Executive Summary
Manpower Inc. knocked Adecco, the Melville, N.Y.-based agency ensconced in L.A. since 1965, out of the top spot on the list of largest temporary placement firms.
In reporting $80 million in revenues through the first half of 2002, Manpower, based in Milwaukee, generated nearly twice the revenues of AppleOne, now No. 2 on the list.
There are other major players in the market, including Robert Half International and Kelly Services Inc., although those firms declined to break out regional information and could not be included among the Business Journal rankings.
While first-half revenues among the larger firms appear to be on track to exceed the numbers recorded for the last full year, smaller operators will likely fall short of revenues reported in 2001.
The American Staffing Association reported national temporary employment dropped in 2001 after a decade of consistent decline.
Jonathan Diamond
The Pacesetter
Manpower Inc.
Though it will likely fall short of the $170 million revenue mark it hit in 2001, Manpower Inc.’s Los Angeles County offices generated enough business through the first half of the year to assume the top spot on the list of temporary agencies.
Based in Milwaukee, Manpower’s 24 local offices generated $80 million through June 30. Last year, full-year revenues accounted for less than 1.5 percent of the company’s $11.8 billion level.
Still, said Sue Foigelman, Manpower’s area manager for Los Angeles and Orange counties, things appear to be picking up.
“We’ve seen some changes in the last couple months in terms of companies going back to using temporaries as a supplemental workforce,” she said. “Businesses are not sure this will be a long term recovery.”
Foigelman said Manpower had seen strength in the food industries, title companies and plastics, while pharmaceuticals, in which it does not have a strong presence, has suffered.
On the upside, there are plenty of qualified workers out there.
“Recruiting is so much easier than a few years ago,” she said, “both in the quantity and quality of people who walk trough the door.”
Jonathan Diamond
