Online employment outsourcer Elance has opened European Offices headed by Kjetil Olsen.

Olsen arrives from recruitment software provider Lumesse (formerly StepStone), where he was group director for mergers & acquisitions and new business.

Chief executive Fabio Rosati said: “In order to serve Elance customers throughout the world, we need to expand our organisation. Our new European offices are the first step in this direction.”

Olsen added: “With global economies experiencing severe difficulties, we believe the Elance model of empowering online workers and businesses to operate in new ways is more relevant than ever.”