Entrepreneurship & Growth
Aquent was founded in 1986 by three friends in a Harvard University dorm, originally as a desktop publishing and design firm. As business picked up the founders asked their friends and relatives to go out on assignments and even open remote branch offices. That strategy seemed to work, for within five years Aquent (then called MacTemps) had become a leading specialty staffing solutions firm. The company has been global practically from the start, opening in the United Kingdom in 1991, Australia in 1995, Japan in 1997, then thirteen additional countries since then.

Innovations & Accolades
Though Aquent has long been regarded as the dominant force in marcom and creative staffing solutions, the company is most proud of its impact on the staffing industry overall and in pioneering new ways to work for marketing professionals.

In 1992 Aquent became the first staffing firm in the United States to offer comprehensive medical and retirement benefits to temporary employees. Competitors called us crazy, but then, one by one, they attempted to copy our offering. Also that year we introduced our 110% money-back guarantee, a commitment to quality still unmatched by any other firm.

In 1996, when most staffing firms still called their workers “temps” and viewed them as transient, Aquent again defied convention. Our success was heralded in a Harvard Business School case study, “Building Loyalty Among a Contingent Workforce,” which for a time was taught to every MBA student.

And in 1998 Fast Company wrote a cover story on Aquent, concluding, “If you want to chart the economy’s future, look at where Aquent is going.” recent awards

In 2006 Aquent was voted Best Specialist Recruiter in both Australia and in New Zealand in the SEEK Annual Recruitment Awards (SARAs). Aquent also has been nominated for a British Academy Award (Interactive Factual category, 2000) and was ranked by Vault and Consulting magazine as a top consulting firm (2002, 2003).

Aquent Today
The three cofounders are all still involved, the first employee is now our Chief Operating Officer, and our regional managers average 11 years with Aquent. And our first temp? He’s now our CFO.