David Edwin Wilson Arkless (born February 1954) is a British

businessman A businessperson, businessman, or businesswoman is an individual who has founded, owns, or holds shares in (including as an angel investor) a private-sector company. A businessperson undertakes activities (commercial or industrial) for th ...

, the former president of both

CDI Corporation CDI Corporation is a privately held US company providing engineering, procurement, construction management and staffing services to clients in a range of industries including energy, chemical, semiconductor and battery manufacturing. , the compa ...

and ManpowerGroup.

Early life

Arkless studied at the

University of Durham Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by royal charte ...

, where he read for a BA in General Studies. He subsequently attended

INSEAD INSEAD, a contraction of "Institut Européen d'Administration des Affaires" () is a non-profit business school that maintains campuses in Europe ( Fontainebleau, France), Asia (Singapore), the Middle East (Abu Dhabi, UAE), and North America (San ...

, IMD and the San José College of Business.

Career

Arkless is currently Professor at The University of Durham and CEO/Founder of his own consulting company, The ArkLight Consulting Group. Between 1992 and 2013, he was employed at ManpowerGroup, and was President of Global Corporate & Government Affairs. Prior to this, he worked for

Hewlett-Packard The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company headquartered in Palo Alto, California. HP developed and provided a wide variety of hardware components ...

and thereupon founded his own consulting company, Caden Corporation. Arkless also served as President-International for CDI Corporation. Arkless is a regular advisor to the

US Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other ...

, and various EU departments, also he serves as both board member and corporate committee member of CIETT, the international confederation of private employment agencies. Since May 2010, Arkless has worked as vice president of the China International Council for the Promotion of Multinational Corporations (CICPMC) in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

. As one of the founding members of the Global Agenda Council on the Skills Gap, Arkless is a regular participator in the

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab. The foundation, ...

In 2011, he became president of the

End Human Trafficking Now The End Human Trafficking Now (EHTN) campaign was founded in 2006 in an attempt at uniting the business world in combatting human trafficking and modern slavery. The campaign grew out of the “Roundtable of the Business Community against Human Tr ...

organisation. In 2018, Arkless became the Chairman of the Board of the anti-trafficking foundation, More Too Life. Arkless is a Knight of the Parte Guelfa in Florence, a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...

and has been elected as one of the top 50 CSR influencers in the world.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arkless, David Edwin Wilson 1954 births Living people Alumni of Hatfield College, Durham INSEAD alumni British businesspeople