Exhibit 31.1

RULE 13a-14(a) CERTIFICATION IN ACCORDANCEWITH SECTION 302 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002

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|I, Roy G. Krause, certify that:                                                                                                     
|1                                                                                                                                    | . | I have reviewed this Annual Report on Form 10-K of Spherion Corporation;                                          
|2                                                                                                                                    | . | Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a    
|material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not       
|misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;                                                                       
|3                                                                                                                                    | . | Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in this report, fairly  
|present in all material respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, and for, the
|periods presented in this report;                                                                                                   
|4                                                                                                                                    | . | The registrants other certifying officer(s) and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure    
|controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal control over financial reporting    
|(as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the registrant and have:                                             
|                                                                                                                                     |   | (a)                                                                                                                | Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures     
|to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the registrant, including its                 
|consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities, particularly during the period in which             
|this report is being prepared;                                                                                                      
|                                                                                                                                     |   | (b)                                                                                                                | Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal control over financial 
|reporting to be designed under our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial              
|reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted                   
|accounting principles;                                                                                                              
|                                                                                                                                     |   | (c)                                                                                                                | Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrants disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this
|report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period               
|covered by this report based on such evaluation; and                                                                                
|                                                                                                                                     |   | (d)                                                                                                                | Disclosed in this report any change in the registrants internal control over financial reporting that  
|occurred during the registrants most recent fiscal quarter (the registrants fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an annual        
|report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrants internal control over          
|financial reporting; and                                                                                                            
|5                                                                                                                                    | . | The registrants other certifying officer(s) and I have disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal
|control over financial reporting, to the registrants auditors and the audit committee of the registrants board of directors (or   
|persons performing the equivalent functions):                                                                                       
|                                                                                                                                     |   | (a)                                                                                                                | All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over
|financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrants ability to record, process, summarize          
|and report financial information; and                                                                                               
|                                                                                                                                     |   | (b)                                                                                                                | Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a              
|significant role in the registrants internal control over financial reporting.                                                     

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|Date: March 5, 2009                  
|                                     
|/s/ ROYG. KRAUSE                     
|Roy G. Krause                        
|President and Chief Executive Officer



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