Adecco's Take a Child to Work Day Survey Reveals Career Preferences a

Adecco's Take a Child to Work Day Survey Reveals Career Preferences and Expectations of Tomorrow's Workforce; Survey Also Reconfirms the Adage that ``Kids Say the Darnedest Things''

    Business Editors/Human Resources Writers

    MELVILLE, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 27, 2005--The results of a survey of 250 children conducted by Adecco (NYSE:ADO), the world's leading staffing services company, reveals that 92% of the workforce of tomorrow believe it is more important to spend time with family than to make a large salary, thus making family a priority over salary when considering work/life balance.
    The survey, part of Adecco's celebration of "Take a Child to Work Day," asked 250 children between 6 and 14 about their career expectations. Among girls between 6 and 9, teaching (26%) and medicine (22%) are the most popular choices. However, these careers compete with a wide array of other possibilities, such as electrician, zoologist, dog therapist, historian, and finance manager at a car dealership. One young lady is determined to have a dual career as a professional soccer player and magician, and another wants to be a teacher in the morning and a rock star at night. Presumably, she'll need her anticipated teacher's income ($1,000 a year) because she doesn't plan to rake in the dough as a rock star, earning a paltry $5 a year at that pursuit. A girl who seems wise beyond her years, when asked how she would prepare for the all-important job of "mom," said that she would first have to "learn how to be a person."
    Boys in the same age group have varied career interests, with the largest block (20%) opting for professional sports, followed by law enforcement (15%). Other aspirations include chef, monster truck driver, pilot, Ninja, and food tester. A young man who wants to build army vehicles for a living plans to make 99 cents a day.
    The most popular careers among girls 10 to 12 are medicine (30%), the performing arts (12%) and teaching (10%). An aspiring pediatric cardiologist has already mapped out where she will go to college and medical school. The most popular choice for boys 10 to 12 is professional athlete (36%). The next largest group in this age range want to become police officers (14%). One young man has lots of options, saying he would like to be "a comedian, criminal lawyer, magician, snake master and pro basketball player, in that order." Not one to show his hand too early in the salary department, one respondent said that he "will negotiate and ask my mom."
    Many of the girls aged 13-14 are drawn to the health sciences (47%), especially obstetrics, pediatrics, dental hygiene, and veterinary medicine. One girl is set on becoming a volunteer animal rights activist. Teenaged boys showed no clear career trend, being interested in such varied pursuits as forensic science, farming, working "at the airport" and dancing at Chippendales in Las Vegas.
    Many children intend to go after the coolest job they can imagine. Others will stick to more traditional routes, but fantasize about jobs such as kids' birthday party clown, movie critic, electrician, wolf farmer, Fear Factor contestant, ice cream taster, "being the boss of someplace," and "anything where I can chop down trees." One boy thinks the coolest job is working in a Gold mine, because that way "you can see actual gold, not fool's gold." Another thinks comedians have the coolest job, "because people really like you." Then there's the young girl who simply wants to be an "historic person."
    Since being president of the United States is such an important job, we asked the children about the three most important things they would do as president. Recurring themes include improving health care, fighting terrorism, and protecting the environment. The children obviously gave this question serious thought, coming up with these thought-provoking priorities, among others:

--	make snoring illegal
--	give driver's licenses to 15-year-olds with good grades
--	give $10 million to the tsunami victims
--	open an adoption center for pets
--	provide affordable public colleges
--	make a law requiring more chocolate production
--	make a law requiring helmets, not cowboy hats, for cowboys
--	rewire the White House
--	paint the White House blue

    Several children stated matter of factly that they would not want the job of President. One girl simply stated, "If I were president, I would bring my dad, who is a soldier, home."
    With the aging of the baby boomers, the topic of retirement is on many people's minds these days. The shape of retirement is changing, with many people staying in the workforce longer and others pursuing second careers in their retirement years. The children envision myriad retirement activities, such as "doing good deeds in my community," "working at Denny's Restaurant," "taking care of Mom if she is sick," "going to Ohio," "counting all my money, watching TV and making burritos," "playing golf, because that's what old people do," and "going to the casinos, like my Grandma does."
    While this may not be the most scientific survey, it clearly shows that thoughts of a career--and beyond--begin early. Based on this survey, Adecco foresees that tomorrow's workforce will contribute greatly to society with their intelligence and creativity, and that they take work/life balance seriously when pondering their goals for the future.

    About Adecco

    Adecco S.A. is a Fortune Global 500 company and the global leader in HR services. The Adecco Group network connects up to 700,000 associates with business clients each day through its network of 30,000 employees and over 6,000 offices in 70 territories around the world. Registered in Switzerland, and managed by a multinational team with expertise in markets spanning the globe, Adecco Group delivers an unparalleled range of flexible staffing and career resources to corporate clients and qualified associates.
    The Adecco Group comprises three divisions: Adecco Staffing, Ajilon Professional and LHH Career Services. In Adecco Staffing, the Adecco network focuses on flexible staffing solutions for global industries in transition, including automotive, banking, electronics, logistics and telecommunications; Ajilon Professional offers an unrivalled range of specialized branded businesses; LHH Career Services encompasses our portfolio of outplacement and coaching consultancy businesses.
    Adecco Staffing USA serves more than 70,000 clients a year through a nationwide network of almost 1,100 points of sales and service. With headquarters in Melville, NY, Adecco employs about 3,100 full-time employees and places more than 130,000 temporary associates each week.
    Adecco S.A. is registered in Switzerland (ISIN: CH0012138605) and listed on the Swiss Stock Exchange with trading on Virt-x (SWX/VIRT-X:ADEN), the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE:ADO) and Euronext Paris - Premier Marche (EURONEXT: ADE).

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CONTACT: Adecco Victoria Mitchell, 631-844-7412 victoria.mitchell@adeccona.com or On behalf of Adecco Jesse Danzig, 212-279-3115, x 213 jesse@cjpcom.com

KEYWORD: NEW YORK INDUSTRY KEYWORD: HUMAN RESOURCES SOURCE: Adecco

Copyright Business Wire 2005