randstad cfo at cannes b20 business summit: agency work industry vital to beat youth unemployment.

During the Cannes B20 Business Summit, Robert-Jan van de Kraats, CFO of Randstad Holding nv, emphasized the role of the agency work industry in creating jobs for young people and helping them find their way on the employment market. Randstad was one of only four Dutch companies participating in the B20. The final report of the B20 includes recommendations for employment and social issues to meet the challenge of economic growth, employment and job creation – with a strong focus on tackling youth unemployment. Recommendations Randstad fully supports.

Ciett corporate members Adecco and Randstad were invited to partake in the Employment and Social Dimension Working Group by MEDEF, the French business confederation, which hosted the B20 Business Summit. The Working Group's recommendations call on urgently increasing efforts to promote better functioning of the labor markets and stimulate job creation.



Immediate action should be taken on the following 4 dimensions:

1. Fostering flexible forms of work, including agency work, to facilitate job creation, address the different needs of both companies and consumers, and combat informal work;
2. Promoting skill transfers and mobility from a global perspective, notably by easing free movement of people within and between companies;
3. Developing real and effective public-private cooperation and partnerships to better match recruiting needs, accelerate job transitions through national employment agencies or private operators, and better identify and plan to meet labor market demand, to enhance the employability of the workforce;
4. Specifically tackling young people's difficulties in the labor markets, by welcoming and encouraging business to participate in the education and training process. The Summit in Cannes united business leaders for the first time with key trade union organizations of the G20 countries that had gathered in a parallel meeting, the L20 (Labour20). Seen as the initiation of social dialogue at global scale, the B20/L20 joint statement calls on G20 leaders to create an environment conducive to enterprise and job creation, with a particular focus on making youth employment a priority; to create or reinforce social protection; to re-emphasize the importance and promotion of fundamental principles and rights at work and to foster joint actions in the multilateral system.

Private employment agencies represent a key driver of job creation and enabler of change in labor markets. The industry in Europe alone has created more than 900,000 new jobs since the low point of the economic crisis. It can deliver a large contribution to improving the functioning of labor markets, especially when cooperating with public employment services. By offering decent work and training opportunities to workers, private employment agencies act as career managers for their workers, enabling them to make sideward and upward transitions through the labor market. Private employment agencies act as a stepping stone into the labor market, especially for young workers. 60% of the agency work population in Europe is under 30 years of age.



The Business 20 (B20) is an event which has been part of the G20 Summit for only the second time. It aims to express common views from the international business community, represented by 200 global business leaders. The Cannes B20 Summit recommendations will be carried over to the next gathering of this kind on occasion of the G20 Summit in Mexico in 2012. The final report of the Cannes B20 Business Summit can be read at www.b20businesssummit.com