According to Data from Manpower Employment Outlook Survey

Under Embargo Until 0:01 11 March 2008

Manpower Employment Outlook Survey:

85% of the Spanish employers surveyed do not foresee any changes to their workforces in the second quarter of 2008

8% of the Spanish employers surveyed expect to add employees to their workforces from April to June 2008, while only 6% expect to reduce their workforces. The Net Employment Outlook for Spain has fallen 9 percentage points from last quarter and now stands at +1% (when seasonal variations are removed from the data).

On a regional basis, using seasonally adjusted data, employers in the North West region (CC.AA Asturias, Castilla y León and Galicia) report the most optimistic hiring intentions, with a Net Employment Outlook of +5%.

In a comparison of industry sectors, employers from the Manufacturing sector predict the strongest Net Employment Outlook (+12%). In comparison, employers from the Public & Social and Wholesale & Retail Trade sectors report the least optimistic hiring intentions, with Net Employment Outlooks of -3%.

Among the 32 countries and territories participating in the survey, Spain’s second quarter Net Employment Outlook is one of the least optimistic, with an Outlook of +1% (the same as Italy). Employers in Romania and Poland predict the strongest Outlooks, at +36% and +30% respectively.

11th March 2008 – 85% of Spanish employers surveyed do not foresee any changes in their workforces during the second quarter of 2008, 8% expect to increase their workforces and only 6% anticipate reducing their payrolls, resulting in a Net Employment Outlook of +2% (percentage of employers predicting an increase in hiring less the percentage expecting to see a decrease). Once seasonal variations are removed from the data, the Outlook is +1%. Compared to the previous quarter and year-over-year, the seasonally adjusted data represents a decrease of 9 and 12 percentage points respectively. This forecast is reported in the Manpower Employment Outlook Survey, the quarterly forecast that summarizes the intentions of employers to increase or reduce their staff.

Source: Manpower

Employers in the North West region of Spain report the most optimistic in hiring intentions

On a seasonally adjusted basis, employers in five of the six regions of Spain forecast positive hiring prospects for the next quarter. Employers in the North West region are the most optimistic with a Net Employment Outlook of +5%. Conversely, employers in the North East region report the least optimistic hiring intentions with an Outlook of -7%. Notably, employers from the North, North East and South regions report their respective regions’ least optimistic Outlooks since the survey began in the third quarter of 2003.

In the Center region (CC.AA. Castilla La Mancha and Madrid), the Net Employment Outlook is +4%. This forecast decreases slightly compared to the first quarter of 2008 (1 percentage point) but is a considerable decrease of 12 percentage points year-over-year.

Employers in the East region (CC.AA. Comunidad Valenciana and Murcia) report a Net Employment Outlook of +4%. The Net Employment Outlook is weaker when compared to both the first quarter of 2008 and year-over-year, by 6 and 7 percentage points, respectively.

Employers in the North region (CC.AA. Aragón, Cantabria, La Rioja, Navarra and País Vasco) predict a Net Employment Outlook of +4%. Compared to the first quarter of 2008 and year-over-year, this is a decrease in Outlook by 11 and 18 percentage points, respectively.

Employers in the North East region (CC.AA. Islas Baleares and Cataluña) forecast the weakest Net Employment Outlook of this quarter, at -7%. The Outlook is 8 percentage points weaker quarter-over-quarter and 25 percentage points weaker year-over-year.

In the North West region (CC.AA. Asturias, Castilla y León and Galicia), employers report the most optimistic regional Net Employment Outlook, at +5%. This represents a decrease of 6 and 10 percentage points, quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year, respectively.

The Net Employment Outlook in the South region (CC.AA. Andalucía, Canarias and Extremadura) is +2% for the second quarter of 2008. This represents a decrease of 9 percentage points quarter-over-quarter and 6 percentage points year-over-year.

Source: Manpower

Employers in the Manufacturing sector indicate strongest hiring intentions

On a seasonally adjusted basis, employers from the Manufacturing sector forecast the most optimistic Net Employment Outlook for the next quarter, at +12%. This is the most optimistic Outlook reported by employers in this industry sector in Spain since the survey began in the third quarter 2003. On the other hand, employers in five of the 10 industry sectors surveyed are reporting their least optimistic Outlooks since the survey began. The weakest hiring intentions are reported by employers in the Public & Social and the Wholesale & Retail Trade sectors, both with a Net Employment Outlook of -3%.

Compared to the first quarter of 2008, employers from six of the ten industry sectors forecast weaker Net Employment Outlooks, three industry sectors remain the same and the other one improves. The biggest quarter-over-quarter decline is reported by employers in the Restaurants & Hotels sector, with a decrease of 19 percentage points and by the employers in Wholesale & Retail Trade sector with a difference of 18 percentage points.

Year-over-year, employers from three of 10 industry sectors report improved hiring intentions. Employers from the Manufacturing sector foresee the strongest improvement with a 6 percentage point increase, followed by the Finance, Insurance, Real Estate & Business Services sector, with an increase of 4 percentage points. However, employers in the Public & Social sector predict the steepest decline, with a 26 percentage point decrease.

Source: Manpower

Spanish employers, are among the least optimistic in the second quarter

Employers in Spain foresee a Net Employment Outlook of +1%, this places the Spanish Outlook as the least optimistic in Europe, together with Italy. In fact, The Outlooks in Spain and Italy are weakest among all 32 countries and territories that participate in the survey. Employers in Romania and Poland, who are participating in the survey for the first time, report the strongest hiring intentions in Europe, at +36% and +30%, respectively. This is followed by employers in Greece and Norway, who forecast, Outlooks of +23% and +14%, respectively.

Quarter-over-over, just two of the 16 countries surveyed in Europe forecast improved hiring intentions. These are employers in Austria who predict an improvement of 6 percentage points, and employers in Switzerland who report a 1 percentage point increase in hiring intentions. The steepest declines are predicted employers in Norway and Spain, both with a decrease of 9 percentage points, followed by employers in Italy with a decline of 5 percentage points.

Elsewhere in the world, employers from all 32 countries and territories surveyed predict positive Net Employment Outlooks for the second quarter of 2008. The strongest hiring activity is anticipated by employers in Singapore (+60%), Peru (+36%), India (+36%), Romania (+36%) and Costa Rica (+33%).

Source: Manpower

Comments:

All data published in the press release is seasonally adjusted where available, except in countries where seasonal adjustments can not be yet applied.

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Note to Editors

Full survey results for each of the 32 countries and territories included in this quarter’s survey, plus regional and global comparisons, can be found in the Manpower Press Room at In addition, all tables and graphs from the full report are available to be downloaded for use in publication or broadcast from the Manpower Web site at

Note that in Quarter 2 of 2008, the survey adopted the TRAMO-SEATS model for seasonal adjustment of data. As a result, you may notice some seasonally adjusted data points change slightly from previous reports. This model is recommended by the Eurostat department of the European Union and the European Central Bank and is widely used internationally.

About the Survey

The Manpower Employment Outlook Survey is conducted quarterly to measure employers’ intentions to increase or decrease the number of employees in their workforce during the next quarter. It is the most extensive forward-looking survey of its kind, unparalleled in its size, scope, longevity and area of focus. The Survey has been running for more than 45 years and is one of the most trusted surveys of employment activity in the world. The Manpower Employment Outlook Survey is based on interviews with more than 55,000 public and private employers worldwide and is considered a highly respected economic indicator.

The Manpower Employment Outlook Survey is currently available for 32 countries and territories: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Poland, Romania, Singapore, Spain, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, the United Kingdom and the United States. The program began in the United States and Canada in 1962, and the United Kingdom was added in 1966. Mexico and Ireland launched the survey in 2002, and 13 additional countries were added to the program in 2003. New Zealand joined the program in 2004, China, India, Switzerland and Taiwan were added in 2005, and Argentina, Peru, Costa Rica and South Africa joined in 2006. The Czech Republic, Greece, Guatemala, Poland and Romania joined in 2008. For more information, visit the Manpower Inc. Web site at and enter the Research Center.

About Manpower Inc.

Manpower Inc. (NYSE: MAN) is a world leader in the employment services industry; creating and delivering services that enable its clients to win in the changing world of work. Celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2008, the $21 billion company offers employers a range of services for the entire employment and business cycle including permanent, temporary and contract recruitment; employee assessment and selection; training; outplacement; outsourcing and consulting. Manpower's worldwide network of 4,500 offices in 80 countries and territories enables the company to meet the needs of its 400,000 clients per year, including small and medium size enterprises in all industry sectors, as well as the world's largest multinational corporations. The focus of Manpower's work is on raising productivity through improved quality, efficiency and cost-reduction across their total workforce, enabling clients to concentrate on their core business activities. Manpower Inc. operates under five brands: Manpower, Manpower Professional, Elan, Jefferson Wells and Right Management. More information on Manpower Inc. is available at .

In Spain, Manpower offers the best solutions in human resources through their 185 offices in all the country with a staff of 865 highly skilled professionals.

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