MILWAUKEE, Dec. 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- ManpowerGroup (NYSE: MAN), the world leader in innovative workforce solutions, says U.S. companies that expand operations in regions where skills training is a strategic, long-term and collaborative effort endorsed by educators, government agencies and companies will have a critical advantage over competitors as the world's talent shortage intensifies in coming years.

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The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics today reported that the overall November jobless rate was 7.7%, down from October's 7.9% rate. The U.S. private sector added 146,000 new jobs last month, while September's jobs figure was revised down from 148,000 to 132,000 and October was revised down from 171,000 to 138,000. Employment increased in retail trade, professional and business services, and health care – regardless of concerns that November's hurricane would curtail job growth.

"One catalyst behind recent job growth in some sectors is that U.S. companies are advancing their high-skill training initiatives, a critical step to creating the right pool of job candidates," said Jeffrey A. Joerres, ManpowerGroup Chairman and CEO. "These initiatives are often found in U.S. regions, which have developed advance training hubs that feed several growing industries. The most effective high-skill job training today is typically built and sustained by a collaborative public-private sector strategy."

For example, ManpowerGroup Solutions' Strategic Workforce Consulting business developed, with Competitive Wisconsin Inc. (CWI), a long-term workforce strategy for the state of Wisconsin that is focused on producing clusters of in-demand skilled workers. These clusters are designed to cross-train employees for various industries.

"Many jobs reshored to the United States are high-value-added that require extensive training," said ManpowerGroup President Jonas Prising. "This important trend will continue to grow in regions that have proactively aligned local educators' programming with employers' needs. Companies that can hire locally will hire locally."

ManpowerGroup's forward-looking Employment Outlook Survey, gauging hiring intentions among employers in 42 countries and territories for the first quarter of 2013, is released on Tuesday. Full survey results will appear here: http://www.manpowergroup.com/press/meos_landing.cfm

According to ManpowerGroup's 2012 Talent Shortage Survey results, 49% of U.S. employers struggle to fill mission-critical positions.  Skilled trades, engineering and IT positions continue to rank among the top 10 hardest jobs to fill, year after year.

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 $22 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 nearly 3,900 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 the ManpowerGroup can help you win in the Human Age at www.manpowergroup.com.

ManpowerGroup is the most trusted brand in the industry, and was once again the only company in our industry to be named to the Ethisphere Institute's 2012 World's Most Ethical Companies list for our 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