Sector business services confident about the future

Providers of business services are more positive than they were some time ago. They anticipate higher turnovers and an increase in employment as the Economic survey onbusiness services shows.

Higher turnovers in business services

The Economic survey on business services is a mood indicator for the sectors Leasing of property, ICT services and Other commercial services. The sector business services appears to improve in 2005. Business service providers report growing turnovers, particularly in the ICT and temp agency sectors.

Expectations and opinions on turnover business services, 1995-2005

Sector business services also more positive about employment

Commercial service providers have also become more confident about employment in their sector. In the first three quarters of 2005, providers of commercial services (particularly in ICT and temp agencies) who had recruited new staff outnumbered those who had to lay off personnel for the first time since early 2002. They were also positive about a further increase in employment. As from 2000 virtually all of them have been more positive than they were in retrospect.

Optimism

The Economic surveys conducted by Statistics Netherlands reflect the mood among entrepreneurs in the private sector. They are invited to assess the economic situation in the recent past and the near future. There are positive answers (“good”, “improving”), negative answers (“poor”, “deteriorating”) or neutral answers (“virtually no change”). The results are usually presented in a condensed form as the balance of the percentages of positive and negative answers.

There was also widespread optimismamong entrepreneurs aboutthe foreseeable future during the last eighteen months. Since 2002 their expectations have been almost continually somewhat more positive than their opinions afterwards.

Expectations and opinions on number of employees in business services, 1995-2005

More positive about future turnover

In the second half of the 1990s, the sector business services  was one of the driving forces behind economic growth and the rise in employment. After 2000, however, the situation changed and the sector faced a downturn. In that year pessimists outnumbered optimists.