New President for CIETT

Ken Davidson, VP Corporate Affairs Manpower EMEA, has been formally elected president of CIETT (Confdration Internationale des Entreprises de Travail Temporaire). His three-year presidency was announced at CIETT''s annual conference in Tokyo in April.

CIETT is the only international organisation representing the interest of staffing services and is recognised as such by national and international organisations and governments. It operates in 26 countries worldwide and brings together national associations of employment businesses - those which supply workers for temporary assignments on their clients'' premises. CIETT also includes five of the largest staffing companies in the world.

CIETT''s main objective is to seek greater recognition of the contribution that the staffing industry makes in relation to overall employment creation, integration in the labour market and economic growth. There are over 2.8 million temporary workers in the EU on a given day. Temporary workers make a significant impact to Europe''s global business competitiveness and economic prosperity - limiting the impact of fluctuations in the economy, building the skills base of the region and creating a diverse and flexible workforce.

Mr Davidson, who has been in the recruitment industry for over 30 years, has four key objectives for his presidency;

- To increase CIETT''s membership and its affiliated national federations;
- To increase the representation of small and medium size companies within CIETT;
- To build relationships with possible new EU member entrants in order to pass on CIETT''s expertise and knowledge;
- To build a solid and fruitful relationship with Public Employment Services


Mr Davidson said I look forward to the next three years. The staffing industry is a challenging and constantly changing area of business, which is crucial to the growth of many economies worldwide. The industry has evolved into a highly sophisticated business and I am proud to be contributing to shaping its future.

CIETT has an important presence in Europe. Euro-CIETT is recognised as the Social Partner for the staffing services sector by the European Commission. The major issue at both global and European level is gaining the recognition by governments, institutions and trade unions of the maturing nature of the staffing services industry and its ability to complement employment and learning strategies focused on future challenges.

Manpower fully supports CIETT ''s aims for the industry. Manpower invests in people by permanently employing them as Manpower staff and then placing them into job assignments with its clients. Manpower provides jobs with the flexibility to match virtually any lifestyle, whether people want to work full-time or part-time, in a long-term position with career potential or on a short-term assignment to make some extra money. An advocate of skills training and assessment, Manpower''s modern approach to employment services includes online web-enabled training and job searching. The online university, the Global Learning Centre, offers staff access to over 2,000 training courses in subjects as diverse as leadership and communication to becoming a webmaster.

Manpower Inc. is a world leader in the staffing industry, providing workforce management services and solutions to customers through 3,900 offices in 61 countries. The firm annually provides employment to more than 2.7 million people worldwide and is an industry leader in employee assessment and training. Manpower also provides a range of staffing solutions, engagement and consulting services worldwide under the subsidiary brands of Brook Street, Elan, The Empower Group and Jefferson Wells.