New Zealand, the U.S. and Canada Rank Strongest Globally in ManpowerGroup Solutions 2015 Contingent Workforce Index

MILWAUKEE, Sept. 15, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- ManpowerGroup Solutions today released its third Contingent Workforce Index (CWI), which tracks the relative ease of sourcing, hiring and retaining contingent workforce in 75 countries. In this latest report, New Zealand takes the top spot, demonstrating the most optimal characteristics for use of contingent labor: Availability, Cost Efficiency, Regulation and Productivity. The U.S. remains in second place for the second consecutive year, and Canada moves from seventh to third. Rounding out the top five are Hong Kong and Israel. China and India moved down on this year's rankings, shifting from third to 21st and from sixth to ninth, respectively, due to input from global employers who have consistently placed more value on the quality of the workforce over the volume of available workers.

"This year, the shifting priorities of clients had a greater impact on the CWI rankings than ever before," said Kate Donovan, senior vice president of ManpowerGroup Solutions. "Business leaders are paying more attention to talent shortages, particularly the potential for a shrinking workforce due to an aging population. Rising in importance is a population's English proficiency, given the increased costs that result when proficiency is low. These shifting priorities have resulted in major swings among the most optimal markets for businesses seeking to use a contingent workforce, and the Index is a great tool for ManpowerGroup Solutions and our clients for determining where to expand business operations."

REGIONAL RANKINGS

• APAC: China showed the biggest movement in the region, falling from second in 2014 to 10th this year. The key driver of this movement is the increased emphasis on English Proficiency and educational parameters.
• AMERICAS: The overall CWI rankings in the Americas region remained relatively constant from 2014 to 2015, with the U.S., Canada and Chile remaining in the top three positions for the region.
• EMEA: There was significant movement in the EMEA rankings this year. Israel moved from fourth to first, Ireland from sixth to second, the UAE from first to third and the UK from second to fourth. South Africa, which was previously one of the top three countries, dropped to sixth place, driven by a drop in both the Regulation and Cost Efficiency categories.

To view the 2015 Contingent Workforce Index, visit www.manpowergroup.com/CWI2015.

About the Contingent Workforce Index
Countries included in the CWI are assessed on more than 50 unique market conditions and statistics that influence contingent workforce conditions. Using a proprietary formula, countries are ranked on their overall environment for contingent workforce engagement across four categories: Availability, Cost Efficiency, Regulation and Productivity. Each category can be weighted differently depending upon the strategic priorities of an organization.

The 2015 CWI was refined and enhanced to ensure the analysis and results reflect the constantly evolving world of work trends. Based on experience and insights developed from work with clients, new market dynamics are included in this year's report, including gender diversity, cost of doing business, additional geopolitical considerations and the days in a standard work week. In addition, the rankings were impacted by a substantial increase in the weighting of English proficiency, as well as shifting the educational weightings to focus more on the tertiary education within the workforce. These adjustments resulted in declines for countries with large populations and pools of contingent labor, such as China and India, while elevating certain markets, like Israel and Ireland, where there are stronger skills and demographics among the emerging workforce.

The report provides unparalleled insights into contingent workforce planning, which helps organizations develop short- and long-term business and workforce strategies, from expanding MSP programs internationally, to capacity planning and global sourcing.

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SOURCE ManpowerGroup