Sitting on the Fence

Pressrelease Manpower Norway

10. June 2008

- Norwegian employers:

Sitting on the fence

According to the Manpower Employment Outlook Survey, employer hiring confidence will remain steady in the next three months, and Norway’s Net Employment Outlook of +14% is one of the more hopeful forecasts reported by Western European employers. However, the survey indicates that three out of four Norwegian employers are sitting on the fence, and will take a more cautious approach about adding staff in the coming quarter.

“We think the reason for the reluctance from the employers to hire new labour is due to the challenges associated with finding qualified employees, as well as more uncertain global market developments. Plus, it’s not unnatural for a long period of strong growth to be followed by a period of more moderate growth,” says Terje Nygaard, CEO Manpower Norway.

Weaker Growth Anticipated in Europe

Throughout Europe, employer hiring expectations have declined when compared to the same three-month period last year. When seasonal variations are removed from the survey data, employers in Spain are reporting a 13 percentage point decline in expectations to hire new labour, followed by moderate eight percentage point declines reported by employers in Ireland, Switzerland and Great Britain.

In spite of the drop in expectations over the last year, Norwegian employers are still anticipating the strongest hiring pace in Western Europe: one out of five employers in Norway expects to hire new employees in the coming quarter. Employers in Sweden and Germany are also expecting to hire at a steady pace.

“Norway follows European market trends, but in the last couple of years we have been surfing at the top of a good market. Therefore, we may experience a stronger shift downward in the market than other European countries. We notice that Norwegian employers are adjusting their expectations downward from the strong expectations reported in the last two quarters of 2007 and the first quarter of 2008. Norway is starting to land after one of this country’s best periods of growth,” says Nygaard. “Norwegian employers are forecasting positive but less robust growth in eight of nine business sectors compared to last year at this time.”

Weaker growth in most industry sectors

According to Norwegian employers, the decline in third quarter hiring expectations compared to last quarter includes five of nine industry sectors based on seasonally adjusted data. Employers in the other four industry sectors are predicting a flat period of growth. Employers reporting the strongest intentions to hire new labour in the coming quarter include those in the Transportation and the Finance sectors. In the Transportation sector, four out of 10 employers expect to hire new labour in the coming quarter. In the Finance sector, almost three out of 10 employers expect to add more staff.

“One of the first signs that the growth is more moderate is when employers become more reluctant to hire new labour. We are in a cooling down period following an extremely hot labour market. However, it is important to remember that hiring is not falling off a cliff - three out of four employers are still expecting to keep their workforce stable in the coming quarter,” says Nygaard.

For comments please contact:

Terje Nygaard, CEO, tlf. 480 05 611, and

Gry Ljøterud, Communication departement, tlf. 905 88 817, .

About the Manpower Employment Outlook Survey

The Manpower Employment Outlook Survey is conducted quarterly to measure employers’ intentions to increase or decrease the number of employees in their workforce during the next quarter. It is the most extensive forward-looking survey of its kind, unparalleled in its size, scope, longevity and area of focus. The Survey has been running for more than 45 years and is one of the most trusted surveys of employment activity in the world. The Manpower Employment Outlook Survey is based on interviews with a representative selection among 750 Norwegian employers, and over 55,000 public and private employers in 32 countries and territories worldwide and is considered a highly respected economic indicator. The margin of error in the Norwegian survey is +/- 3,6 %.

About Manpower Inc.

Manpower Inc. (NYSE: MAN) is a world leader in the employment services industry; creating and delivering services that enable its clients to win in the changing world of work. Celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2008, the $21 billion company offers employers a range of services for the entire employment and business cycle including permanent, temporary and contract recruitment; employee assessment and selection; training; outplacement; outsourcing and consulting. Manpower's worldwide network of 4,500 offices in 80 countries and territories enables the company to meet the needs of its 400,000 clients per year, including small and medium size enterprises in all industry sectors, as well as the world's largest multinational corporations. The focus of Manpower's work is on raising productivity through improved quality, efficiency and cost-reduction across their total workforce, enabling clients to concentrate on their core business activities. Manpower Inc. operates under five brands: Manpower, Manpower Professional, Elan, Jefferson Wells and Right Management. More information on Manpower Inc. is available at