Malcolm X College Partners With Global Employment Services Leader Adecco to Bring Innovative Job Search Kiosks to Chicago Area Campus.

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 25, 1999--

Adecco's 'Job Shop' Kiosks To Connect Malcolm X College 

Students With Job Opportunities in the Chicago Market

Last June, the Swiss-based global leader in employment services, Adecco (Nasdaq:ADECY), announced plans for their U.S. roll-out of Job Shop, a first-of-its-kind interactive job search kiosk located in malls and colleges across 33 states.

Today, Job Shop will be formally welcomed to Illinois with a ribbon cutting ceremony at Malcolm X College in Chicago.

Starting at 11 a.m., Adecco executives, local business and government leaders, college representatives, members of the media and job seekers alike will gather at the site of the Malcolm X College Job Shop to celebrate the introduction of this new high-tech job search concept to Chicago.

The colorful kiosk, located just outside the second floor Career Placement and Development Center (Malcolm X College - 1900 W. Van Buren Street), is designed to attract a steady flow of interested students and job seekers who follow the simple interactive touch-screen guide to submit their qualifications toward new job opportunities.

The launch of the Malcolm X College Job Shop marks another step in Adecco's continuing five-year commitment and partnership to the local college. By empowering youth through education and enhancing access to opportunities, Adecco is confident this partnership will be mutually beneficial by providing the staffing giant with fertile ground to identify, recruit and develop some of Chicago's best and brightest.

"For Adecco, the advantage of a work force that can draw on diverse skills and backgrounds is clear. Job shop helps us obtain this goal by breaking down barriers to diversity and creating career opportunities," said Robby Gregg, Adecco's national director of Corporate Diversity.

"Job Shop at Malcolm X College is particularly gratifying because it demonstrates why Job Shop is such a 'win win' proposition. The high-tech kiosks bring greater career choice to Malcolm X students, while, at the same time, increasing the number of qualified candidates and the scope of staffing services Adecco provides to Chicago's fast growing businesses."

Job Shop kiosks are designed to be convenient and easy to use, simplifying the process of linking job seekers with the staffing needs of businesses. With self-guiding instructions, Job Shop prompts users to specify the nature of work desired, their schedule and availability, their education, experience, salary requirements, skills and other data -- in a process that takes only a few minutes.

All the information entered is linked immediately to Adecco's central database, where it is processed by proprietary software programs that screen and match the applicant's interests and skills to specific jobs from among thousands of temporary and full-time positions.

A positive match activates trained Adecco professionals who set up an appointment with the candidate to complete the final steps of the screening, testing and placement process.

The U.S. roll-out of the kiosks followed the successful operation of Job Shop at some 80 locations in Europe.

Aside from Illinois, Adecco's national Job Shop initiative now includes select sites in 20 additional states: California; Washington; Ohio; North Carolina; Kansas; Minnesota; Missouri; Texas; Kentucky; Ohio; Connecticut; New York; Oregon; Alabama; Florida; Georgia; South Carolina; Virginia; Arizona and New Jersey.

As Job Shop reaches greater U.S. distribution, it is expected to significantly speed up and increase efficiencies in Adecco's recruiting efforts at a time when the challenges of matching staff to the needs of U.S. businesses grow more complex.

"Last year Adecco supplied over 65,000 U.S. businesses with qualified personnel, placing over 10,000 people in the Chicago metropolitan area alone," said Barbara Wiles, Adecco's regional vice president.

"With record low unemployment, the demand for skilled workers continues to rise. Job Shop, in concert with our web site recruiting programs and proprietary screening and testing systems, is part of Adecco's strategic use of technology and innovation that helps us serve job candidates and our corporate clients even better.

"In effect, we're developing technological bridges that connect people to jobs with amazing speed and convenience."

Adecco SA is the global leader in employment services, connecting an average of 400,000 associates with business clients each day through its network of over 16,000 employees and 3,000 offices in 50 countries around the world.

Registered in Switzerland, and managed by a multinational team with expertise in markets spanning the globe, Adecco delivers an unparalleled range of flexible staffing and career resources to corporate clients and qualified associates.

Adecco provides clients with staffing services and solutions covering all major industries as well as specific professions. The worldwide Adecco Brand network focuses on global industries in transition, including automotive, banking, electronics, logistics, and telecommunications.

Adecco is also positioned as a worldwide leader in each of the major professional staffing segments with several world-class business lines: Accountants on Call and Jonathan Wren for Finance, Banking and Accounting; Ajilon for high-end Information Technology, TAD and Roevin for Engineering and Technical.

In 1998, Adecco further strengthened its level of services by acquiring information technology consultancy Melbourne-based F&S Management Services. These Adecco businesses provide their clients with a broad range of staffing solutions, from temporary work to permanent placement, to consulting and managed services.

Adecco also presents a very strong range of HR solutions with Lee Hecht Harrison, offering outplacement and career management services.

The company was formed in August, 1996 by the merger of Adia SA of Switzerland and Ecco SA of France. In 1998, the company's revenues grew 34 percent to 15.3 billion Swiss francs (approximately U.S. $10.8 billion). Adecco SA is listed on The Swiss Exchange (ADECCO I (ADE -136973); ADECCO PS (ADEP - 136963)), the Bourse de Paris (RM 12819) and Nasdaq (ADECY).