WESTAFF OPENS ACCOUNTANTS USA ® OFFICE IN SACRAMENTO, CA

WALNUT CREEK, Calif., August 21, 2001
Westaff, Inc. (NASDAQ: WSTF), a leading provider of staffing services to business, announces the opening of an Accountants USA ® office in Sacramento, 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 new AUSA office is located on Ethan Way in Sacramento. Branch Manager Gloria Mogannam is in charge of Sacramento office operations.

"I see tremendous opportunities in this market, and I look forward to building client relationships here," Mogannam said. "This is a very client relationship-oriented market, and we've built our business model to foster strong client relationships. I believe that will be a key factor in our future growth in this area."

AUSA has another office in Pleasanton, Calif., located approximately 100 miles southwest of Sacramento along the Interstate 80 and I-680 corridor. The new Sacramento office expands the division's services to a wider geographical area, draws from a large pool of potential employees wishing to commute toward Sacramento from the San Francisco North Bay area, and provides support for its sister office in Pleasanton.

The new AUSA office is a logical expansion of our existing San Francisco East Bay base and will facilitate the servicing of our clients throughout the Interstate 80/680 corridor.

"Sacramento is a growing marketplace and we anticipate a positive response to our client service orientation," Painter said.

Westaff provides employment opportunities to people and staffing services to businesses 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 more information about AUSA , contact Linda Gaebler at (925) 930-5300, lgaebler@westaff.com, or visit the AUSA 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.