Expansion of MAXIN’S Group in Germany

MAXIN’S Group is one of the leaders in the segment of agency employment and personnel services in Slovakia. In addition to the expansion to our neighbours in the Czech Republic, in 2022 we will also gradually launch activities on the German staffing market.

MAXIN’S Group as 100% owner operates in Germany under the new Areon brand. As part of Areon Services GmbH , we specialise in the leasing of blue-collar staff for medium to large logistics and manufacturing companies in Germany.

Our primary recruitment countries are Slovakia (65%) and the Czech Republic (35%) and we are currently active in 4 of the 16 German regions of Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Saarland and North Rhine-Westphalia.

First steps and biggest challenges in a new country

The start-up of the new market and the launch of the new brand required significant investments in the first two years of operation in the company’s overheads, material and technical security, as well as marketing activities.

However, the biggest investment was human capital, because we started the company with 18 professionals. At the time, we only had one client signed on and about 50 temporary employees on secondment (TEMPS).

The first two years of Areon’s operation as a newcomer on the German market were indeed challenging. Strong competition, slow growth of new clients and revenues, high operating costs eventually led to a reorganization of the team.

Brief time-line:

• 2022 – Company incorporation in June and 1st client
• 2023 – 9 clients and ∅ 148 TEMPS
• 2024 – Turnover +10 million and positive economic result for the first time

Everything ”broke” at the beginning of 2024, when the reorganization of the team and the refinement of the company’s processes had a positive effect.

The core of our “DE team” today consists of 19 specialists, with extensive experience in international recruitment and staffing services in Germany.

Successful collaborations with big players

The logistics segment has the strongest representation in our portfolio, followed by manufacturing and engineering. We are currently active with 14 clients in Germany. Our largest projects include collaborations with global corporate clients:

• Husqvarna Group, to which we have been supplying staff to 3 logistics centres around Ulm for a long time, and we are approaching 200 temporary employees in the peak season. These are mainly warehousemen, pickers, lift truck drivers and retractors.
• Another stable partner of Areon is DHL Supply Chain, where we support large logistics centres with personnel.
• Our latest client addition is JYSK , who we helped to stabilise staffing requirements and fluctuations at their largest distribution centre in Germany at the end of 2024. On this (still fresh) project we can demonstrate our key benefits for German companies:

Main benefits for our partners in Germany

• Consistent selection of candidates and regular (weekly) supply of more motivated staff
• First-class employee care → from the moment of arrival in Germany, through accommodation, administrative matters and support in both routine and emergency situations, right up to the end of employment. pomeru
• High performance → our employees do not miss hours, on the contrary, they are ready to work overtime + according to Teamleiters ”they do 2x more work in the same time than a regular employee”
• Low staff turnover → long-term below industry average

Our goal is to compete on quality, not lowest price

Our policy is based on the added value that workers from our region bring to Germany, combined with superior support (for both employees and clients) and high flexibility.

We are not interested in competing by ”dumping prices” because we do not want to lower our service quality standards. We prefer win-win-win solutions, where at the end of the day all parties involved are satisfied: client – employee – agency.

Our approach is not always met with understanding in the purchasing department of potential clients, unfortunately, the scenario is repeated in most cases:

• due to a lack of quality labour
• low power
• or high turnover

The ”saved” money in even greater quantities will go elsewhere because the goods are not being exported or produced at the quality and speed needed.

More about the agency employment market in Germany

Interesting facts:

• There are approximately 5,600 companies operating in Germany in the field of personnel services, but only about 5% of these companies employ more than 100 employees.
• The volume of the temporary staffing market is approximately €35 billion, with the top 80 companies accounting for around 40% of turnover.
• Temporary workers account for around 2% of all employees in Germany. Around 30% of German temporary workers work in the transport and logistics sector.
• Just under 14% of agency workers come from abroad. The most important country of origin is Poland.

The largest association of staffing companies representing the interests of agencies in the field of temporary employment, recruitment and HR services is the GVP (Gesamtverband der Personaldienstleister e.V.), of which we have been a member since its foundation.

Currently, GVP is actively fighting for a relaxation of the strict bureaucracy, discrimination and regulation of temporary employment in Germany, as the current legislative set-up hinders the flexibility and competitiveness of German companies.

Further development and future of MAXIN’S Group in Germany

Although the German economy is in a downturn and the volume of agency employment in Germany has been on a downward trend in recent years for the reasons mentioned above, we have managed to grow year-on-year.

The quality of our service is gradually receiving the recognition it deserves and our German partners are gradually recommending us to other companies looking for first-class personnel suppliers.

From December 2024, we have an open-ended temporary employment licence in Germany, the granting of which was another important milestone in our overseas expansion.

Our high ambitions in Germany are underscored by our 2025 forecast, which envisages at least 50% year-on-year growth. We were able to kick-start the calendar year with a new record, with Areon delivering almost 200 new employees to its partners in January 2025 .

Autor

Juraj Wertlen