ManpowerGroup President of Southern Europe Francoise Gri Named to Fortune Global 50 Most Powerful Women in Business List for Ninth Consecutive Year in 2012

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PARIS, Oct. 3, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- ManpowerGroup (NYSE: MAN), the world leader in innovative workforce solutions, is pleased to announce that ManpowerGroup President of Southern Europe Francoise Gri has been named to Fortune Magazine's prestigious list of the 50 Most Powerful Women in International Business for the ninth year in a row for 2012.

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Despite this year's Fortune list proving to be the most competitive in the history of the ranking, with an overwhelming number of leading businesswomen in contention, Gri was successful in retaining 31st position on a list which recognizes women who successfully lead businesses, while wielding significant cultural and social influence. In her role, Gri leads ManpowerGroup's largest region by revenues, as well as the company's largest and most influential single market, France.

"Francoise continues to gain recognition as an outstanding female achiever in business despite fierce competition, which speaks volumes for her ability to lead in a complex and challenging environment, her drive and determination, and her willingness to continually set a higher bar for herself year after year," said Jeffrey A. Joerres, ManpowerGroup Chairman and CEO. "Francoise has stepped up in the face of the uncertainty that plagues the European market, meeting those challenges head on and displaying exemplary leadership for her team."

Under Gri's leadership, ManpowerGroup France alone generated $6.2 billion in revenue in 2011, a 12.6% percent increase in year-over-year revenues from the year prior. In the first quarter of 2012, the Southern Europe region generated over $1.7 billion in revenues – more than one third of the global company's total revenues — including $1.3 billion in France and $267.5m in Italy.

Gri has continued to expand her influence during the past 12 months, leading ManpowerGroup's delegation at the World Economic Forum on the Middle East, North Africa and Eurasia 2012. She co-moderated a dynamic discussion on the macroeconomic forces that are the hallmark of the Human Age — the transformational new era that ManpowerGroup has identified when talent has replaced capital as the competitive differentiator. Gri advised that employers should be more flexible, agile and focus on training and development. They should forecast their talent needs years in advance and align their business strategy with a comprehensive workforce strategy.

At the WEF Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland on 26 January 2012, Gri rang the New York Stock Exchange opening bell for European markets. During the WEF Annual Meeting, Gri participated in a session titled "Gender Dynamics, a Systemic Approach to Gender Parity," as a selected leader who has taken successful actions towards gender equality. The session focused on creating a new systemic architecture to accelerate progress on closing the economic gender gap. Gri also participated in the Women Leaders & Gender Programme Advisory Group annual meeting.

In September 2012, Gri had a new book published on the subject of her career path as a woman, and the wider issue of women in the workplace. This follows the publication of her book titled "Pleading for Responsible Employment," in 2010. In this work, she recorded details of her discussions with her employees and clients during the great recession, the lessons she learned from this period, as well as her analysis of the French employment market.

Fortune's full list of the 2012 International Most Powerful Women can be viewed at:
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/most-powerful-women/2012/global/

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 nearly 3,900 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 20 Fortune 500 CEOs who leverages a Twitter account to get his message out.

SOURCE ManpowerGroup