WESTAFF, INC. ANNOUNCES STOCK REPURCHASE OF 1,000,000 SHARES

WALNUT CREEK, Calif., May 5, 2000
Westaff, Inc. (NASDAQ: WSTF), a leading provider of essential staffing services, today reported that its board has approved the repurchase of up to 1,000,000 shares of its outstanding common stock in the open market at prevailing prices, for use in Westaff's employee stock purchase plan, stock option plans and other corporate purposes.

Westaff plans to effect such purchases pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Westaff provides essential staffing services to and employment opportunities at competitive businesses in global markets. Westaff annually employs approximately 270,000 people worldwide and services approximately 25,000 clients from more than 360 offices located throughout the U.S., United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Norway and Denmark, and achieved fiscal 1999 system revenues of $690 million. For more information, please visit our website at www.westaff.com.

This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding future events and future performance of the company that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. We refer you to documents that the company files from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission, such as Form 10-K, Form 10-Q and Form 8-K reports, which contain a description of certain factors that could cause actual results to differ from current expectations and the forward-looking statements in this press release.