Staffing agencies which specialise in Polish workers booked a fall in bookings of between 10% and 15% in the first six months of this year, performing better than general agencies, the Volkskrant reports on Thursday.

The number of hours booked by staffing agencies overall is down 23% on a year ago, the paper says.
Staffing agency umbrella group ABU director Aart van der Gaag says Polish workers’ reputation for being ‘hard working, never sick and uncomplaining’ is benefiting them during the recession.
‘More than that, they are prepared to do the jobs which the Dutch turn their noses up at’, he said. Polish temporary workers are concentrated in the farming, greenhouse, food distribution and meat processing sectors.
ABU figures show some 160,000 people from eastern Europe are working in the Netherlands.