Adecco's revenues grew by 1 percent in September and October, down from a 2 percent rate in third quarter the company reported on Tuesday. But the situation had not worsened, he said.

"We have robust stability," Ploos van Amstel told reporters on a call after the company reported third-quarter results. "It's not that we saw October worse than September."

He said the company was now seeing "positive stability" after a period of declining revenue growth in previous quarters, as economies slowed in some regions.

"People ask if this is the start of a decline. With positive stability we mean we don't see a decline," he said. "We are on the right side of stability."

On trade tensions between the United States and China, Chief Executive Alain Dehaze said Adecco was not seeing signs of it hitting hiring.

"At this stage, we do not see any impact," he said. "However, in general, it takes time to see a potential impact given the manufacturing process takes rather a long time until new goods are imported and exported."

(Reporting by John Revill, editing by John Miller)