MILWAUKEE, March 11, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- ManpowerGroup (NYSE: MAN), the world leader in innovative workforce solutions, says new, contemporary approaches to work are required in order to break down barriers facing women in the workforce — a crucial step to grow talent pipelines and to spur successful economies.  

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Women remain the greatest underleveraged source of talent in the world despite ManpowerGroup's 2012 Talent Shortage Survey finding that one third of employers are struggling with skills shortages. According to the International Labor Organization, nearly half of working age women are not currently active in the formal global economy, and among Fortune 500 companies, only 15.7% of board seats are held by women.

"What companies are offering women is clearly not what women want. There needs to be a shift toward work models that better provide women the flexibility they are looking for so that the percentage of women in the workforce does not drop off at every sorting of talent," said Mara Swan, ManpowerGroup Executive Vice President, Global Strategy and Talent. "We also need to focus on strategic ways to reintegrate women who temporarily leave the workforce to raise families."

On International Women's Day last week Friday, Swan — who was recently named a member of the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on Leadership and HR Executive of the Year for 2012 by Human Resource Executive magazine — gave her global perspective around how flexible working practices can help retain more women in an interview with BBC World Service Radio. Swan was joined in the discussion by Fiona Woolf, who is in line to become only the second female Lord Mayor of London, and Wanjiru Kamau-Rutenberg, founder of Akili Dada, a leadership incubator investing in the next generation of African women leaders. The interview is available online at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00m6dzl

"I look forward to the time when the world no longer needs an International Women's Day because our societies have achieved equality in the workforce and have unleashed the potential of all people," added Swan.

"Companies need to value the diversity of thought, perspective and experience in order to unleash the potential of all of their people, regardless of gender or generation, to nurture innovation and productivity," said Jeffrey A. Joerres, ManpowerGroup Chairman and CEO.

 Across the world, ManpowerGroup is committed to providing experience and employment opportunities for women inside and outside its company, including:

• Developing a custom solution in France to source, train and recruit women for an energy company that was faced with a serious lack of skilled electricians.
• Manpower Australia's Defence Force Recruiting team have launched several initiatives over the past six months to boost diversity, resulting in more women applying for roles in the military. For example, a recent "Women in the Army" event in Melbourne welcomed potential candidates, as well as their families and friends.
• A nationwide staffing initiative in Hong Kong to recruit unemployed or underskilled women found through NGOs and non-profits to fill a large number of support positions working in hard-to-fill roles at more than 60 public libraries.    
• Our operations in Mexico & Central America (MeCA) have taken steps to help women with disabilities find work, including sponsoring those with visual impairment so they can train as massage therapists, as well as to providing scholarships to assist 129 women in completing high school.

In addition, 70% of ManpowerGroup's leaders globally are women. Last week, ManpowerGroup was named one of America's Top Corporations by the Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) in recognition of the company instituting programs offering equal access to women-owned businesses and world-class supplier diversity. ManpowerGroup was also named a 2020 Women on Boards Winning Company for its commitment to board diversity — 30% of ManpowerGroup's board of directors is comprised of women.

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 $21 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 3,500 offices in 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.

ManpowerGroup is the only company in our industry to be named to the Ethisphere Institute's World's Most Ethical Companies list for three consecutive years, in recognition of its 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 20 Fortune 500 CEOs who leverages a Twitter account to get his message out.

SOURCE ManpowerGroup