Growing War for Talents Looms as U.S. Economy Continues to Recover

Manpower Inc. Advises Companies to Unlock the Human Potential of their People to Retain Critical Skills in an Age When Access to Talent Becomes Key Competitive Differentiator

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Manpower Inc.

Feb 04, 2011, 01:26 ET

MILWAUKEE, Feb. 4, 2011 -- Manpower Inc., (NYSE: MAN) world leader in innovative workforce solutions, has warned that continuing high levels of unemployment are coupled with large numbers of unfilled job vacancies as the January U.S. jobs report, released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, showed the economy created 36,000 jobs last month and the unemployment rate fell by 0.4 of a percentage point to nine percent.

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Manpower announced at the World Economic Forum Annual meeting last week that the world has entered a new age, where employers will be awakened to the power of humans as the future drivers of economic growth as access to talent replaces access to capital as the key economic differentiator. Aging workforces, the collaborative power of rapidly-evolving technologies, the need for companies to do more with less, and the problem of the skills young people are being equipped with not matching the skills businesses need are converging, making talent attraction and retention critical in order for organizations to gain a competitive edge.

"As the economy begins to click into second gear, employers are hiring but they are doing so with extreme caution. They will only hire individuals who have the exact specificity of skills they are looking for," said Jeffrey A. Joerres, Manpower Inc. Chairman and CEO. "The economy will gather strength as 2011 progresses and businesses will need to work with their people to unleash their full spectrum of skills and engage them on a human level to retain their best employees in an era when competition for talents becomes ever greater."

Temporary employment was little changed in January, with a fall of 11,000 in the number of people taken on for temporary assignments during the month. This suggests employers still have a degree of uncertainty about the sustainability of the recovery and are opting to grow their flexible workforce rather than risk full-time hires at this stage. Manpower's quarterly Employment Outlook Survey for the first three months of 2011 shows that American employers report the most optimistic hiring intentions in more than two years.

About Manpower Inc.

Manpower Inc. (NYSE: MAN), the world leader in innovative workforce solutions creates and delivers services that enable its clients to win in the changing world of work. With over 60 years' experience, Manpower offers employers a range of services and solutions for the entire employment and business cycle including permanent, temporary and contract recruitment; employee assessment and selection; training; outplacement; outsourcing and consulting. Manpower's worldwide network of nearly 4,000 offices in 82 countries and territories enables the company to meet the needs of its 400,000 clients per year, including small and medium size enterprises in all industry sectors, as well as the world's largest multinational corporations. The focus of Manpower's work is on raising productivity through improved quality, efficiency and cost-reduction across their total workforce, enabling clients to concentrate on their core business activities. Manpower Inc. operates under five brands: Manpower, Manpower Professional, Elan, Jefferson Wells and Right Management. More information about Manpower Inc. is available at www.manpower.com.

Enter the Human Age at: www.manpower.com/humanage

SOURCE Manpower Inc.