Adecco is the world’s largest workforce solutions company that operates in over 60 countries. The company counts 33,000 staff and at any given day helps close to a million people to find work and to achieve their potential.
The group has a variety of services such as ‘Adecco Staffing and Permanent Hire’ which places people into either temporary or full time roles, ‘Spring Professional’ brands the mid- to senior professional placement programme, ‘Lee Hecht Harrison’ is a career development and outplacement service along with ‘Pontoon’ that provides outsourced recruitment solutions.
Most recently in Singapore ‘Modis’ was launched which focuses on IT and Engineering project delivery. As a group they have acquired or launched multiple digital platforms like General Assembly, to continue ensuring a pole position as thought leader and innovator in the changing world of work.
Adecco is in the pole position in a changing world of work
Adecco believes in a future-ready Singapore
The Adecco Group, with its regional headquarters on Orchard Road is very proud of its long heritage and presence in Singapore. The business was launched on the island in 1985 and has since grown to employ several hundred people. On top of that the company has reached the level of placing over 1,400 people who they help to find new jobs every year.
‘Adecco believes strongly in the future of the city state and SEA and will continue to invest in its presence here’, explains Mr Daniel Callaghan, Head of Adecco Group X APAC at Adecco Personnel Pte Ltd. ‘The Singapore Government has been very supportive and has played a role in achieving the company’s growth here’, continues Mr Callaghan.
The visionary and forward thinking of Singapore paired with its practical thinking and action oriented steps makes the Lion city a great partner for Adecco. Initiatives likes Govworks and Skillsfuture are all excellent examples of the steps being taken to prepare Singapore for the future where many industries are changing rapidly and jobs are vastly different than before.
Singapore is a regional front runner in terms of innovation and infrastructure support. It makes the city-state a key hub within the region from which Adecco is able to get an excellent overall market view of what is going on elsewhere. Additionally, the quality of talent within the Singapore market is very strong.
Another auspicious initiative is the EU-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (EUSFTA). Looking forward to this FTA being in place, Callaghan believes that more opportunities for manufacturing and production in the region will be exposed and in the meantime it will lessen restrictions on certain services. All of this will create possibilities for employment and career development which is at the core of the Adecco Group’s activities.
Market needs lead the company to excel in innovation
Adecco recently published a global thought leadership piece in which identified 6 mega trends were identified for fundamentally changing the world. These include political uncertainty, the rise of the gig economy, the imbalance of skills, an aging demographic mix and the rise of both artificial intelligence (AI) and digitization through big data and analytics.
Based on these trends, the company determines what future solutions are needed to add the most value to both client and candidate. Being a customer-centric organization, Adecco understands that both parties have different expectations and needs from a workforce solution provider. These market needs lead the company to excel in innovation as consistently delivering above and beyond with the most streamlined and modern service possible is the mission of the company.
‘We recently launched the unit called Adecco Group X for Asia Pacific based out of Singapore. This is essentially a digital innovation and investments arm and part of a global team focused in ensuring that we stay on top of all the latest global technologies and evolutions’, comments Callaghan. ‘My role is to run the Adecco Group X unit across our 12 Asian markets including India and ultimately identify either young scale up businesses that we can incorporate into our service to improve the client and candidate experience or look at businesses that we should invest or acquire in’ continues Callaghan.
Globally, Adecco has also just launched several exciting brands that will continue to see the firm in pole position in the workforce solutions industry. Such a brand launched is ‘Yoss’ which is a global freelance marketplace. Another one is ‘Adia’ which is an on demand staffing platform for the hospitality industry and ‘General Assembly’ is a leading provider of skills trainings in the digital age. ‘Vettery’, on the other hand is a marketplace for permanent hires.
So far in the last 8 months in Asia, Adecco has already worked with a dozen innovative Asian based businesses in bringing them into the Adecco Group Ecosystem.
The company’s strategy has three key pillars – Perform, Transform and Innovate. As such, these developments fit hand in hand with the firm’s objectives. Technology is pervasive throughout all parts of our business and Adecco will continue to focus on using it both to drive internal performance as well as to engage with stakeholders.
Going through an exciting transition
‘I believe that the workforce solutions industry is going through an exciting transition. Technology and the use of data are becoming increasingly important and will ultimately become table stakes for any serious player. The value will be created in how this technology is intertwined with service and human experience to create a transformational outcome. The most exciting part of working with Adecco is seeing that come to fruition’ tells Callaghan.
‘We expect great things to come from the region. We have recently appointed a new Regional CEO, Ian Lee, who is an expert across the region and is based out of Singapore. We have a very strong APAC leadership team and a fantastic workforce who all believe in the company’s vision. The growth of the ASEAN region is very favourable and believe given the strength of relationships with our clients there is a great deal of potential’ explains Callaghan.
Adecco Personnel Pte Ltd
1 Scotts Road | #18-08 Shaw Centre | Singapore 228208
W: www.adecco.com.sg
T: +65 6835 3400