Accounting Policies, by Policy (Policies)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2013

Fiscal Period, Policy [Policy Text Block]

The Company’s first fiscal quarter ended on March 31, 2013 (2013) and April 1, 2012 (2012), each of which contained 13 weeks.

Consolidation, Policy [Policy Text Block]

The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and its wholly owned subsidiaries.  All intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated.

Segment Reporting, Policy [Policy Text Block]

The Company’s segments are based on the organizational structure for which financial results are regularly evaluated by the Company’s chief operating decision maker to determine resource allocation and assess performance.  The Company’s seven reporting segments are: (1) Americas Commercial, (2) Americas Professional and Technical (“Americas PT”), (3) Europe, Middle East and Africa Commercial (“EMEA Commercial”), (4) Europe, Middle East and Africa Professional and Technical (“EMEA PT”), (5) Asia Pacific Commercial (“APAC Commercial”), (6) Asia Pacific Professional and Technical (“APAC PT”) and (7) Outsourcing and Consulting Group (“OCG”).

The Commercial business segments within the Americas, EMEA and APAC regions represent traditional office services, contact-center staffing, marketing, electronic assembly, light industrial and substitute teachers.  The PT segments encompass a wide range of highly skilled temporary employees, including scientists, financial professionals, attorneys, engineers, IT specialists and healthcare workers.  OCG includes recruitment process outsourcing (“RPO”), contingent workforce outsourcing (“CWO”), business process outsourcing (“BPO”), payroll process outsourcing (“PPO”), executive placement and career transition/outplacement services.  Corporate expenses that directly support the operating units have been allocated to the Americas, EMEA and APAC regions and OCG based on a work effort, volume or, in the absence of a readily available measurement process, proportionately based on revenue from services.

The following tables present information about the reported revenue from services and gross profit of the Company by segment, along with a reconciliation to consolidated earnings from continuing operations before taxes, for the 13 weeks ended 2013 and 2012.  Asset information by reportable segment is not presented, since the Company does not produce such information internally, nor does it use such data to manage its business.