WESTAFF ANNOUNCES OPENING OF FIRST ACCOUNTANTS USA ® OFFICE

WALNUT CREEK, Calif., April 5, 2001
Westaff, Inc. (NASDAQ: WSTF), a leading provider of staffing services essential to business, announces the opening of its first Accountants USA ® office in Pleasanton, Calif.

Accountants USA ®, Inc. is a division of Westaff (USA), Inc. and is under the direction of Division Manager Nancy Painter. AUSA , with headquarters in Walnut Creek, Calif., specializes in staffing multi-level accounting and finance positions.

The AUSAoffice in Pleasanton is located at 7011 Koll Center Parkway, Suite 260, Pleasanton, CA 94566. The phone number is (925) 484-1230. Branch Manager Lois Campbell is in charge of office operations.

"We are very pleased with our entry into this important segment of the staffing industry, and our ability to offer customers a new choice in the rapidly expanding accounting niche," said John Grossu, Westaff Senior Vice President, Strategic Business Solutions.

Painter brings over 10 years of financial and executive placement experience to the table, including temp-to-hire and direct-hire placements. Before joining AUSA, Painter spent five years with Cristol Financial Personnel and five years with Interim Accounting Professionals.

"We anticipate outstanding growth for the Pleasanton area and our new Pleasanton office," Painter said. "We also expect to use the Pleasanton office as a model for AUSA expansion in the future."

Westaff provides essential staffing services to businesses and employment opportunities in global markets. Westaff annually employs approximately 270,000 people worldwide and services approximately 25,000 clients from more than 350 offices located throughout the U.S. and also in Mexico, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Norway and Denmark. Westaff achieved fiscal 2000 system revenues of more than $700 million. For information about AUSA, contact Nancy Painter at (925) 256-1526, npainter@ausalink.com, or visit their Web site at www.ausalink.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.