The worldwide staffing industry should take the moral high ground and be proud of its achievement, the International Confederation of Private Employment Agencies' (Ciett) World Employment Conference 2012 in London has heard.
In a rallying call to delegates on the last day of the conference (25 May), David Arkless, president of corporate and government affairs, Manpower Group, told delegates that they should be proud to work in an industry that did “amazing and fantastic things”.
“We are the best story never told at a global level,” said Arkless.
Not only did the staffing industry transform people’s lives by placing them into work and providing them with opportunities, it was also a force for good, he said.
Arkless referred to a partnership between the staffing industry, the government and trade unions in Bangladesh to address the problem of human trafficking from that country to the UAE, as an example.
“I think it is time as an industry that we take the moral high ground, and we need to get this message out,” said Arkless.
Arkless said the industry needed to mobilise to counter a number of ongoing threats. These included opposition from trade unions and unhelpful labour market legislation in some parts of the world.
However, there were also massive opportunities. “Companies like ours will be placing 1m people a day in China, and that is just scratching the surface.”
Arkless added: “In the future, we are the way to work,” reflecting
the new corporate identity for Ciett unveiled on the first day of the conference, as reported by
recruiter.co.uk.
