Adecco inks military placement deal

MELVILLE - Adecco North America, the global staffing company, has signed a deal with the Department of the Navy to place as many as 270,000 spouses of Navy and Marine Corps personnel in temporary and permanent jobs.

The placement firm will recoup fees from the companies that hire the spouses.

The placement services would be used most by spouses of military personnel who transfer to different stations, but they are open to all spouses of Navy and Marine personnel.

"As the program grows, (Navy and Marine) spouses, no matter where they are stationed, can receive training and placement assistance from an Adecco office nearby," said Debbie PondHeide, president of Adecco North America.

Adecco, which has 1,400 locations in the United States and 5,500 offices in 58 nations, expects to place people in a wide range of positions, including clerical, data entry, administrative, technical, financial and light industrial.

The deal comes at a time when the war in Afghanistan has led to huge shifts in U.S. military personnel, in some cases including their families.

"Spouses often express concerns about the challenges involved in finding a job and building a career," said Buster Tate, director of personnel readiness for the Department of the Navy. By providing better placement services to spouses, the department expects to "improve the retention rate in the military," he said.

On Jan. 17 Adecco began offering placement services at the Marine base in Quantico, Va., and on Jan. 29 will roll out the service at the naval base at Jacksonville, Fla.

The company plans to offer the service nationwide by the end of the year.

"The hope is Adecco will be able to roll this out with the Army and the Air Force (as well)," added a spokesman for Adecco. "No-one has anything like this."