Adecco Career Accelerator Expands to Include Reservists; World's Largest Staffing Company Launches Third Phase of Successful Career-Building Program.

Business Editors

MELVILLE, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 7, 2003

Adecco (NYSE: ADO), the largest staffing and human resource services company in the U.S. and the world, announces the expansion of its partnership with the Department of the Navy, Adecco Career Accelerator. Now, in addition to helping Navy and Marine Corps spouses find rewarding employment, Adecco Career Accelerator is available to the families of the Coast Guard, Army and Air National Guard, as well as the Reserve Components, all at no cost to the family members or the U.S. military.

The military has identified employment of family members as a major factor in personnel retention. As Colonel James Scott, Director, Individual & Family Support Policy, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs, explains, "Adecco Career Accelerator is a big step forward in employment assistance for military families, providing job placements and training. Adecco recruiters have proven expertise in assessing skills, providing training, and matching people with positions that make the most of their abilities. An added value is that Adecco Career Accelerator is a built-in support system that military family members take with them wherever they go, since they retain vacation and other benefits as long as they are registered with Adecco. Another point is that National Guard and Reserve units are in many locations across the country, not necessarily near military bases. The availability of Adecco Career Accelerator services is particularly important to military family members who do not have access to the on-base employment assistance programs available to other military families." Adecco continues to partner with the Navy and Marine Corps Family Service Centers' Spouse Employment Program Managers to provide employment opportunities to spouses and family members who are able to utilize the Family Centers' services.

Adecco places its temporary and full-time employees at client locations in a wide range of positions, from clerical, administrative, data entry, financial and hospitality through call center, engineering, IT, managerial, and light industrial. As a result, military family members may explore a variety of employment options wherever an Adecco office is located.

One of the hundreds of spouses that Adecco Career Accelerator has found employment for is Layne Delp, who is on a long-term assignment as a customer service representative at a major health care provider near Kaneohe Bay Marine Corps Base in Hawaii. Delp said, "Until I signed up with Adecco Career Accelerator, I'd been searching for a job for months. I even considered ending my search--it was that stressful. Two days after visiting with a very insightful Adecco employment counselor, I had the perfect temporary position as an administrative assistant. I've now moved on to another assignment as a customer service representative, which I truly enjoy."

Julio Arrieta, CEO of Adecco USA, says, "We are honored to be able to offer our program to the Coast Guard, Army and Air National Guard, as well as all Reserve Components. Because military family members have a wide range of skills and are known for their good work ethic, they represent a valuable pool of previously untapped candidates to offer our clients. In talking with our clients, I have learned that they are eager to assist our armed forces by working with Adecco to employ military family members. In addition to giving us a way to directly support the military, one of the beauties of this program is that it works to everyone's advantage."

For more information about Adecco Career Accelerator, please visit www.usadecco.com/careeraccelerator.

About Adecco

Adecco S.A. is a Forbes 500 company and the global leader in HR solutions. The Adecco Group network connects 650,000 associates with business clients each day through its network of 28,000 employees and 5,800 offices in 67 countries around the world. Registered in Switzerland, and managed by a multinational team with expertise in markets spanning the globe, the Adecco Group delivers an unparalleled range of flexible staffing and career resources to corporate clients and qualified associates.

The Adecco Group comprises four Divisions: Adecco Staffing, Ajilon Professional, LHH Career Services and jobpilot e-HR Services. In Adecco Staffing, the Adecco staffing network focuses on flexible staffing solutions for global industries in transition, including automotive, banking, electronics, logistics and telecommunications; Ajilon Professional offers an unrivaled range of specialized recruiting and consulting businesses; LHH Career Services encompasses our portfolio of outplacement and coaching; jobpilot e-HR focuses on online recruiting activities for the Adecco Group.

Adecco USA serves more than 70,000 clients a year through a nationwide network of almost 1,300 points of sales and service. With headquarters in Melville, NY, Adecco USA employs about 3,300 full-time employees and places more than 120,000 temporary associates each week. Adecco USA also provides a full spectrum of human resource solutions, including payroll management; HR information systems; training; administration of group insurance, retirement plans and other benefits; risk management; and more.

Adecco S.A. is registered in Switzerland and is listed on the Swiss Exchange (ADEN / trading on Virt-x: 1213860), NYSE (ADO), and Euronext Premier Marche (12819).