TEMPORARY PLACEMENT FIRMS.

Ranked by 1999 L.A. County revenues

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

TEMPORARY placement firms in L.A. County passed a major milestone last year as the largest 25 local firms topped $1 billion in combined revenues for the first time.

Specifically, they generated $1.26 billion in revenues, a 44 percent increase from the top firms' aggregate revenues in the previous year.

In fact, the top local placement firms' revenues have been growing at an average annual rate of 15.65 percent since the L.A. economy began to emerge from recession in the mid-1990s.

That's well ahead of the national average of 9 percent for the same time frame, according to the American Staffing Association.

Also during the 1990s, the number of temporary workers provided by staffing companies has seen a 20 percent annual growth rate. In the process, the staffing companies that recruit, train and retain this workforce have emerged as a vital component of the new economy, and a key supplier of people to businesses.

THE PACESETTER

ADECCO EMPLOYMENT SERVICES

WHEN Adecco SA purchased Olsten Corp. last March, the combined revenues were enough to catapult the new company into the No. 1 position in Los Angeles County, surpassing Manpower Staffing Services on this year's list.

Adecco Employment Services' $250 million in pro forma revenues for 1999 was 44.5 percent higher than second-place Manpower's $173 million.

Because the local economy remains strong, Adecco employs 20,000 associates a day in the greater Los Angeles market. Most of those people work for firms involved in financial services, high tech, manufacturing, office/clerical services and distribution.

The firm is also seeing a large demand for bilingual workers who speak languages ranging from Spanish to Vietnamese.

Leslie Merrow, senior vice president of Adecco's western division, estimates that nine out of 10 companies now use temporary personnel. "The notion that employment is for life has been replaced with 'for now' thinking," says Merrow.

To help find associates, Adecco maintains a number of ATM-like recruiting kiosks in high-traffic locations like universities, malls and transit stations. User-friendly touch screens allow people to enter information about their skills and experience, which is immediately matched with local job opportunities.

With the addition of Olsten, a global staffing company with more than 1,000 offices in 14 countries, the worldwide Adecco network now connects up to 600,000 associates a day with business clients through its 4,500 offices in 60 countries.

Its Redwood City headquarters in northern California has relocated to Olsten's former corporate center in Melville, N.Y.

A coup for the firm was being appointed in 1996 as the official staffing services supporter for the Olympic Games by the Sydney Organizing Committee. One of the most unusual jobs filled by Adecco was the one for a vexillologist, an expert in the protocol of flags.