ManpowerGroup is known for flying many national flags at its Milwaukee headquarters. It has removed the Russian flag from that display.

ManpowerGroup Inc., known for flying a variety of national flags at its downtown Milwaukee headquarters, has removed the Russian flag from that display.

Meanwhile, the global staffing company this year sold its business in Russia to a franchisee. 

Manpower's sale of the Russia operation apparently was strictly a business decision.

It was finalized on Jan. 17, several weeks before Russian armed forces invaded Ukraine — where Manpower also has an office.

That military action has sparked international protests, economic sanctions from the United States and other countries, and the decisions by some Western companies to end their business relationships with Russian oil and natural gas producers.

Manpower's removal of the Russian flag reportedly occurred within recent days of the invasion.

A visit to Manpower's headquarters at 100 Manpower Place, overlooking the Milwaukee River south of Cherry Street, shows no Russian flag on display.

Manpower flies a variety of national flags to represent its global reach. That display doesn't include the Ukrainian flag, which has become a symbol of international solidarity with that country.

The removal of the Russian flag happened after Manpower was contacted by concerned citizens, according to a social media post.

That post said it was replaced by the Pride flag, an international symbol of the LGBTQ community.

The company, contacted Tuesday by the Journal Sentinel, said the flag was removed after the sale of the Russia operation to the franchisee.

"As a global company operating in more than 75 countries we update the flags periodically to ensure they represent the countries with ManpowerGroup owned operations," said Emma Almond, director of global strategic communications.

She didn't immediately respond to questions about whether the flag was removed after the invasion, and whether it was replaced with another flag.

Chair and Chief Executive Officer Jonas Prising said the company is monitoring events in Ukraine "and our teams on the ground in neighboring countries are providing extraordinary support to our employees, associates and their families."

"Our people’s safety and well-being is always our highest priority and we join with others calling for peace.  

"We are continuing to run the day to day operations and honoring our commitments to clients in Central and Eastern Europe. We no longer have direct exposure in Russia or Ukraine since the sale of that business at the start of the year," Prising said, in a statement.

"Going forward we will be working with humanitarian organizations like Tent Partnership for Refugees to help those people displaced by these tragic events," the statement said.

Manpower's international operations include offices in Russia and Ukraine, according to the company's website.

Manpower sold its Russia business for $4 million, according to the company's recently filed 2021 annual shareholders report.

Such sales are occasionally done "to optimize our global strategic and geographic footprint and synergies," according to the report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

With that sale, Manpower also entered into a franchise agreement with the new owner of the Russia business, the report said.

The sale will likely result in a one-time loss of approximately $8 million during the first quarter of 2022, it said.

Beck Salgado, of the Journal Sentinel staff, contributed to this report.

Tom Daykin can be emailed at tdaykin@jrn.com and followed on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.