Invest in SMEs To Help Drive U.S. Economic Growth, ManpowerGroup Advises

MILWAUKEE, Aug. 3, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- ManpowerGroup (NYSE: MAN), the world leader in innovative workforce solutions, advises companies, educators and governments to strategically invest in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), a key jobs generator, as the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics today reported the overall July jobless rate edged up to 8.3 % from June's 8.2% rate. The U.S. private sector added 163,000 new jobs last month, while June's jobs figure was revised down from 80,000 to 64,000.  Within the professional and business services sector, 49,000 jobs were added in July. Manufacturing employment rose by 25,000 jobs. 

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"Small and medium enterprises drive job creation when they are developed on the right platform," said Jeffrey A. Joerres, ManpowerGroup Chairman and CEO.  "Stakeholders in the U.S. economy need to stay focused on what drives business and demand, and new companies play a critical role in jolting economic growth.  But launching and sustaining entrepreneurs and their business models requires the right resources and frameworks."

Facilitating the growth of SMEs was one recommendation presented by the World Economic Forum Business 20 (B20) Task Force on Employment at the G20 Leaders' Summit in Mexico in June. The B20 task force is co-chaired by Joerres.

ManpowerGroup has helped pioneer several public-private models to foster entrepreneurship, including New Business Starters (NBS) in Shanghai and INJAZ al-Arab, which works with corporate and government authorities in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) in transforming youth into business leaders.  Working with the Shanghai government, ManpowerGroup helped launch NBS, which has worked on developing the entrepreneurial skills of more than 50,000 individuals. Shanghai's municipal government uses the program to gather insight that informs their training and investment decisions when promoting business startups. Learn more about these initiatives here: http://www.manpowergroup.com/social/srreport.cfm

Entrepreneurial training programs ManpowerGroup has influenced foster essential hard skills – including financial and sales approaches and workplace competencies – that enable new businesses to grow.

About ManpowerGroup™
ManpowerGroup™ (NYSE: MAN), the world leader in innovative workforce solutions, creates and delivers high-impact solutions that enable our clients to achieve their business goals and enhance their competitiveness. With over 60 years of experience, our $22 billion company creates unique time to value through a comprehensive suite of innovative solutions that help clients win in the Human Age. These solutions cover an entire range of talent-driven needs from recruitment and assessment, training and development, and career management, to outsourcing and workforce consulting. ManpowerGroup maintains the world's largest and industry-leading network of 3,600 offices in 80 countries and territories, generating a dynamic mix of an unmatched global footprint with valuable insight and local expertise to meet the needs of its 400,000 clients per year, across all industry sectors, small and medium-sized enterprises, local, multinational and global companies. By connecting our deep understanding of human potential to the ambitions of clients, ManpowerGroup helps the organizations and individuals we serve achieve more than they imagined — because their success leads to our success. And by creating these powerful connections, we create power that drives organizations forward, accelerates personal success and builds more sustainable communities. We help power the world of work. The ManpowerGroup suite of solutions is offered through ManpowerGroup™ Solutions, Manpower®, Experis™ and Right Management®. Learn more about how the ManpowerGroup can help you win in the Human Age at www.manpowergroup.com. 

ManpowerGroup is the most trusted brand in the industry, and was once again the only company in our industry to be named to the Ethisphere Institute's 2012 World's Most Ethical Companies list for our proven commitment to ethical business practices, including an outstanding commitment to ethical leadership, compliance practices and corporate social responsibility.

In January 2011, at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, ManpowerGroup announced the world has entered the Human Age, where talent has replaced capital as the key competitive differentiator. This concept of talentism as the new capitalism continues to resonate and was echoed as a core theme of the 2012 Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos. Learn more about this new age at www.manpowergroup.com/humanage.

Gain access to ManpowerGroup's extensive thought leadership papers, annual Talent Shortage surveys and the Manpower Employment Outlook Survey, one of the most trusted indices of employment activity in the world, via the ManpowerGroup World of Work Insight iPad application. This thought leadership app explores the challenges faced by employers navigating the changing world of work and provides in-depth commentary, analysis, insight and advice on strategies for success.

Follow ManpowerGroup Chairman and CEO Jeff Joerres on Twitter: twitter.com/manpowergroupjj. Joerres is one of only six Fortune 500 CEOs who leverages a Twitter account to get his message out.

SOURCE ManpowerGroup