MILWAUKEE, June 20, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- ManpowerGroup (NYSE: MAN), the world leader in innovative workforce solutions, is observing World Refugee Day today, the 60th anniversary of the founding of the UN refugee convention, to help unleash the human potential of people forced to flee their homes due to persecution, conflict or economic hardship. This year's theme is the "1 Campaign," which focuses on individual refugees and motivates the public to "Do 1 Thing" as an expression of solidarity with refugees.

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By putting individual refugees in focus, the campaign raises awareness of how refugees have been stripped of their dignity and how each individual's needs can be met to help them rebuild their lives through the determination of the human spirit. Through partnerships with refugee agencies worldwide, ManpowerGroup helps simplify integration processes for refugees working toward self-sufficiency by providing skills training and connecting them to sustainable jobs.

"Each refugee around the world is a human being who has the potential to become a dignified and empowered contributor to society," said David Arkless, ManpowerGroup President of Corporate and Government Affairs. "In many cases, they have lost everything and it is vitally important we make a stand for individual refugees to help them develop the marketable skills they need and tap into the passion, creativity, and innovation of their inner human potential."  

ManpowerGroup recently received the 2011 Many Voices, One Vision Recognition Award for its work with RefugeeOne in Chicago, U.S., in successfully placing refugees in jobs after seeing accelerating local client demand for industrial and factory workers. The world has now entered the Human Age, where talent has replaced capital as the key competitive differentiator, and employers are increasingly faced with an over-supply of available workers but an under-supply of qualified talent. ManpowerGroup is involved in many partnerships with refugee agencies around the world to train refugees and place them with clients who need their skills as an innovative workforce solution.

Other examples of ManpowerGroup reaching out to refugees include:

• A public-private partnership established 2009 with the municipality of Sodertalje, Sweden, helps refugees and the long-term unemployed to gain employment quickly, with 360 participants assisted into permanent work.
• In tandem with "Without Borders," ManpowerGroup Argentina has assisted refugees with resume writing, work-readiness skills and interview preparation. Since 2007, 35 workshops have taken place which have assisted more than 360 refugees from Africa, Latin America and Asia; 260 refugees have continued with the interview and selection process through ManpowerGroup branches; and 60 refugees have found full-time or employment.
• Through the "Fair Systems, and Employer Connections" initiative ManpowerGroup South Africa has recognized talent shortages in specific skill sets in Johannesburg and Cape Town; matched refugees with in-demand skills to these vacancies; and placed 10 refugees into jobs in 2010.

To learn more about how ManpowerGroup is helping to empower refugees around the world and about how you can help make a difference to the lives of refugees, visit: http://www.manpowergroup.com/social/wrd2011.cfm

About ManpowerGroup

ManpowerGroup™ (NYSE: MAN), the world leader in innovative workforce solutions, creates and delivers high-impact solutions that enable our clients to achieve their business goals and enhance their competitiveness. With over 60 years of experience, our $19 billion company creates unique time to value through a comprehensive suite of innovative solutions that help clients win in the Human Age. These solutions cover an entire range of talent-driven needs from recruitment and assessment, training and development, and career management, to outsourcing and workforce consulting. ManpowerGroup maintains the world's largest and industry-leading network of nearly 3,900 offices in over 80 countries and territories, generating a dynamic mix of an unmatched global footprint with valuable insight and local expertise to meet the needs of its 400,000 clients per year, across all industry sectors, small and medium-sized enterprises, local, multinational and global companies. By connecting our deep understanding of human potential to the ambitions of clients, ManpowerGroup helps the organizations and individuals we serve achieve more than they imagined — because their success leads to our success. And by creating these powerful connections, we create power that drives organizations forward, accelerates personal success and builds more sustainable communities. We help power the world of work. The ManpowerGroup suite of solutions is offered through ManpowerGroup™ Solutions, Manpower®, Experis™ and Right Management®. Learn more about how ManpowerGroup can help you win in the Human Age at www.manpowergroup.com.

In January 2011, at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, ManpowerGroup announced the world has entered the Human Age, where talent has replaced capital as the key competitive differentiator. Learn more about this new age at www.manpowergroup.com/humanage

In 2011, ManpowerGroup was the only company in the employment services industry to be named to Ethisphere Institute's 2011 World's Most Ethical Companies list for its proven commitment to ethical business practices, including an outstanding commitment to ethical leadership, compliance practices and corporate social responsibility. ManpowerGroup was also recognized as the industry leader by Fortune magazine who named the company in first place on its 2011 list of the Most Admired Companies in the temporary help sector.

Follow ManpowerGroup Chairman and CEO Jeff Joerres on Twitter: twitter.com/manpowergroupjj.

SOURCE ManpowerGroup