Manpower Inc. Chairman and CEO Jeff Joerres Participates in WEF on East Asia Panel Focused on Ways to Align Labor Market Demand and Education to Ease the Region's Talent Mismatch

HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam, June 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Manpower Inc. Chairman and CEO Jeff Joerres will today participate in a session at the World Economic Forum on East Asia summit, titled "Asia's Next Generation of Talent", during which the panel will discuss ways that government and business leaders can better align the supply and demand in the labor market with education systems to more effectively harness Asia's large talent pool. Nearly 30 percent of Chinese university graduates are expected to be unemployed, yet the corporate sector across Asia cites a skills mismatch.

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"Talent shortages in Asia-Pacific are 10 percent higher than the global average, and this problem, left unchecked, will become steadily more acute as the global economy continues to improve," said Joerres. "The region requires a more educated workforce, and we need to devise sound strategies to better equip the next generation of workers with the skills that employers desperately need in order to ensure the region remains economically competitive during the up cycle."

The session, which will also include Nguyen Thien Nhan, Deputy Prime Minister of Vietnam will aim to establish how business, government and academic institutions can ensure adequacy between private sector needs and education programs, the key priorities for reform in Asian education systems, and how tertiary and lower-level educational systems can be built in a complementary fashion to ensure the development of both critical thinking and practical skills among students.

Manpower recently released the results of its fifth annual Talent Shortage survey, which showed that despite high unemployment worldwide and a plentiful pool of available workers, employers are having increasing difficulty filling key roles within their organizations. Asia is hardest hit, with Japan in particular suffering from a talent mismatch as 76 percent of companies there struggling to source talent. An aging workforce and lack of immigration mean the onus will be on the next generation to plug the talent gaps in the Japanese workforce.  

"There exists a big chasm between the workforce entrants being produced by the education system and the workers that companies actually need," added Joerres. "Intellectual curiosity is vitally important, because those who graduate with intellectual curiosity will prove more adaptable in the long-term as skills inevitably become dated. The ability to solve problems needs to be better understood because that's where companies want people."

According to the Manpower survey, positions that employers in the Asia-Pacific region have the most difficulty filling are largely technical skills such as technicians, engineers and skilled trades. As skill sets that organizations look for become ever-more specific and refined, the perfect candidate becomes even more difficult to find.

"There needs to be more emphasis put on technical skills so that there is more opportunity to learn these skills as a viable career path," added Joerres. "There is also needs to be something of a mindset shift so that more young people are encouraged to earn a trade that prepares them for a specific career as opposed to more generalist education courses."  

About Manpower Inc.

Manpower Inc. (NYSE: MAN) is a world leader in innovative workforce solutions; creating and delivering 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 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.

SOURCE Manpower Inc.