force on 31 December 2026.

Before a temporary staffing project starts, the relevant CAO and the full package of employment conditions for comparable positions therefore need to be established. Rijksoverheid lists not only wages, but also elements such as allowances, travel reimbursement, working and rest times, breaks, overtime, public holidays and night work among the conditions that need to be taken into account.

Incomplete information can also directly affect candidate retention. If a candidate hears one hourly rate during recruitment and only later discovers that this amount applies under specific conditions or includes certain allowances, the offer they accepted may differ from what they expected.

The importance of collecting these details accurately is also visible in industry practice. In March 2026, ABU updated its Standaard uitvraag gelijkwaardige beloning form, which is used to collect employment-condition information from clients. The updated form was aligned with the gelijkwaardige beloning 2.0 standard and designed to make the collection of employment conditions more complete.

4. Transport, housing and onboarding affect the actual start date

With international recruitment, finding a candidate who meets the requirements is not the end of the process. It also does not automatically mean that the person can start work on the requested date.

When Intraservis B.V. organises transport, we need accurate information about the workplace location, the hours of every shift and whether employees may need to start or finish work at night or during weekends. Transport arrangements have to correspond with the actual work schedule.

Housing also affects project planning. When employees stay in accommodation organised as part of the project, the distance to the workplace, travel time and connection between transport and individual shifts have to be considered. A change in working hours may also require a change in transport arrangements.

Some candidates may also require additional formalities before they can legally start working. The preparation time may differ between EU nationals and third-country nationals, so the requested start date should be assessed against the actual recruitment and legalisation lead time.

Onboarding arrangements should also be agreed before the first day. Who receives new employees? Where should they report? How long does training take? What personal protective equipment is required? Will it be provided at the workplace?

Business.gov.nl states that Dutch health and safety requirements apply to all employees working in the Netherlands, including foreign workers and temporary staff. Employers must identify workplace risks, take appropriate safety measures and provide employees with the information they need to work safely and healthily.

For this reason, information about working conditions, workplace risks, required training and PPE should be available before employees start. The temporary employment agency can then prepare candidates properly and explain what they should expect when they arrive at the project.

5. Missing information at the start becomes a problem later

Not every piece of information has the same impact, but several small gaps can significantly affect the recruitment process and the eventual start of the project.

Missing information	What can happen later?
Incomplete job description	Candidate withdraws after learning what the work actually involves
Unclear language requirements	Candidates reach later recruitment stages despite not meeting the actual requirements
Incomplete pay information	Candidate makes a decision based on an incomplete offer
No headcount split between shifts	The wrong number of workers is recruited for individual shifts
Unrealistic start date	Candidates are ready, but the project is not prepared to receive them
No information about onboarding capacity	More employees arrive at once than the company can train
Transport not agreed	Employee is available but cannot reach the workplace
No information about previous recruitment problems	The new recruitment process repeats the same issues

It is therefore useful to tell the recruitment agency what happened during previous recruitment projects and which elements did not work.

If candidates previously withdrew because of night shifts, transport created difficulties, language requirements turned out to be too restrictive or a significant number of new employees left during their first week, this information can help improve the next recruitment process.

It may change how the position is communicated, how the candidate profile is defined or which assumptions should be discussed again before sourcing begins.

At Intraservis, we start by collecting and analysing information about the project. If important details are missing, we clarify them with the client, verify the requirements and recommend adjustments when we believe they can improve recruitment.

Based on these arrangements, we prepare the recruitment process. Depending on the agreed cooperation model, we can then handle recruitment, employment, legalisation, payroll administration, housing, transport and ongoing employee coordination.

The more key decisions are made before recruitment starts, the fewer issues need to be resolved when candidates are already preparing to begin work.

FAQ

What information does a temporary employment agency need before recruitment?

A temporary employment agency should know the job responsibilities, candidate requirements, working conditions, pay, shift system, required headcount, start dates and onboarding arrangements. For international projects, transport, housing and employment formalities may also affect recruitment.

How early should you contact a staffing agency?

It depends on the number of workers required, the complexity of the job profile, the recruitment market and any formalities required before employees can start. The desired start date should therefore be assessed together with the realistic recruitment lead time.

Does the employment agency need information about the client’s CAO?

Yes. The employment conditions that apply at the client company are relevant when determining the conditions for temporary agency workers. Dutch government guidance confirms that a company hiring agency workers must provide the employment agency with its applicable employment conditions before the worker is assigned.

Should you tell the staffing agency about previous recruitment problems?

Yes. Previous withdrawals, no-shows, turnover, transport problems or unsuitable candidate requirements can help identify which elements of the project should be adjusted before the next recruitment process begins.