Jeffrey "Jeff" Arthur Joerres was born in 1960 in Milwaukee, Wissconsin. He attended Marquette University's College of Business Administration where he graduated with a Bachelor's degree in 1983.
He started his career at IBM Corporation where he held various management positions from 1983 to 1987. After leaving the company he joined ARI Network Services where he became Vice President of sales and marketing for six years.
In 1993 Jeff embarked on his journey with Manpower with his first role being Vice President for the marketing department for two years. He was then promoted to Senior Vice President of Major Account Development until 1998 before performing the same role for European Operations between 1998 and 1999.
Shortly after becoming CEO, Jeff oversaw the launch of the Manpower Professional brand in the US and Canada as well as its TechReach initiative.
In 2000 Manpower acquired Elan Group and launched its CSR initiative Working Links. The following year Jeff became Chairman of the Board and under his guidance, Manpower acquired Jefferson Wells International for $174m.
Jeff then spearheaded Manpower's partnership with the US Department of Labour and the number of company offices surpassed 4,000 worldwide.
Towards the end of 2004, Jeff said that the job market was looking "decidedly more optimistic" moving into the new year. However in June 2005, it was revealed that most US companies were only recruiting according to capacity and weren't looking towards future requirements. "This indicates that employers are hiring on an as-needed basis, but are still not ready to staff up until demand for their business truly requires it," said Jeff.
In February 2006, Manpower unveiled a new corporate logo and identify after Jeff revealed that several potential clients were unsure about what the company did. "I am tired of hearing from clients or prospects: 'I had no idea you did that!," said Jeff. "Insiders knew what we were doing, long-time clients knew it, but that's not good enough. We had to refresh ourselves." The same year it was revealed that there was a shortage of professionals, accountants, engineers, IT works, sales and marketing staff and degree-level positions across much of the globe. The talent shortage is here and wage inflation is increasing," asserted Jeff. He also said that Manpower needed to develop new ways to attract and retain talent.
In 2008 it was revealed that an emerging global jobs market was of great concern to almost one-third of 28,000 employers in 27 countries surveyed by Manpower. “Individuals are now increasingly willing and able to find employment far from their homes," revealed Jeff. "More people are living and working away from their home countries than at any other point in history."
During the financial crisis in 2008, Manpower predicted that mass layoffs in western economies were a distinct possibility with Jeff adding that businesses would be pro-active in their approach to job cuts. “They feel as though: ‘I may not have been hit by this downturn yet but I’m going to be and I need to be fiscally responsible.’ That’s really putting tremendous pressure on the labour market,” said Jeff.
In May 2009, employers once again reported problems with recruiting the right people to fill vacant jobs. Of the 39,000 employers in 33 countries surveyed by Manpower, 30% said that there was a 'mismatch' between individuals skills and recruiters' needs. "It's the specificity of skills required in the individuals that employers are now seeking that is creating a sense of talent shortage amid an overabundant pool of available workers," Jeff asserted. "This conundrum is frustrating both employers and individuals."
The following year, Jeff delivered a keynote address at the American Staffing Association's Staff World 2010 in which he commented how recruitment agencies and Manpower would influence the on-going financial recovery. "Our industry has a pivotal role to play as the global economy gathers pace because, as employers continue to hesitate to commit to permanent hires and talent mismatches become more acute, they will look increasingly to the full range of solutions that staff companies offer." On a personal level, Jeff was named Most Respected CEO by CEO Magazine, He was also given the Most Powerful Person in staffing accolade by Staffing Industry Review magazine. In addition, he was named the top performing sell-side CEO in the business, education and professional sector by Institutional Investor magazine.
In a rebrand, Manpower changed its name to ManpowerGroup and renamed its professional staffing segment to Experis in 2011. "It's very rewarding to see an organisation continually embrace the re-invention of itself," said Jeff. "It becomes part of the culture." Jeff also received yet more recognition for his work at Manpower after receiving the inaugural CR Magazine Lifetimes Achievement Award in September for the significant accomplishments made throughout his career in corporate social responsibility.
In 2012 Jeff commented on the challenging economic climate once more, however rather than focusing on the state of recruiters, he turned his attention to ManpowerGroup. "We are acting on the premise that we are entering a prolonged period of soft economic conditions, and as a result we will need to take appropriate adjustments on our expenses and continue to drive more efficient ways to deliver the core parts of our service."
Jeff is married to Sarah Geenen and has four children. He is a keen golfer and in 2006 Golf Digest said he had a handicap of 12. Jeff is also one of the few CEOs currently on Twitter. He uses his @manpowergroupjj regularly.
On politics:
"There is this difficulty of politicians needing to do what they need to do on a nationalistic level. But the world is moving at a whole different pace. The world is global but the politician is local. And it's going to create some real stress."
On temporary employment:
"One client said to me: 'I get it: you bring 'em in and you take 'em out!' But that's far too cruel."
