Adecco Group appoints Patrick De Maeseneire as the new Chief Executive Officer

Glattbrugg/Zurich, Switzerland, Adecco Group, the worldwide leader in Human Resource services, today announced that Patrick De Maeseneire has been appointed by the Board of Directors as the new Chief Executive Officer for the Adecco Group. Patrick De Maeseneire is currently CEO of Barry Callebaut, the world market leader in high-quality cocoa and chocolate products. He will start as of June 1, 2009. Dieter Scheiff, having successfully strengthened the Group’s operations worldwide over the past three years, is leaving the company.
The Board of Directors announced today that Patrick De Maeseneire has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer of the Adecco Group, the world’s leader in HR services. Patrick De Maeseneire is currently CEO of Barry Callebaut, the world market leader in high-quality cocoa and chocolate products. He will join the Adecco Group on June 1, 2009. “I am honoured to become Adecco Group’s Chief Executive Officer,” De Maeseneire said. “I look forward to leading the Group with a global mindset together with my future colleagues and passionate employees around the world.”

Rolf Dörig, Chairman of the Board of Directors said:“ Patrick De Maeseneire has a proven successful and distinguished international track record. In combination with his strong leadership skills, as well as his international sales background and excellent knowledge of the staffing industry, Patrick De Maeseneire will lead the Adecco Group to the next stage of development and success.”

Dieter Scheiff, CEO of the Adecco Group over the past 3 years is leaving the company at the end of April 2009. “The Board is thankful for Dieter Scheiff’s strong contribution to improve the profitability of the company even in challenging times,” Chairman Rolf Dörig said. “He successfully strengthened the Group’s financial position, its operations and market position worldwide and laid a very solid foundation for future growth.”

Patrick De Maeseneire (1957), is a Belgian national. He served as the CEO of Barry Callebaut since June 2002. Patrick De Maeseneire held leading positions within the Adecco Group between 1998 and 2002. He started out as the Country Manager for the Benelux and later on led the professional staffing business of the Adecco Group globally out of New York. Prior to this, Patrick De Maeseneire held senior positions at Wang in Belgium, Apple Computers and Arthur Andersen (Consulting). He trained as a commercial engineer at the University of Brussels and studied marketing management at Ghent University and business management at the London Business School and Insead, Fontainebleau.


Rolf Dörig, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Dominik de Daniel, the Chief Financial Officer of the Adecco Group, will host a telephone call for journalists, analysts and investors at 9.00am CET. Participants should dial +41 (0)91 610 5600 (Europe and the rest of the world), +44 (0)20 7107 0611 (UK) or +1 (1)866 291 41 66 (USA). Please dial in 5 minutes prior to the conference call.
The audio playback will be available one hour after the end of the call and can be accessed for one week. Playback numbers: +41 (0)91 612 4330 (Europe and the rest of the world), +44 (0)20 7108 6233 (UK) or +1 (1)866 416 25 58 (USA). The code is 19425, followed by the # key.

About Adecco
Adecco S.A. is a Fortune Global 500 company and the global leader in HR services. The Adecco Group network connects over 500,000 associates with clients each day through its network of over 34,000 FTE employees and over 6,600 offices in over 60 countries and territories around the world. Registered in Switzerland, and managed by a multinational team with expertise in markets spanning the globe, the Adecco Group delivers an unparalleled range of flexible staffing and career resources to clients and associates.

Adecco S.A. is registered in Switzerland (ISIN: CH0012138605) and listed on the Swiss Stock Exchange with trading on SWX Europe (SIX: ADEN) and the Euronext in Paris (EURONEXT: ADE).

Forward-looking statements
Information in this release may involve guidance, expectations, beliefs, plans, intentions or strategies regarding the future. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. All forward-looking statements included in this release are based on information available to Adecco S.A. as of the date of this release, and we assume no duty to update any such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this release are not guarantees of future performance and actual results could differ materially from our current expectations. Numerous factors could cause or contribute to such differences. Factors that could affect the Company’s forward-looking statements include, among other things: global GDP trends and the demand for temporary work; changes in regulation of temporary work; intense competition in the markets in which the Company competes; changes in the Company’s ability to attract and retain qualified temporary personnel; the resolution of the French anti-trust procedure and any adverse developments in existing commercial relationships, disputes or legal and tax proceedings.