Mario Costa is CEO of the Select Vedior Group in Portugal. Born in Mozambique and educated and in South Africa, where he qualified as a Chartered Accountant, Mario has worked as an auditor with Price Waterhouse in South Africa, Brazil and Portugal, and was formerly a Board Member and Financial Director at Securitas Portugal. In 1990, he started up Adia’s operations in Portugal, where he served as Managing Director up until the merger with ECCO. In 1997, Mario joined Select in Portugal. Following the merger with Vedior in 2000, he was appointed CEO of the Portugal Group.

Q. With over 40 branches in Portugal, Vedior continues to grow successfully as the clear market leader. How long have you been operating in this market and in what sectors are you active?

 A. We celebrated our tenth anniversary of operations here in Portugal this spring. With our own staff of 360 workers, we employ over 25,000 temporaries daily. Our operations are divided primarily into three sectors: traditional staffing, which comprises 60% of our business; call centre staffing, 30%; and speciality staffing, which comprises 10% of our activities and includes niche services in IT, engineering, nursing and permanent placement.

I think our business mix has been a considerable part of our success over the past decade. Each of our nine brands has retained its own unique vision whilst simultaneously drawing on the knowledge and capacities of our business on a national level and through global alliances.

Q. What role do the call centres play in your business model?

A. Obviously, call centres account for a large part of our revenue and are an important part of our service offerings. And they are a service offering. In addition to the supply of staff, our centres are fully-outfitted with the equipment, applications and systems necessary for delivering top quality process management services alongside the actual teleservices. Our call centre teams are dedicated to understanding individual client needs and profiles, and to customising the available services to meet those needs across a variety of language, support, telemarketing, project management and administrative services.

The versatility we offer our customers, combined with our solid infrastructure, is essential in our approach. Customers are able to select only the services they need and since there is no “one size fits all” mentality, each and every account is treated differently. We are able to offer the most appropriate and affordable solutions to our clients, from the basic teleservices through to full support contracts, which might include add-on services such as training, payroll and general administration.

Q. How do you view specialised staffing?

A. Although speciality staffing may still be cutting its teeth in the Portuguese market, it is clearly a rapidly evolving part of our business mix. With a rising demand for skilled workers, and a shortage of those very skills especially in areas of healthcare, engineering and IT, specific staffing plays an important role in helping to match well-qualified candidates to the right position, in helping companies and organisations find the best possible employees for these specialised roles.


Q. Earlier you mentioned permanent placement as part of the speciality staffing mix?

A. We carry out our permanent placement activities under the brand Search & Select, with offices in Lisbon and Oporto. We have two main divisions: recruitment and selection, and assessment. Our placements are predominantly for commercial positions and financial services staff.

Q. In what areas are you involved in cross border recruitment?

A. We supply workers abroad through our industrial division, mainly staff for construction and metallurgical sectors. Currently, for example, we have more than 200 Portuguese welders and electricians in Iceland working on a project-based contract for the construction of a dam to supply energy to a large aluminium factory. We also have construction workers on placement in Spain. And later this year we will begin active recruitment of Romanian and Ukrainian labourers for our rural division, to supply staff to our clients in the agricultural areas.


Q. Your company is also, I understand, heavily involved in training the workforce. Can you tell us a little more about this?

A. We believe that a focus on the future is a core part of ourbusiness, as well as a key factor in sustainable economic development in the region. Training current and future members of the workforce is an essential part of how we maintain and strengthen that focus.


In co-operation with social funding from the European Union, we have established vocational training schools for under-privileged adolescents and young adults. Through our brand Solisform, we train over 400 individuals annually in technical and industrial skills. At the end of 2007, we will participate in an SOS Villages initiative, helping with the education of thirty children.


Q. How have recent changes in Portuguese legislation, which seek to limit the duration of temporary contracts and assignments, affected your business?

A. They have not impacted our business significantly, and I think that this speaks not only to our role in commerce but to our role in the community. From the very beginning, we have invested the time and resources to ensure that we operate with fairness and transparency, and that we are open to social dialogue with the community as a whole.

As a result, we are seen as a key stakeholder and an important driver of growth opportunities in the labour market. This is demonstrated on a number of fronts, most visibly through the,flexibility that temporary work offers jobseekers, which is crucial, especially for new and returning members of the workforce who may need to balance personal responsibilities, for example childcare, education, or a disability, with their career development.

Without flexible work, the path to (re)entry into the labour market is often a slippery one. So the opportunities we provide are actually in line with the legislative agenda, which promotes higher rates of employment across the population. The current discussion is focussed on how to realise that agenda, but with continued cooperation and forward-thinking, this is certainly achievable.