six aden industry professional services founded 1996 headquarters glattbrugg switzerland number of locations 5 100 branches in over 60 countries and territories area served worldwide key people rolf d rig chairman alain dehaze ceo services employment agencies recruitments human resource consulting and outsourcing revenue 22 billion 2015 1 operating income 300 million 2015 1 profit 8 million 2015 1 total assets 9.726 billion 2015 1 total equity 3.346 billion 2015 1 number of employees more than 32 000 2015 1 website www.adecco.com adecco group headquarters in glattbrugg switzerland the adecco group based near zurich switzerland is the largest staffing firm in the world 2 and a fortune global 500 company . 3 with more than 32 000 fte employees and around 5 100 branches in over 60 countries and territories around the world adecco group offers a wide variety of services through its key markets in france north america uk & ireland japan germany austria italy benelux nordics iberia australia new zealand switzerland . the company was formed in 1996 as a result of the merger of the french company ecco and the swiss company adia interim 4 and is listed on the six swiss exchange symbol aden security number 1213860 ; isin ch0012138605 . adecco group is the parent company of a large array of brands including adecco staffing modis spring professional badenoch & clark xpe pharma and science beeline pontoon and lee hecht harrison . contents 1 services 2 history 3 global brands 4 initiatives and partnerships 4.1 adecco way to work 4.2 win4youth 4.3 adecco athlete career program 4.4 global studies gtci global talent competiveness index & work trends study 5 sponsorships 6 corporate social responsibility 7 controversy 8 litigation 8.1 adecco uk ltd v. adecco uk recruitment ltd 9 references 10 external links services edit through its brand portfolio adecco group provides services and solutions covering temporary staffing permanent placement career transition and talent development as well as business process outsourcing and consulting . as for staffing adecco group covers many sectors including office industrial technical financial and legal amongst others . history edit 1996 personnel services firms ecco and adia interim merge to form a global company with annualised revenues of 5.4 billion . 5 operations are combined to form a network of 2 500 branches . the core staffing business consists of 250 000 staff situated with various companies . 2000 adecco group acquires olsten staffing becoming the largest recruitment company in the u.s. the merged company generates combined revenues of 11.6 billion . 2002 adecco group consolidates its businesses and creates divisions to manage its business . 2005 adecco group expands across six professional business lines defined by occupational fields and now provides all services under one name . 2006 following the acquisition of dis ag germany dieter scheiff assumes the position of chief executive officer of adecco group . dominik de daniel becomes chief financial officer . 6 2007 the annual shareholders meeting approves the nomination of j rgen dormann former vice chairman as chairman of the board . rolf d rig becomes vice chairman . klaus j. jacobs the co founder of adecco hands back his mandate having reached the statutory retirement age . 2008 on september 11 klaus j. jacobs founder and honorary president of adecco group dies . 7 j rgen dormann steps down at year end as chairman of the board of directors . 2009 rolf d rig starts as chairman of the board of directors of the adecco group . on june 1 patrick de maeseneire takes over as chief executive officer of the adecco group from dieter scheiff . adecco group acquires spring group in the uk 8 and tables an offer for mps group . 2010 the acquisition of mps group officially closes . 9 adecco group sets up a joint venture in shanghai with chinese hr services company fesco . 10 2011 fesco adecco begin operations on january 1 . adecco group announces the acquisition of us based drake beam morin inc. 11 2012 adecco group acquires vsn inc. a provider of professional staffing services in japan . 12 henri ferdinand lavanchy the founder of adia passes away . 13 2014 adecco group acquires onforce to expand its beeline service offering creating a unique integrated solution for managing contingent workforces . 14 the jacobs group sells the vast majority of its 18 % stake in the adecco group . 15 2015 on march 11 adecco group acquires knightsbridge human capital solutions a market leader in canada in career transition talent and leadership development and recruitment services . 16 on september 1 alain dehaze takes over as chief executive officer of the adecco group from patrick de maeseneire . 17 the adecco group announces a new composition of the executive committee . 2016 on may 10 the adecco group closes the acquisition of penna consulting plc a uk company providing career transition and talent development services as well as recruitment solutions . 18 the acquisition complements the activities of lee hecht harrison . global brands edit adecco group operates in the market through many different brands . the main international ones are adecco staffing modis spring professional badenoch & clark xpe pharma and science beeline pontoon lee hecht harrison initiatives and partnerships edit adecco group leads a number of different global programmes and initiatives adecco way to work edit adecco way to work represents its commitment against youth unemployment and encompasses three areas adecco street day a global initiative providing career guidance and tips for a successful job search . in 2016 6 700 colleagues from 53 countries participated and 1 million people were helped . since the launch in 2013 over 3.2 million job seekers have received assistance . 19 internships opportunities work experience opportunities are offered to enhance young people s employability with over 3 000 interns being placed in 2015 . 20 ceo for one month launched in 50 countries worldwide one candidate is given a taste of running a multinational company . 21 win4youth edit win4youth is a global csr & sports initiative . adecco group turn all kilometres covered by colleagues clients and associates through swimming cycling and running into a group donation while fostering healthy and active lifestyles for its employees . adecco group donates to 9 foundations dedicated to giving young people a better start in work and life brazil associa o sa de crian a bulgaria sos children s villages colombia fundacion carlos portela valdiri greece make a wish foundation hungary bator tabor indonesia sumba foundation serbia novak djokovic foundation slovakia tetis s.r.o. global refugee foundation premiere urgence international in its 7th year the 2016 edition aims to reach a goal of 3.5 million kilometres by swimming cycling and running the triathlon sports . adecco athlete career program edit since 2005 and 2007 respectively adecco group in association with the international olympic committee ioc and the international paralympic committee ipc athlete career programmes acp has helped companies gain access to over 28 000 athletes from 185 countries and aid them to transition from sport to the world of work . the ioc acp supports athletes through three pillars education life skills and employment and focuses on employment and workplace inclusion and accessibility . global studies gtci global talent competiveness index & work trends study edit global talent competitiveness index annual benchmarking study and practical tool ranking global economies based on their ability to grow attract and retain talent . work trends study investigates how job seekers and recruiters use social media what they think about smart working and personal or employer branding . sponsorships edit following on from their sponsorship between 2002 and 2007 ; in september 2015 adecco group signed a three year extension as an international sponsor and official hr partner of the itf s two team competitions davis cup by bnp paribas and fed cup by bnp paribas . the agreement started with the 2015 davis cup world group semifinals and play offs and continues through to 2019 . 22 corporate social responsibility edit adecco group manages and develops its corporate social responsibility csr strategy through a comprehensive approach addressing global trends in our industry stakeholder concerns and the three dimensions of csr social economic and environmental . they report in depth on six material strategic focus areas which have a major impact and value for their company and society at large . adecco group was recognized as one of the top scoring companies in the dow jones sustainability index between 2011 and 2014 . 23 in addition they respond to the carbon disclosure project and the ftse4god index series . since 2003 adecco have submitted their communication on progress cop to the un global compact . controversy edit on june 20 2013 blogger turner barr went public on his blog around the world in 80 jobs with a dispute he was having with adecco . adecco had claimed a trademark on the term around the world in 80 jobs which they had used for a marketing campaign . barr contended that his brand and likeness had been stolen . the story quickly went viral particularly in the travel blogging community . on june 26 2013 adecco agreed to turner s terms issued a public apology and changed the name of its contest to adecco way to work . 24 25 26 litigation edit adecco uk ltd v. adecco uk recruitment ltd edit on 10 december 2008 adecco uk ltd applied to the company names tribunal under s. 69 1 b companies act 2006 for a change of name of adecco uk recruitment ltd which had been registered at companies house since 14 october 2008 . the application went undefended by the respondent and the adjudicator ordered on 3 march 2009 that adecco uk recruitment ltd must change their name within one month . additionally the respondent was ordered not to cause or permit any steps to be taken to register another company with an offending name which could interfere due to its similarity with the goodwill of the applicant . adecco uk recruitment ltd was also ordered to pay a contribution towards adecco uk ltd s costs . 27 references edit a b c d e f annual report 2013 pdf . adecco . retrieved 16 june 2014 . http www.ciett.org fileadmin templates ciett docs stats economic report 2015 ciett er2015.pdf http fortune.com global500 adecco group 446 upcoming adia ecco merger to create a personnel giant silicon valley business journal . silicon valley business journal . retrieved 2016 04 05 . http www.bizjournals.com sanjose stories 1996 12 02 story7.html http www.onrec.com news news archive adecco appoints dominik de daniel as group chief financial officer http www.forbes.com 2008 09 13 klaus jacobs chocolate face markets cx eb 0911autofacescan01.html adecco s acquisition of spring creates one of the largest recruitment companies in the uk . www.hrmagazine.co.uk . retrieved 2016 04 12 . basch mark 1 florida times union october 21 2009 jacksonville s mps group agrees to buyout by swiss firm junqian xu 2 chinadaily december 4 2012 adecco fesco establish new hr venture http www.workforce.com articles adecco announces plan to acquire drake beam morin http www.corporatelivewire.com deal.html id adecco to acquire japan based professional staffing firm vsn inc http www.rts.ch info economie 3692830 le vaudois henri ferdinand lavanchy est decede.html onforce acquired by european adecco group will join with beeline . www.betaboston.com . retrieved 2016 04 05 . adecco s largest shareholder sells down stake . www.ft.com . retrieved 2016 04 22 . http www2.staffingindustry.com site editorial daily news adecco acquires knightsbridge human capital solutions 33388 https www.recruitment international.co.uk blog 2015 05 adecco board appoints alain dehaze as ceo http www.dailymail.co.uk wires reuters article 3582417 adecco says brexit uncertainty hitting uk finance jobs.html http www2.staffingindustry.com row editorial daily news world adecco group initiative street day helps jobseekers by offering expertise 37323 https www.paralympic.org athletes career programme way to work programme http www.onrec.com news news archive uk graduate wins competition to become adecco group uki