The Adecco Group, is a SwissFrench company based in Zurich, Switzerland, and is the world's second largest Human Resources provider and temporary staffing firm, and a Fortune Global 500 company. They directly employ 700,000 people a day, and with the expansion of its operations to China, the number of people working under them totals up to 3.5 million. The company was formed officially on 1 January 1997 as a result of the merger of the French company Ecco and the Swiss company Adia Interim, and is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (ADEN, ISIN CH0012138605). Adia was established in 1957 in Lausanne (Switzerland) by Henri Lavanchy. Ecco was founded in Lyon (France) at the initiative of Philippe Foriel Destezet. In 2000, The Adecco Group acquired Olsten Staffing, in the US, becoming the number one recruitment company in that country. In 2010, it acquired MPS Group and thus became the number one company worldwide. The Adecco Group is the parent company of various brands including Adecco, Modis, Spring Professional, Badenoch & Clark, Pontoon, General Assembly, Vettery, Adia and Lee Hecht Harrison. Services The Adecco Group provides services covering temporary staffing, permanent placement, career transition and talent development as well as business process outsourcing and consulting. As for staffing, The Adecco Group covers many sectors, including office, industrial, technical, financial and legal, amongst others. History 1957: Adia is founded by Henri Lavanchy in Lausanne, Switzerland 1964: Ecco is founded by Philippe Foriel-Destezet in Lyon, France 1996: Personnel services firms Ecco and Adia Interim merged to form a global company with annualised revenues of €5.4 billion. Operations were combined to form a network of 2,500 branches and 250,000 staff. 1997: Adecco S.A. acquired TAD Resources International, a Cambridge, Massachussets-based temporary-staffing company, for $387.5 million. 2000: The Adecco Group acquired Olsten Staffing. The merged company generated combined revenues of €11.6 billion. 2002: The Adecco Group consolidated its businesses and created divisions to manage its business. 2005: The Adecco Group expanded across six professional business lines. 2006: Following the acquisition of DIS AG, Germany, Dieter Scheiff assumed the position of chief executive officer of The Adecco Group. Dominik de Daniel became chief financial officer. 2007: The annual shareholders' meeting approved the nomination of Jürgen Dormann, former vice chairman, as chairman of the board. Rolf Dörig became vice-chairman. Klaus J. Jacobs, the co-founder of Adecco, handed back his mandate, having reached the statutory retirement age. 2008: