Demand Buffered By Uncertainty Continues to Plague U.S. Employers, ManpowerGroup Reports

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More than half last month's job growth was generated by professional and business services, which added 47,000 jobs – with temporary workers accounting for 25,000 of this sector's increase.

"We remain in a unique long period of unemployment and underemployment, during which skills requirements are moving fast," said Jeffrey A. Joerres, ManpowerGroup Chairman and CEO. "We still have demand, but employers face heaping amounts of uncertainty that stems from what's happening with Europe, China, Obamacare, the upcoming U.S. general election, etc."

Job creation blueprints that ManpowerGroup endorses include the HR Policy Association's U.S. Blueprint for Jobs in the 21st Century and the Business 20 (B20) Task Force on Employment master plan for boosting global employment. These plans identify public-private sector initiatives for upskilling and placing talent into growing industry sectors. A co-chair on the new B20 task force, Joerres delivered its priority actions to the G20 last month.

"Stakeholders in the U.S. economy cannot wait for jobs to be created," Joerres added. "All employers, educators and levels of government, and individuals play a critical role in creating jobs. The right blueprint and scalable model initiatives exist. What's needed is for businesses, educators and governments to intricately collaborate in mapping how to sustain the U.S. talent pipeline." 

According to ManpowerGroup's 2012 Talent Shortage Survey results, 49% of U.S. employers struggle to fill mission-critical positions. Skilled trades, engineering and IT positions continue to place on this list year after year.

Also, 56% of employers, worldwide, indicate unfilled positions are expected to have little or no impact on key constituents, such as customers and investors. This proportion has grown considerably worldwide from 36 percent in 2011 to 56 percent in 2012.

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 over 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, being 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