MILWAUKEE, May 4, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- ManpowerGroup (NYSE: MAN), the world leader in innovative workforce solutions, encourages business leaders to step up and partner with educators to drive and close the skills mismatch in the United States, as the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics today reported that the overall April jobless rate dropped slightly to 8.1 percent from 8.2 percent in March, and that the U.S. private sector added only 115,000 new jobs last month. In April, employment in temporary help services improved over the prior month, edging up by 21,000. Jobs were added in professional and business services, retail trade, and health care. Transportation and warehousing lost jobs from March.

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"Unless we narrow the talent mismatch gap, unemployment will remain stubbornly high, even as employers project greater hiring optimism," said Jeffrey A. Joerres, ManpowerGroup Chairman and CEO. "Business leaders need to act now to establish working partnerships with the colleges, vocational institutions and high schools in the communities where they do business. Employers must proactively identify skills they need from workers into the future, and then collaborate with academic leaders in identifying the right training required. We can no longer afford to have business and education working in silos if we want U.S. communities to compete economically in the Human Age."

ManpowerGroup recognizes the rising problems of youth unemployment as young workers struggle to enter the workforce and develop careers. This group of workers is most affected by the demographic and economic shifts that have alienated populations across the global economy. ManpowerGroup's insight paper, "Wanted:  Energized, Career-Driven Youth," addresses this growing issue and suggests business-driven solutions that employers can initiate to enhance partnerships aimed at reforming education.

"Today's youth are tomorrow's workforce and this country's future, and we need to do a better job of making sure they have the opportunity to acquire the necessary work-ready skills that employers are looking for," said Jonas Prising, ManpowerGroup President of the Americas and Chairman of Junior Achievement USA. "Establishing strong partnerships between business and education is a vital driver of bridging the skills gap and accelerating employment success for our future workforce."

ManpowerGroup and Junior Achievement (JA) partner to provide young people with essential work-readiness skills, focusing on the JA mission of inspiring and preparing young people to succeed in a global economy.  ManpowerGroup is a global sponsor of JA Success Skills, a program that provides 45,000 students with the tools they need to develop the personal skills and strategies that will help ensure long-term career success.

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 $22 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 3,800 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 the ManpowerGroup can help you win in the Human Age at www.manpowergroup.com.

ManpowerGroup is the most trusted brand in the industry, and was once again the only company in our industry to be named to the Ethisphere Institute's 2012 World's Most Ethical Companies list for our proven commitment to ethical business practices, including an outstanding commitment to ethical leadership, compliance practices and corporate social responsibility.

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. This concept of talentism as the new capitalism continues to resonate and was echoed as a core theme of the 2012 Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos. Learn more about this new age at www.manpowergroup.com/humanage

Gain access to ManpowerGroup's extensive thought leadership papers, annual Talent Shortage surveys and the Manpower Employment Outlook Survey, one of the most trusted indices of employment activity in the world, via the ManpowerGroup World of Work Insight iPad application. This thought leadership app explores the challenges faced by employers navigating the changing world of work and provides in-depth commentary, analysis, insight and advice on strategies for success. 

Follow ManpowerGroup Chairman and CEO Jeff Joerres on Twitter: twitter.com/manpowergroupjj. Joerres is one of only six Fortune 500 CEOs who leverages a Twitter account to get his message out.

SOURCE ManpowerGroup