The Australian Government has selected Adecco Australia as the Defence Force’s new recruitment partner in the latest move to scale up the Australian Defence Force.

The new contract officially commences on 1 July 2023.

Minister for Veterans’ Affairs and Defence Personnel, Matt Keogh said current service provider ManpowerGroup has attracted more than one million applicants and helped enlist more than 121,600 individuals into the ADF (Australian Defence Force) over its 20 year contract with Defence.

A transition handover between ManpowerGroup and Adecco Australia begins on 1 November 2022. ManpowerGroup will continue to deliver recruiting services until the end of the current financial year.

“Our people are the most important capability for the defence of Australia, and our national interests. It’s exciting to be working with a new recruitment partner to ensure we’re engaging with the very best people our nation has to offer,” said Keogh.

“There’s no doubt that right now we’re seeing an incredibly tight recruitment market with really low unemployment, that’s why we need to step up our recruitment efforts,” Keogh said. “People are looking for jobs with purpose, we need to take action to ensure students, their teachers and parents have a solid understanding of the excellent opportunities that a career in the ADF can provide. We also are very keen to engage with older Australians who want to contribute to the defence of our nation.”  

“Our new partnership with Adecco will focus on redefining how we can modernise recruitment efforts in a hyper competitive labour market,” Keogh added. “I thank our current service provider, ManpowerGroup, for their valued contribution to building defence’s recruiting capability over the last 20 years.”

Keogh added that Defence is looking to increase their employment footprint by 18,500 people by 2039-40.

Adecco’s Managing Director, Kevin Alexander, said, “This new contract is an exciting opportunity for Adecco and they are proud to be partnered with Defence to deliver such an important workforce for Australia.”

“This contract will be pivotal in delivering the right workforce for Defence and we are committed to working collaboratively to achieve outcomes,” Alexander said. “Adecco feels privileged for the opportunity to use our expertise in recruitment to ensure Defence has the capability to defend our national interests. Understanding how fundamental the right ADF workforce is to our national security, Adecco has developed a solution that is candidate centric, data driven and focused on efficiencies that will modernise the Defence recruiting system. This includes a broad range of services including, marketing, recruiting operations, candidate experience, medical and psychological testing and ICT services.”

According to The Mandarin, the deal with Adecco is reportedly worth AUD 20 million (USD 12.5 million).