Cross-border recruitment set to boom: Manpower CEO

By Nick Zieminski

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Global employment services company Manpower Inc (MAN.N) sees a "big opportunity" from cross-border recruitment in the coming year, especially between Asia and the Middle East, its chief executive said on Friday.

Manpower's program, called Cross Border Connections, was developed "in stealth mode" over the last two years and is set to take off this year, Jeff Joerres told Reuters in an interview.

"We think we will be doing cross-border matching on tens of thousands of people over the next year," Joerres said, up from about 4,000 a year now. "It's a big opportunity for us."

Joerres' comments came as Manpower reported higher-than-expected quarterly profits, driven largely by its international operations, and provided a second-quarter forecast above Wall Street estimates.

The cross-border program serves employers in locations such as the United Arab Emirates, who rely heavily on imported labor from countries such as India, Thailand, the Philippines and Malaysia.

In Dubai, one of the Emirates, expatriates account for some 90 percent of the work force.

The plan is part of a strategy to target multinational clients in the Middle East. In January, Manpower bought Clarendon Parker Middle East, the largest professional recruitment firm in the region, for an undisclosed sum.

For jobs in Western Europe, Manpower recruits in Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Slovenia, and handles orientation, visa processing, and sometimes arranges living arrangements, Joerres said. The company also recruits in Mexico for jobs in the United States.

For workers, Manpower offers competitive wages and a clean image, Joerres said.

"There are many bad actors in that industry -- not paying visa bills, taking passports, bad working conditions," he said. "That is not the kind of business we're going to be doing."

Milwaukee-based Manpower does business in 78 countries and territories.

(Editing by Gerald E. McCormick)