Adecco Group boosts digital prowess via takeover of Qapa company
In a significant move to bolster its digital workforce solutions and align with its Future@Work strategy, the world's leading talent advisory and solutions company has announced the acquisition of QAPA, a specialist in fully digital workforce solutions in France, for an initial consideration of €65 million. The acquisition, one of three transactions that, when combined, are estimated to provide a small net cash inflow to the Group, is expected to close at the end of Q3 2021.
Based in France, QAPA delivers an average of six qualified and available candidates per job offer and finds at least one qualified match within four hours in over 80 percent of instances. The company, which has over 500 customers and a talent base of approximately 4.5 million workers, mainly deployed on a flexible placement basis, deploys artificial intelligence and cloud architecture to provide fast, flexible, and reliable candidate sourcing, matching, and back-office processing.
Revenues at QAPA rose nearly 90 percent year-on-year in 2020 and are expected to continue to grow vigorously. This acquisition is consistent with the Group's strategy, aimed at elevating exposure to structural growth and technology-led services. The Group, headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland (ISIN: CH0012138605) and listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (ADEN), operates in 57 countries and enables more than 3.5 million careers.
The market for fully digital workforce solutions in France is currently marked by significant transformation and integration of advanced technologies such as AI, intelligent automation, and data analytics. Over the past few years, this market has evolved rapidly, driven by broader trends in digitalization, AI adoption, and changing workplace models.
In the current state (2025), digital employee experience has become central, with tools enhancing genuine connection and engagement in increasingly virtual or hybrid work environments. AI-powered onboarding copilots, personalized career development aides, and real-time AI coaching for managers are now commonplace features in workforce solutions. Predictive people analytics is used extensively to monitor employee sentiment, burnout risk, and predict turnover, enabling proactive workforce management decisions. Ethical use and transparency of this data have become critical to maintain trust.
Leadership demands have evolved, requiring digitally fluent managers who can effectively lead hybrid teams and model healthy digital behaviour. Workspaces are now adaptive digital environments that anticipate employee needs, moving beyond static platforms. A focus on wellbeing-first cultures is prominent, with digital nudges promoting employee wellbeing integrated into workforce platforms.
The labor market in France has remained resilient despite multiple shocks, with high labor force participation and modest real wage growth, but labor productivity improvement has been slow, indicating a gap that advanced digital workforce tools are attempting to address. Post-pandemic, there has been a shift to hybrid and remote working models, accelerating the development and adoption of fully digital workforce solutions that support employee engagement and productivity remotely.
There is intensified pressure on workforce skills development, especially in digital and green technologies, but investment in upskilling and reskilling remains uneven. This gap threatens to slow innovation and economic competitiveness, highlighting an unmet need that digital workforce solutions aim to fill. Importantly, the startup ecosystem in France is increasingly embracing technology and digitization in workforce management, with new unions and initiatives focusing on tech startups, and an expansion of digital tools to address psychosocial risks and improve worker experience.
The Group's culture of inclusivity, entrepreneurship, and teamwork empowers its 30,000 employees. In the last 12 months to end June 2021, the Group delivered €45 million turnover. The Group consistently ranks on the "World's Best Workplaces" by Great Place to Work®. For further information, contact Investor Relations at [email protected] or 41 (0)44 878 88 88, or the Press Office at [email protected] or 41 (0) 44 878 87 87.
- The Group's future of work strategy involves investing in businesses like QAPA, which specialize in workforce solutions, to align with the rapid evolution of technology in the industry.
- The Group anticipates that the acquisition of QAPA will help in expanding its revenue, particularly in the digital workforce solutions sector, given the rapid growth observed in QAPA's financial records.
- In the coming years (2025), technology-led services will continue to be a primary focus for the Group, as they aim to address the skill gaps in digital and green technologies by investing in upskilling and reskilling their workforce.
