The Adecco Group, is a
Swiss-
French company based in
Zurich,
Switzerland, and is the world's second largest
Human Resources
Human resources (HR) is the set of people who make up the workforce of an organization, business sector, industry, or economy. A narrower concept is human capital, the knowledge and skills which the individuals command. Similar terms include ...
provider and
temporary staffing firm, and a
Fortune Global 500
The ''Fortune'' Global 500, also known as Global 500, is an annual ranking of the top 500 corporations worldwide as measured by revenue. The list is compiled and published annually by ''Fortune'' magazine.
Methodology
Until 1989, it listed onl ...
company.
![The Adecco group Headquarters in Zurich](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/The_Adecco_group_Headquarters_in_Zurich.jpg)
They directly employ 700,000 people a day, and with the expansion of its operations to
China, the number of people working under them totals up to 3.5 million.
The company was formed officially on 1 January 1997 as a result of the
merger of the
French company Ecco and the
Swiss company Adia Interim, and is listed on the
SIX Swiss Exchange (ADEN, ISIN CH0012138605). Adia was established in 1957 in
Lausanne
, neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR ...
(Switzerland) by Henri Lavanchy. Ecco was founded in
Lyon
Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...
(
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
) at the initiative of Philippe Foriel Destezet. In 2000, The Adecco Group acquired Olsten Staffing, in the
US, becoming the number one recruitment company in that country. In 2010, it acquired MPS Group and thus became the number one company worldwide.
The Adecco Group is the parent company of various brands including Adecco, Modis, Spring Professional, Badenoch & Clark, Pontoon, General Assembly,
Vettery
Hired (previously known as Vettery) is a hiring marketplace. Vettery was founded by Brett Adcock and Adam Goldstein in 2013.
In February 2018 Vettery was bought by the Switzerland-based staffing firm Adecco Group for around $100 million USD.
In ...
, Adia and Lee Hecht Harrison.
Services
The Adecco Group provides services covering temporary
staffing
''Staffing'' is the process of finding the right worker with appropriate qualifications or experience and recruiting them to fill a job position or role. Through this process, organizations acquire, deploy, and retain a workforce of sufficient qua ...
, permanent
placement, career transition and
talent development
Training and development involve improving the effectiveness of organizations and the individuals and teams within them. Training may be viewed as related to immediate changes in organizational effectiveness via organized instruction, while devel ...
as well as business process outsourcing and consulting.
As for staffing, The Adecco Group covers many sectors, including office, industrial, technical, financial and legal, amongst others.
History
* 1957: Adia is founded by Henri Lavanchy in Lausanne, Switzerland
* 1964: Ecco is founded in Lyon, France by Philippe Foriel-Destezet
* 1996: Personnel services firms Ecco and Adia Interim merged to form a global company with annualised revenues of €5.4
billion
Billion is a word for a large number, and it has two distinct definitions:
*1,000,000,000, i.e. one thousand million, or (ten to the ninth power), as defined on the short scale. This is its only current meaning in English.
* 1,000,000,000,000, i. ...
. Operations were combined to form a network of 2,500 branches and 250,000 staff.
* 2000: The Adecco Group acquired Olsten Staffing. The merged company generated combined revenues of €11.6 billion.
* 2002: The Adecco Group consolidated its businesses and created divisions to manage its business.
* 2005: The Adecco Group expanded across six professional business lines.
* 2006: Following the acquisition of DIS AG,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, Dieter Scheiff assumed the position of
chief executive officer
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especial ...
of The Adecco Group. Dominik de Daniel became
chief financial officer.
* 2007: The annual shareholders' meeting approved the nomination of Jürgen Dormann, former vice chairman, as chairman of the board. Rolf Dörig became vice-chairman. Klaus J. Jacobs, the co-founder of Adecco, handed back his mandate, having reached the statutory retirement age.
* 2008: On 11 September, Klaus J. Jacobs, founder and honorary president of The Adecco Group, died. Jürgen Dormann stepped down at year end, as chairman of the board of directors.
* 2009: Rolf Dörig started as chairman of the board of directors of The Adecco Group. On 1 June, Patrick De Maeseneire took over as chief executive officer of The Adecco Group from Dieter Scheiff. The Adecco Group acquires Spring Group in the
UK, and tabled an offer for MPS Group.
* 2010: The acquisition of MPS Group officially closed. The Adecco Group set up a joint venture in Shanghai with Chinese HR services company Fesco.
* 2011: FESCO Adecco began operations on 1 January. The Adecco Group announced the acquisition of US-based Drake Beam Morin, Inc.
* 2012: The Adecco Group acquired VSN Inc., a provider of professional staffing services in
Japan. Henri-Ferdinand Lavanchy, the founder of Adia, died.
* 2014: The Adecco Group acquired OnForce to expand its Beeline service offering, creating a unique integrated solution for managing contingent workforces. The Jacobs Group sold the majority of its 18% stake in the Adecco Group.
* 2015: On 11 March, The Adecco Group acquired Knightsbridge Human Capital Solutions, a
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
company offering career transition, talent and leadership development and recruitment services. On 1 September,
Alain Dehaze
Alain Dehaze (born 1963) is a Belgian business executive who is no longer serving as the CEO of The Adecco Group. Having previously worked as the Adecco Regional Chief for Northern Europe and France, he joined The Adecco Group in September 2015.
...
took over as chief executive officer of The Adecco Group from Patrick De Maeseneire.
* 2016: On 10 May, The Adecco Group closed the acquisition of Penna Consulting Plc, a UK company providing career transition and talent development services, as well as recruitment services.
* 2017: The Adecco Group global headquarters in
Zürich
, neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon
, twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco
Zürich ...
moved from
Glattbrugg
Opfikon (; in the local Swiss German dialect: )Andres Kristol/Gabrielle Schmid, ''Opfikon ZH (Bülach)'' in: ''Dictionnaire toponymique des communes suisses – Lexikon der schweizerischen Gemeindenamen – Dizionario toponomastico dei comuni sviz ...
to the city, in Bellerivestrasse.
* 2018: The Adecco Group acquired
General Assembly
A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company.
Specific examples of general assembly include:
Churches
* General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presb ...
and
Vettery
Hired (previously known as Vettery) is a hiring marketplace. Vettery was founded by Brett Adcock and Adam Goldstein in 2013.
In February 2018 Vettery was bought by the Switzerland-based staffing firm Adecco Group for around $100 million USD.
In ...
* 2019: The Adecco Group announced the divestment
of Soliant Health in the US. The healthcare staffing business was sold to Olympus Partners for a cash consideration of US$612 million (EUR 551 million).
*2020: In April 2020, Jean-Christophe Deslarzes
is appointed chair of the board of directors. In May 2020, The Adecco Group formed an alliance with Randstad BV and ManpowerGroup, launching new guidance for a safe return to work after the
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...
outbreak.
*2022: In May 2022, Adecco announced that
Denis Machuel
Denis Machuel (born 19 April 1964) is a French business executive. He is currently the CEO of Sodexo, a multinational food service and facilities management company.
Early life
Born in 1964 in Reims, Machuel receives an undergraduate degree and ...
will replace
Alain Dehaze
Alain Dehaze (born 1963) is a Belgian business executive who is no longer serving as the CEO of The Adecco Group. Having previously worked as the Adecco Regional Chief for Northern Europe and France, he joined The Adecco Group in September 2015.
...
and he will take charge on July 1, 2022.'
Global brands
The Adecco Group operates in the market through various brands, including
*Adecco
*ADIA
* Spring Professional
*
Badenoch & Clark
*
Pontoon
* Lee Hecht Harrison
*
General Assembly
A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company.
Specific examples of general assembly include:
Churches
* General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presb ...
*Hired
* DIS AG
Akkodis
Scandals
In 2004, Adecco delayed publication of its results because of accounting problems.
With investors already nervous following the collapse of Italian dairy group Parmalat, shares in Adecco – which places 650,000 people on assignment each day for clients such as IBM – were down 44.2% at 45.50 Swiss francs (£20.13). The loss wiped out the previous year's 47% share price gain, which came amid expectations that global economic recovery would boost the firm's temp business. The run on Adecco's shares followed a short statement from the company about the delay in its earnings release, which had originally been scheduled for February 4. Adecco said that the delay stemmed from several reasons including "the identification of material weaknesses in internal controls in the company's
North American
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Ca ...
operations of Adecco Staffing". Adecco did not disclose details of irregularities it had found in an internal review. Investors were left uncertain, but were concerned that the company could be the latest casualty in a wave of accounting scandals.
Problems had also engulfed Enron, Ahold and Parmalat, where billion-dollar frauds led to criminal investigations. There was speculation that Adecco's problems could be connected to its acquisition of US jobs firm Olsten for $1.6bn (£865m) in March 2000.
Litigation
Adecco UK Ltd v. Adecco UK Recruitment Ltd
On 10 December 2008, Adecco UK Ltd applied to the
Company Names Tribunal under s.69(1)(b)
Companies Act 2006
The Companies Act 2006 (c 46) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which forms the primary source of UK company law.
The Act was brought into force in stages, with the final provision being commenced on 1 October 2009. It largely ...
for a change of name of Adecco UK Recruitment Ltd, which had been registered at
Companies House
Companies House is the executive agency of the company registrars of the United Kingdom, falling under the remit of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. All forms of companies (as permitted by the Companies Act) are in ...
since 14 October 2008.
The application went undefended by the respondent and the adjudicator ordered on 3 March 2009, that Adecco UK Recruitment Ltd must change their name within one month. Additionally the respondent was ordered not to cause or permit any steps to be taken to register another company with an offending name which could interfere, due to its similarity, with the
goodwill of the applicant.
Adecco UK Recruitment Ltd was also ordered to pay a contribution towards Adecco UK Ltd's costs.
Adecco UK Ltd v. Adecco UK Recruitment Ltd
Retrieved 8 October 2014
See also
* The Adecco Group North America
* Adecco General Staffing, Australia
Adecco General Staffing, Australia is one of the largest providers of employment placement and recruitment services in Australia. The company employs about 400 employees across 19 offices all over the country, with headquarters in Southbank, Victo ...
References
External links
*
*
*
The Adecco Group - YouTube
The Adecco Group - LinkedIn
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adecco
Companies listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange
Multinational companies headquartered in Switzerland
Consulting firms established in 1996
Employment agencies
Actuarial firms
Human resource management consulting firms
Companies based in Zürich
Service companies of Switzerland
Temporary employment agencies