Manpower Inc. (NYSE: MAN) announced today that it has expanded its social responsibility program to encompass a broader range of initiatives that build upon its heritage as the industry leader in workforce development for more than 50 years. The company's expanded social responsibility platform leverages Manpower's history of innovation in providing a bridge to employment for disadvantaged individuals and extends these efforts to additional groups of people in need of assistance. It also focuses on increasing awareness of, and opposition to, labor practices that exploit individuals, particularly those who are vulnerable.
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"We strive to be socially responsible in every aspect of our business and we focus our resources primarily on where we can have the most impact -- connecting disadvantaged people to jobs, job training and education," said Jeffrey A. Joerres, Chairman & CEO of Manpower Inc. "In our expanded program, we are extending these efforts to help disaster survivors, refugees and victims of human trafficking."
The four pillars of the company's social responsibility platform are: workforce development, disaster recovery, reaching out to refugees and combating human trafficking.
The newer pillars include Manpower's engagement with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and its ninemillion.org campaign, which is focused on providing education to the world's nine million refugee children, many of whom are living long term in refugee camps without adequate schooling in order to provide them with the skills they will need when they are eventually repatriated. In addition to Manpower, the companies engaged in the ninemillion.org initiative are Nike Inc., Microsoft, Right to Play, Earth Water International, Merck & Co. Inc. and Procter & Gamble.
"The refugee problem is one that has no end in sight, but one in which Manpower can make a difference by helping to provide the education that children require in order to someday succeed in a world outside of the refugee camps," said Joerres.
Manpower is also engaged in the End Human Trafficking Now! campaign, championed by the Suzanne Mubarak Women's International Peace Movement. This campaign strives to put an end to modern-day slavery, which forces an estimated 12.3 million people each year into forced labor or sexual servitude. Manpower Inc. was the first signatory of the Athens Ethical Principles, which declares a "zero tolerance" policy for working with any entity that benefits in any way from human trafficking. In addition, Manpower is leading the global campaign to get 1,000 of the world's leading corporations to join in signing the Principles by the end of 2007 and declaring that they, too, will have zero tolerance for this inhumane abuse.
"Trafficking human beings is now the third largest illegal industry on the planet, following only arms and drug smuggling, and it is present in every country and territory in our network," said Joerres. "As one of the world's largest employers, we cannot sit idly by as millions of people -- mainly women and children -- are forced into modern-day slavery. We believe in this campaign against human trafficking and we encourage other companies to join us in standing up against the trafficking industry."
The company's disaster recovery efforts were expanded in 2005 to help victims of the Asian tsunami and Hurricane Katrina in the U.S. to rebuild their lives. After the tsunami, Manpower partnered with Hope International to build two vocational training centers in Tamil Nadu, India, which are providing job training to approximately 1,000 people per year to enable survivors to begin anew and support their families. The company has partnered with the U.S. Department of Labor to help Katrina victims, who remain displaced due to the storm's damage, to find short and long-term jobs, and transition back to their home communities when the rebuilding efforts are completed.
"The work we are doing in our vocational centers in India is truly inspiring," said Joerres. "For decades, Manpower has been the unparalleled world leader in providing innovative workforce development programs in the communities in which we live and work, and now we are able to make a big difference to help people feed their families and rebuild their lives when disasters leave them without a means of employment."
The company's heralded workforce development initiatives include Working Links in the UK and TechReach in the US, which have won many accolades for their results in connecting the long-term unemployed and under-employed to decent jobs. In Mexico, Caminemos Juntos has grown a national reputation for its success in connecting people with disabilities to jobs.
Manpower Inc. participates in the United Nations Global Compact and endorses the Global Sullivan Principles. The company will issue a social responsibility report in July 2007.
For more information on Manpower's global social responsibility program, go to the Social Responsibility section on the company's corporate website, http://www.manpower.com/ .
Notes to editors
-- Please see http://www.ninemillion.org/ for more information on the
campaign to help the nine million children living in refugee camps via
the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). The founding
partners of the UNHCR-led ninemillion.org initiative are Nike Inc.,
Microsoft and Right to Play.
-- Please see http://www.gcwdp.org/index.html for more information on the
End Human Trafficking Now campaign with the Suzanne Mubarak Women's
International Peace Movement.
About Manpower Inc.
Manpower Inc. (NYSE: MAN) is a world leader in the employment services industry; creating and delivering services that enable its clients to win in the changing world of work. The $16 billion company offers employers a range of services 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 4,400 offices in 72 countries and territories enables the company to meet the needs of its 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 on Manpower Inc. is available at http://www.manpower.com/ .
First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact: linda.granrose@na.manpower.com
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SOURCE: Manpower Inc.
CONTACT: Britt Zarling of Manpower Inc., +1-414-906-7272,
britt.zarling@manpower.com
Web site: http://www.manpower.com/
http://www.ninemillion.org/
http://www.gcwdp.org/index.html
