Our Story
Design Group's story begins with one young man who had the
entrepreneurial drive to take a calculated risk early in his
career. Setting big goals, 'doing what he says he will do',
and surrounding himself with great leaders resulted in the success
and the continued growth of the largest privately-held Employment
Services Agency in Canada.
Coming to Canada
After graduating with a diploma in Electrical Engineering from a
Technical College in Sydney, Australia, Mike Duff, President &
CEO of Design Group Staffing Inc. set out on a one year working
holiday in Canada. He landed in Toronto and visited an
employment agency. It was not long before he was offered a
three month assignment working on the design of a new steel mill in
Edmonton, Alberta.
It was the early 1970's. Alberta was booming and it was an
exciting place to be. After his first contract, Mike began
working with a large worldwide engineering, construction and
consulting firm. It was there that he realized his ability to
communicate effectively and understand the dynamics of matching
people to opportunity.
Our first office
In 1976, help wanted signs were everywhere. Alberta was as
it is today, the Province of opportunity. Engineering and
construction staff were at a premium, giving way for the
opportunity to establish Design Group Staffing Inc. The
company was formed to recruit Technical and Professional
staff. The first 20 year tenure of business was full of
successes and challenges. The company survived two
recessions, a stock market meltdown, and oil prices plummeting to
under $10 dollars a barrel.
1996 - A pivotal change "Setting a big
goal"
Design Group Staffing Inc. underwent a pivotal change in 1996
thanks to an inspiring business visioning and planning session
comprised of the company's leadership group. A target was set
to triple the size of the company within five years. To
achieve this, the company expanded its services and opened
additional divisions including Information Technology, Accounting,
Administrative, and Clerical, among others. The flagship
engineering and technical business continued to flourish under the
division name Design Group.
Doing what we say will do
Both Design Group and Design Group Staffing Inc. set out to do
what we said we would do. With an aligned leadership team in
place motivated by a clear vision, the company and the division set
achievable annual goals. These actions have resulted in
exponential growth.
Today
There is no end in sight to our story. Today, Design Group
operates in multiple offices across Canada. The company
employs over 300 talented internal recruitment staff and payrolls
in excess of 3000 external independent contractors working at
client sites. Our exponential growth continues.