Various Western recruitment agencies are focusing their attention outside Europe towards the Asian and South African markets, which is supported by fDi Markets project-tracking data. 

According to research commissioned by the Association of Professional Staffing Companies, 20% of UK staffing companies have plans to expand outside Europe in the next year. Companies such as Robert Walters, Hays, Michael Page and SThree believe that Asia is now leading the recruitment industry out of the recession and is an untapped market with unlimited potential.

Robert Walters is opening a third office in China and considering establishing a presence in South Korea and Indonesia this year. Hays is also expanding in Beijing.  IT recruitment group SThree is focusing is on the expat market, dealing with large oil, gas and banking groups.