Manpower Advises Companies to Adjust Their Contingent and Permanent Workforce Mix to Ensure Agility in Uncertain Economy DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan. 25, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Manpower (NYSE: MAN), the global leader in contingent and permanent recruitment workforce solutions from ManpowerGroup today called for organizations to adjust their workforce strategy to incorporate a more flexible, agile approach if they hope to successfully navigate the Human Age in a new insight paper published at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, Davos. The paper, Increasing Demand for Better Skills Assessment and Match for Better Results is part of a series published by ManpowerGroup, the world leader in innovative workforce solutions, advising companies How to Navigate the Human Age through the company's annual analysis of the macro-economic forces evolving the world of work. Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110330/CG73938LOGO-d Companies in the Human Age are lean organizations with tight margins. As growth continues in emerging markets and softens in much of the developed world, businesses are demanding new and increasingly specific skills and capabilities from their workers to take advantage of every opportunity and do more with less. Demand is the key driver of hiring activity in the Human Age. Companies are looking to hire "just-in-time" with fast time-to-value, depending on the economic climate and their ability to predict fluctuating demand. According to a recent McKinsey study, nearly 60 percent of companies surveyed see temporary / contract workers as the largest growing percentage of their workforce. Clients are telling us they need to be more flexible and agile to react to this environment. Manpower is seeing the global contingent workforce grow as a result," said Joerres. Companies are evolving their approach to manage their talent as carefully and strategically as they would any other scarce resource, flexing their workforce in response to demand and changes in their markets. However, converging macro-economic forces and demographic shifts mean skilled individuals are in short supply, meanwhile under-qualified workers remain abundant. In 2011, over one third (34 percent) of employers surveyed by ManpowerGroup's Annual Talent Shortage Survey said they were having trouble finding the talent they need, yet unemployment remains relatively high. This conundrum of high unemployment and talent shortage is hampering economic growth, challenging employers' ability to respond quickly to demand. Manpower specialists find, assess and match the right talent, accurately and rapidly moving people in and out of a business as the demand for products and services shift. Leveraging more than 60 years of experience in providing innovative workforce solutions, an unrivaled global footprint across 80 countries and in-depth understanding of local labor market trends, Manpower partners with companies and candidates to provide the right match, with the right skills, in the right timeframe for better results.