Adecco opens Financial Services offices in NYC

MELVILLE - Adecco North America is jumping headfirst into the fray among companies placing financial services professionals, such as accountants and bookkeepers.

The company over the past few months has quietly opened two standalone offices in Manhattan and White Plains for its less-than-two

Adecco, with 1,700 points of sale in the United States and Canada, plans to open the stand-alone offices in major financial centers in the third and fourth quarters of the year.

"We're going to look at major cities" including Chicago, San Francisco and Charlotte, N.C., said Gale Holst, manager of Adecco Financial Services' Manhattan branch. 'Where there are concentrations of financial business across the country, that's where you'll see that happen."

The move, so far on a small scale with no target for a number of new offices, is part of an effort to grow Adecco Financial Services into a separate brand.

Adecco North America, based in Melville, employs about 3,300 fulltime people and places more than 160,000 temporary associates each week. The parent company, Switzerland-based Adecco SA, does about $19 billion in annual business.

"Adecco did place certain financial people," said Holst. "But there was no office that did just financial."

Placing financial services professionals, ranging from accountants to bookkeepers and CFOs, often has been treated as part of large staffing companies' overall business.

Sigma Staffing, Lloyd Staffing and Wilke Staffing on Long Island place financial services and other personnel. Firms such as AccountantsonCall and Accountant's Choice Personnel specialize in the field.

Nationally, Adecco Financial Services competes with specialized financial staffing firms such as Accountemps, a division of Menlo, Calif -based Robert Half International.

"A lot of firms are generalists. A person will sell a variety of services at the same time," said Jon Zion, director of operations for Accountemps for the Eastern/Canadian zone, with Long Island offices in Melville and Uniondale. "Within Accountemps, our employees are financial people, selling only Accountemps, no other product area. It's a name brand."

The economic downturn has taken a toll on staffing requirements, but Holst said cutbacks have created a pool of qualified candidates.

"There's always need. Tax season. Month end, quarter end, year end," she said. "When companies downsize, many times people leave before the company has made its move. And they may outsource."

Holst noted much of the hiring is of temporary staff, due to the cyclical nature of accounting and financial needs.

"It's doing well, banking, financial investment houses. It's across the board," said Holst. "The majority of it is temporary."

Zion said a large number of people are seeking temporary positions, which provide flexibility.

"There are more people willing to work temporary," Zion said. "There are larger numbers of people with financial and accounting background who prefer it."