Robert Half Inc. operates in the specialized talent solutions and business consulting industry, providing contract and permanent placement personnel as well as consulting services through the Robert Half and Protiviti brand names. The Company's business was originally founded in 1948 and has since expanded from a franchisor of accounting and finance professionals into a global firm offering services across finance and accounting, technology, marketing and creative, legal, and administrative and customer support fields. The staffing business is highly competitive, with the most significant competitive factors being price and the reliability of service, which are often a function of the availability and quality of personnel. The expanded acceptance of remote work has created a significant opportunity for the Company by bringing together its global brand, global office network, global candidate database, and AI-driven technologies at a scale that local and regional staffing firms generally do not possess. Protiviti faces competition from the 'Big Four' accounting firms and other consultancies, with competitive factors including reputation, technology, tools, project methodologies, price of services, and depth of skills.

The Company's primary competitors in its talent solutions businesses include a number of firms offering similar services on a national, regional, or local basis, with local companies often being the strongest competitors in many areas. Protiviti's principal competitors remain the 'Big Four' accounting firms and other consultancies. The Company's stated competitive advantages include its global brand, global office network, global candidate database, and AI-driven technologies and data analytics, which strengthen its competitive position against local and regional staffing firms. Protiviti believes its competitive strengths lie in its collaborative approach to working with clients, which drives knowledge transfer, understanding of client issues, and value creation, coupled with a 'configure-to-fit' resourcing model that creates blended teams of full-time Protiviti consulting professionals and engagement professionals from Robert Half's network of specialized talent.

The Company generates revenue through three reportable segments: contract talent solutions, permanent placement talent solutions, and Protiviti. Contract talent solutions revenues are recognized when services are rendered by engagement professionals who are legal employees of Robert Half, with the Company assuming the risk of acceptability and paying all related costs of employment. Permanent placement talent solutions revenues are primarily recognized when employment candidates accept offers of permanent employment, with fees generally calculated as a percentage of the new employee's annual compensation and no fees charged to candidates. Protiviti revenues are earned from consulting services provided on a time-and-material, fixed-fee, or unit basis, recognized over time as performance obligations are satisfied. The Company's business model is transactional rather than recurring, as long-term contracts are not a significant part of its talent solutions business, and clients frequently enter non-exclusive arrangements that can be terminated on short notice without penalty.

The Company's contract talent solutions segment provides specialized engagement professionals in the fields of finance and accounting, technology, marketing and creative, legal, and administrative and customer support. Finance and Accounting offers personnel for accounting, finance, and accounting operations, including senior-level engagement professionals such as chief financial officers, controllers, and senior financial analysts. Technology provides information technology contract professionals and managed services in areas such as multiple platform systems integration, end-user technical and desktop support, software and application development, networking and cloud, systems integration and deployment, database design and administration, and security and business continuity. Marketing and Creative includes creative professionals in areas such as creative, digital, marketing, advertising, and public relations. Legal provides legal contract talent including attorneys and paralegal professionals. Administrative and Customer Support provides contract office and administrative personnel ranging from executive and administrative assistants to receptionists and customer service representatives. Contract talent solutions revenues were $2.99 billion ¹ for the year ended December 31, 2025, decreasing by 11.0% ² compared to revenues of $3.36 billion ³ for the year ended December 31, 2024. Gross margin dollars for contract talent solutions were $1.17 billion ⁴ for 2025, down 11.4% ⁵ from $1.32 billion ⁶ in 2024, with gross margin as a percentage of revenues at 39.0% ⁷ in 2025, down from 39.2% ⁸ in 2024.

The permanent placement talent solutions segment encompasses the Company's full-time finance and accounting, technology, marketing and creative, legal, and administrative and customer support placement business, operating under the Robert Half company name. Fees for successful placements are paid only by the employer and are generally a percentage of the new employee's annual compensation. Permanent placement talent solutions revenues were $440 million ⁹ for the year ended December 31, 2025, decreasing by 9.8% ¹⁰ compared to revenues of $487 million ¹¹ for the year ended December 31, 2024. Gross margin dollars for permanent placement talent solutions were $439 million ¹² for 2025, down 9.8% ¹³ from $486 million ¹⁴ in 2024, with gross margin as a percentage of revenues at 99.8% ¹⁵ in both 2025 and 2024. The Protiviti segment is a global consulting firm that helps companies solve problems in regulatory compliance, finance, technology, operations, data, digital, legal, HR, governance, risk and internal audit, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company. Protiviti revenues were $1.95 billion ¹⁶ for the year ended December 31, 2025, decreasing by 0.1% ¹⁷ compared to revenues of $1.95 billion ¹⁸ for the year ended December 31, 2024. Gross margin dollars for Protiviti were $397 million ¹⁹ for 2025, down 10.7% ²⁰ from $444 million ²¹ in 2024, with reported gross margin as a percentage of revenues at 20.4% ²² in 2025, down from 22.8% ²³ in 2024.

During 2022, the Company unified its family of Robert Half brands to focus on its key brand, Robert Half, simplifying its go-to-market brand structure for clients and candidates. The Company utilizes a proprietary artificial intelligence engine to match candidates to job listings and to improve lead generation amongst prospective and past clients. Protiviti has a patent pending in the United States for its proprietary enterprise AI platform, Protiviti Atlas. On May 28, 2025, the Company entered into a $100.0 million ²⁴ credit agreement which matures in May 2030, and terminated its prior $100 million ²⁵ credit agreement dated May 11, 2020. During the years ended December 31, 2025, and 2024, the Company repurchased 1.7 million ²⁶ shares at a cost of $80 million ²⁷, and 3.5 million ²⁸ shares at a cost of $249 million ²⁹, on the open market, respectively. Additional stock repurchases in connection with employee stock plans totaled 0.2 million ³⁰ shares at a cost of $11 million ³¹ in 2025, and 0.3 million ³² shares at a cost of $23 million ³³ in 2024. In April 2025, the Company expanded its operations through two acquisitions, resulting in the recognition of $12.4 million ³⁴ in goodwill. Dividends declared per share were $2.36 ³⁵ in 2025, $2.12 ³⁶ in 2024, and $1.92 ³⁷ in 2023.

The Company's service revenues were $5.38 billion ³⁸ in 2025, a decrease of 7.2% ³⁹ from $5.80 billion ⁴⁰ in 2024. Full-year 2025 net income decreased 47.1% ⁴¹ to $133 million ⁴² from $252 million ⁴³ in 2024, and diluted net income per share decreased 45.5% ⁴⁴ to $1.33 ⁴⁵ from $2.44 ⁴⁶ in 2024. The Company's reported operating income was $76 million ⁴⁷ for 2025, down 68.3% ⁴⁸ compared to $241 million ⁴⁹ for 2024, with reported operating income as a percentage of revenues at 1.4% ⁵⁰ for 2025, down from 4.2% ⁵¹ for 2024. Cash and cash equivalents were $464 million ⁵² at December 31, 2025, compared to $538 million ⁵³ at December 31, 2024. Operating activities provided $320 million ⁵⁴ during 2025, compared to $410 million ⁵⁵ in 2024.

The Company currently expects 2026 capitalized expenditures will range from $70 million to $90 million ⁵⁶, of which $45 million to $60 million ⁵⁷ relates to software initiatives and technology infrastructure, including capitalized costs relating to the implementation of cloud computing arrangements.

The Company continues to invest in technology and innovation, including AI, with major focus areas including providing a world-class digital experience for clients and candidates that is seamlessly connected to the Company's specialized professional recruiters. The Company will continue to leverage its proprietary data assets to enhance the AI tools its recruiters use to discover, assess and select talent for its clients, and the AI tools recruiters use to effectively target leads for additional revenue. Protiviti continues to invest in and deploy AI-enabled solutions by integrating AI into its existing offerings while aiming to enhance its own AI infrastructure. Protiviti assists clients in identifying and implementing suitable strategies, platforms and tools customized to their unique objectives, developing and implementing AI strategies and use cases, establishing transparent and secure AI environments, and balancing innovation with risk management.

The Company's investments in headcount are typically structured to proactively support and align with expected revenue growth trends and productivity metrics. During 2025 the Company's headcount remained relatively flat for its contract talent solutions, permanent placement talent solutions and Protiviti segments when compared to prior year-end levels, while administrative headcount decreased. The Company's variable direct costs related to its contract talent solutions business will largely fluctuate in relation to its revenues.

The Company expects that internally generated cash will be sufficient to support the working capital needs of the Company, the Company's fixed payments, dividends, and other obligations on both a short-term and long-term basis. As of December 31, 2025, the Company is authorized to repurchase, from time to time, up to 5.6 million ⁵⁸ additional shares of the Company's common stock on the open market or in privately negotiated transactions, depending on market conditions. On February 12, 2026, the Company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.59 ⁵⁹ per share to be paid to all shareholders of record as of February 25, 2026, with the dividend to be paid on March 13, 2026.

The Company's results were impacted by the ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty that affects client and candidate confidence, lengthening decision cycles and delaying hiring activities and projects in the short term. The U.S. job market remains resilient with overall unemployment at 4.4% ⁶⁰ in December 2025, up from 4.1% ⁶¹ in December 2024, and the unemployment rate for college-educated professionals is holding steady at just 2.8% ⁶². Although current hiring and quit rates remain subdued and well below post-Covid highs, job openings continue to be well above historical levels, indicating strong pent-up hiring demand. The Company faces risks from any reduction in global economic activity, which may severely reduce the demand for the Company's services and thereby significantly decrease the Company's revenues and profits.

The Company faces risks in operating internationally, including general political and economic conditions in foreign countries, international hostilities, the burden of complying with various potentially conflicting foreign laws, unpredictable changes in foreign regulations, potential adverse tax consequences, and difficulty in staffing and managing international operations. The Company's business may be affected by foreign currency exchange fluctuations, and if the value of the U.S. dollar strengthens relative to other currencies, the Company's reported income from these operations could decrease. The Company is subject to risk in translating its results in foreign currencies into the U.S. dollar, and for the year ended December 31, 2025, approximately 22.4% ⁶³ of the Company's revenues were generated outside of the U.S.

Management's message in the Executive Overview of the 10-K filing conveys a tone of cautious realism, acknowledging that the Company's results were impacted by ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty that affects client and candidate confidence, lengthening decision cycles and delaying hiring activities and projects in the short term. Management highlights that concerns around a near-term economic downturn have moderated, supported by a more conducive macro environment including continued progress in the rate-cutting cycle, easing inflation, less regulation and relatively more clarity on trade policy. The strategic priorities emphasized for the period ahead include continuing to invest in technology and innovation, including AI, with major focus areas on providing a world-class digital experience for clients and candidates and leveraging proprietary data assets to enhance AI tools for recruiters to discover, assess and select talent and to effectively target leads for additional revenue. Management also notes that Protiviti continues to invest in and deploy AI-enabled solutions by integrating AI into its existing offerings while aiming to enhance its own AI infrastructure.

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025, total service revenues were $5,378,506,000 ⁶⁵ compared to $5,795,837,000 ⁶⁶ in 2024 and $6,392,517,000 ⁶⁷ in 2023. Net income was $132,990,000 ⁶⁸ in 2025, down from $251,598,000 ⁶⁹ in 2024 and $411,146,000 ⁷⁰ in 2023. Diluted net income per share was $1.33 ⁷¹ in 2025, compared to $2.44 ⁷² in 2024 and $3.88 ⁷³ in 2023. Reported operating income was $76,461,000 ⁷⁴ in 2025, compared to $241,474,000 ⁷⁵ in 2024 and $464,590,000 ⁷⁶ in 2023. The effective tax rate was 31.6% ⁷⁷ in 2025, compared to 29.7% ⁷⁸ in 2024 and 28.7% ⁷⁹ in 2023. Cash and cash equivalents were $464,435,000 ⁸⁰ at December 31, 2025, compared to $537,583,000 ⁸¹ at December 31, 2024. Net cash provided by operating activities was $319,965,000 ⁸² in 2025, compared to $410,469,000 ⁸³ in 2024. Capital expenditures were $53,155,000 ⁸⁴ in 2025, compared to $56,318,000 ⁸⁵ in 2024. The Company repurchased $92,093,000 ⁸⁶ in common stock and paid $238,220,000 ⁸⁷ in dividends in 2025. Contract talent solutions segment income was $48,621,000 ⁸⁸ in 2025, compared to $130,518,000 ⁸⁹ in 2024. Permanent placement talent solutions segment income was $21,564,000 ⁹⁰ in 2025, compared to $46,052,000 ⁹¹ in 2024. Protiviti segment income was $112,368,000 ⁹² in 2025, compared to $158,983,000 ⁹³ in 2024.

Any reduction in global economic activity may severely reduce demand for the Company's services, particularly its talent solutions services, which are highly dependent upon the state of the economy and the staffing needs of clients. The Company faces significant legal risks from several certified or putative class and representative action lawsuits, including the Gentry and Dorff matters in California alleging wage and hour violations, which seek unspecified amounts for unpaid compensation, penalties, and damages, and could cause the Company to incur substantial liabilities or change its compensation plans. The Company's operations are subject to extensive government regulation, and changes in regulations could prohibit or restrict certain types of employment services, impose additional licensing or tax requirements, or increase costs such as unemployment insurance taxes, which may reduce future earnings. The Company's use of AI in its provision of services may result in operational challenges, legal liability, reputational concerns, and privacy, security and competitive risks, including flawed or biased candidate and lead generation results, disclosure of confidential data, and novel cybersecurity risks. The Company faces risks from foreign currency exchange fluctuations, as approximately 22.4% ⁶⁴ of its revenues were generated outside the U.S. in 2025, and if the U.S. dollar strengthens relative to other currencies, reported income from international operations could decrease.