EDGAR 10-K Filing

Company CIK: 55135
Filing Year: 2025
Filename: 55135_10-K_2025_0000055135-25-000007.json

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ITEM 1. BUSINESS
ITEM 1. BUSINESS.
History and Development of Business
William Russell Kelly pioneered the staffing industry when he founded Kelly® in 1946, and we’ve been reinventing it ever since. Our inception helped usher in and embolden a workforce of women who kept the economy moving forward during World War II, opening doors and creating completely new opportunities. Over the next 78 years, as work evolved, Kelly continued to equip people with the skills to master new technologies as they emerged and the opportunity to put them to work in ways that enriched their lives.
As the world of work has evolved, so have our offerings to reflect the changing needs of employers and talent. In 1996, Kelly established the industry’s first Managed Service Provider ("MSP") program. Three years later, the Company launched specialized offerings in engineering, IT and education. After successfully establishing industry-leading positions in each of these attractive markets, Kelly initiated a strategic plan to drive greater value creation by refocusing its portfolio on specialties. In 2020, Kelly launched a new operating model comprising five specialty business units: Kelly Professional & Industrial ("P&I"); Kelly Science, Engineering & Technology ("SET"); Kelly Education; KellyOCG ("Outsourcing & Consulting" or "OCG"); and Kelly International. This model optimized Kelly’s structure and capabilities based on market opportunity and the unique needs of employers and talent in each specialty to enable organic growth.
To enhance specialization in higher margin, higher growth specialties, Kelly also pursued an aggressive approach to driving inorganic growth in SET, Education, and OCG. By monetizing non-core assets and redeploying available capital, Kelly completed several strategic acquisitions over the years, including Teachers On Call; Global Technology Associates ("GTA"); NextGen; Greenwood/Asher & Associates; Softworld; RocketPower; Pediatric Therapeutic Services ("PTS"); Motion Recruitment Partners ("MRP"); and Children’s Therapy Center ("CTC").
Building on a significant shift in Kelly’s business mix driven by its specialty strategy, the Company took steps to further optimize its operating model and accelerate profitable growth. Beginning in 2023, Kelly implemented a comprehensive business transformation initiative that delivered structural efficiency improvements across the enterprise and significantly improved profitability. In 2024, Kelly completed the sale of its European staffing operations within the Company’s International business unit, further sharpening its focus on specialty outcome-based and staffing services in North America, while maintaining global recruitment process outsourcing ("RPO") and MSP capabilities.
Today, Kelly remains one of the largest providers of temporary and permanent staffing services, outcome-based solutions, RPO, MSP, and payroll process outsourcing ("PPO"). The Company delivers these differentiated offerings through four specialty business units, each a leader in the respective markets on which they are focused: Kelly Education; Kelly Professional & Industrial; Kelly Science, Engineering & Technology; and KellyOCG.
Business Objectives
We strive to empower organizations and talent to access limitless opportunities by enabling employers to recruit and manage skilled workers and help job seekers find great work. As experts in hiring experts, we ensure our customers have the people they need when and where they’re needed most. We’re also using our position in the middle of the talent supply and demand equation to challenge outdated barriers that hold back far too many people from attaining meaningful work, supporting their families and contributing to the economy. Our Equity@Work initiative seeks to remove barriers to employment and create a labor market that is accessible for more people. While universal change takes time, we continue to make progress with additional outreach, new alliances and partnerships, and continued executive commitment.
We believe that delivering on these objectives will result in successful outcomes for customers and talent, and drive profitable growth for Kelly.
Description of Business Segments and Services
Kelly is a global specialty talent solutions company operating in four specialized business units, which are also our reportable segments. This structure enables us to serve the specialized needs of both talent and customers while building deep industry expertise and connections.
•Professional & Industrial - delivers temporary staffing, outcome-based and permanent placement services. P&I is focused on industrial, contact center, and office and clerical specialties in North America. Its offerings include our KellyConnect and Skilled Professional Solutions offerings.
•Science, Engineering & Technology - provides highly specialized skills to a variety of industries through temporary staffing, outcome-based, and permanent placement services. SET is focused on science and clinical research, engineering, technology, and telecommunications specialties predominantly in North America. It includes the MRP, Softworld, NextGen, and GTA brands, as well as our statementworX offering.
•Education - delivers high quality education and therapy services talent through temporary staffing, permanent placement and executive search services to Pre-K-12 school districts and education organizations across the U.S. It includes the CTC, PTS, Greenwood/Asher, and Teachers On Call brands.
•Outsourcing & Consulting Group - provides global talent supply chain and workforce solutions, including MSP, RPO, and PPO solutions to customers on a global basis. It includes our RocketPower brand as well as our proprietary technology platform, Kelly Helix.
Financial information regarding our reportable segments is included in the Segment Disclosures footnote in the notes to our consolidated financial statements presented in Part II, Item 8 of this report.
Business Operations
Geographic Breadth of Services
Headquartered in the United States, Kelly provides workforce solutions to a diverse group of local, regional and global clients in the Americas, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region across a variety of industries.
In 2024, together with our supplier partners, we placed more than 400,000 workers with a variety of customers around the globe.
Service Marks
We own numerous service marks registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the European Union Intellectual Property Office and numerous individual country trademark offices.
Seasonality and Economic Cycles
Our operating results have historically been affected by the cyclical response to both economic downturns and upswings. Customers use our services to supplement their existing workforce and generally hire permanent employees when long-term demand is expected to increase. In addition, we generate a portion of our revenue through permanent placement fees, which typically have a higher gross margin than our staffing services. Consequently, we may see improved demand for our services and generate larger increases in our revenue and gross profit from services when the economy grows. During periods of increasing demand, we are generally able to improve our profitability and generate operating leverage. Conversely, our revenue from services and gross profit may see larger decreases when economic activity declines and customer demand for our services decreases. When demand decreases, our operating profit is typically impacted unfavorably as we experience a deleveraging of our selling and administrative expense base, which may not decline at the same pace as revenue. Our business also experiences seasonal fluctuations each year, particularly in our Education operating segment. Revenue in Education is generally lowest in the third quarter, in line with schools’ summer break.
Working Capital
Our working capital requirements are primarily generated from our staffing businesses resulting from employee payroll which is generally paid weekly or monthly and customer accounts receivable which is generally outstanding for longer periods. When
we operate as a managed service provider, our payment terms to suppliers are generally in line with payment terms from customers, which does not result in a significant use of working capital. Based on the nature of our business, accounts receivable is our most significant asset with days sales outstanding ("DSO") of 59 days as of December 29, 2024. Since receipts from customers lag payroll payments to temporary employees, working capital requirements increase and operating cash flows may decrease substantially in periods of growth. Conversely, when economic activity slows, working capital requirements may substantially decrease and operating cash flows increase. Such increases dissipate over time if the economic downturn continues for an extended period.
Customers
Kelly’s client portfolio spans employers of all sizes and sectors, including local and mid-sized businesses, to Fortune 500 enterprises, government agencies, and education institutions. In 2024, an estimated 58% of total company revenue was attributed to our largest 100 customers and 29% was attributed to our largest 10 customers. Our largest single customer accounted for approximately six percent of total revenue in 2024. In 2023, an estimated 55% of total company revenue was attributed to our largest 100 customers and 27% was attributed to our largest 10 customers. Our largest single customer accounted for approximately six percent of total revenue in 2023.
Government Contracts
Although we conduct business under various federal, state and local government contracts, no one contract represents more than three percent of total company revenue in 2024.
Competition
The worldwide workforce solutions industry is competitive and highly fragmented. In the United States, we compete with other firms that operate nationally and offer a breadth of service similar to ours, and with thousands of smaller regional or specialized companies that compete to varying degrees. Outside the United States, we face similar competition. In 2024, our largest competitors were Randstad, Adecco Group, ManpowerGroup Inc. and Allegis Group.
Key factors that influence our success are quality of service, price and breadth of service.
Quality of service is highly dependent on the availability of qualified talent, and our ability to promptly and effectively recruit, screen, retain and manage a pool of employees who match the skills required by our customers. We must balance competitive pricing pressures, which may intensify during an economic downturn, with the need to attract and retain a qualified workforce. Price competition is greater in certain markets in which we serve clients and talent, including education, office clerical and light industrial.
Companies may seek a single supplier to manage all of their demand for contingent talent. To provide the breadth of service required, clients may need us to manage staffing suppliers and independent workers on their behalf. Kelly seeks to address this requirement for our clients, enabling us to deliver talent wherever and whenever they need it around the world.
Corporate Sustainability
Kelly is committed to the highest standards of corporate citizenship. Given the worldwide reach of our workers, clients, suppliers and partners, we recognize the global impact of our business practices and the importance of public accountability. We continue to advocate on behalf of the global workforce, improve our workplaces, contribute to the communities we serve and ensure our actions are socially, ethically and environmentally responsible. More information about our corporate sustainability initiatives is available in our Corporate Sustainability and ESG Report - Growing with Purpose report on www.kellyservices.com
Regulation
Our services are subject to a variety of complex federal and state laws and regulations in the countries where we operate. We continuously monitor legislation and regulatory changes for their potential effect on our business. We invest in technology and process improvements to implement required changes while minimizing the impact on our operating efficiency and effectiveness. Regulatory cost increases are passed through to our clients to the fullest extent possible. As a service business, we are not materially impacted by federal, state or local laws that regulate the discharge of materials into the environment.
Human Capital
We are a talent solutions company and our employees are critical to our success. We must attract and retain experienced internal employees, as well as talent we put to work for our customers. As part of these efforts, we strive to offer competitive total rewards programs, promote employee development, support a workforce that represents the demographics of communities we serve, and allow employees to give back to their communities and make a social impact.
We are committed to the health, safety and wellness of our employees and talent. The success of our business is fundamentally connected to the well-being of our people. Accordingly, we seek to implement policies and practices that align with applicable laws and regulations and are in the best interest of our employees, talent and the communities in which we operate.
Kelly’s purpose is to connect people to work in ways that enrich their lives, while creating opportunities for all people to realize their full potential. We are dedicated to removing barriers to employment, ensuring that anyone who is qualified has access to meaningful employment. Kelly creates pathways allowing talent to thrive. We help our clients find the people they need to succeed, while championing fair and all-encompassing hiring practices. Our commitment is reflected in initiatives like Equity@Work, designed to remove obstacles, open doors, and expand opportunities for all talent. Kelly’s impact doesn’t stop there. We are devoted to growing and developing a varied ecosystem of supplier partners, empowering them to make a difference in the industry and the marketplace. We support the success of our clients and contribute to a more vibrant ecosystem by nurturing relationships. Through our efforts, Kelly aims to shape a future where work is accessible to everyone, organizations drive innovation with a holistic talent mindset, and our collective progress is fueled by perspectives of people from all backgrounds.
Internal Employees
As of December 29, 2024, we employed approximately 4,200 staff members in the United States and an additional 1,370 in our international locations. Kelly retention rates for high performing and high potential employees align with our comparable benchmark.
Compensation and Benefits.  Kelly is committed to providing competitive, fair and fiscally responsible total rewards programs to our employees.  Our compensation programs are designed to attract, retain and reward talented individuals with the skills necessary to achieve our strategic goals and create long-term value for our shareholders. We provide employees with competitive compensation opportunities, with strong pay-for-performance linkages that include a mix of base salary, short-term incentives and, in the case of our more senior employees, long-term equity awards. Our programs provide fair and competitive opportunities that align employee and stockholder interests. In addition to cash and equity compensation, we offer employees competitive benefits such as life and health (medical, dental and vision) insurance, paid time off, wellness benefits and defined contribution retirement plans. We review our compensation and benefits programs annually and respond to changes in market practice. For example, recent enhancements to our U.S. benefits program include the addition of a virtual physical therapy program to our medical plans and automatic contribution-escalation in one of our 401(k) Plans. In addition, pay and benefits programs for our international employees align with competitive local practices.
Culture. Since 1947, our founder fought to increase women's access to work, and we’ve continued to be an outspoken advocate for the value temporary and independent workers bring to the workplace. We are committed to promoting exceptional talent from all walks of life.  We believe that our talent pool creates a workplace that is conducive to producing more creative solutions, results in better, more innovative products and services, and presents Kelly as a workplace leader, aiding our ability to attract and retain high-performing talent. We focus on fostering a culture of belonging, where everyone feels welcomed and respected and can thrive as we work together. Kelly promotes employee development and internal career mobility to enable our team to achieve their full potential and to ensure we have the evolving workforce capabilities that the future demands.
Community Involvement. Sustainability is at the core of our relationships with our global workforce, suppliers, customers, and other stakeholders. Our programs and initiatives are dedicated to enhancing the well-being of our employees, their families and the communities they call home. By focusing on social investment and nurturing shared values, we support sustainable development for the future rather than providing isolated aid. Utilizing a technology platform to capture corporate volunteering, we empower our employees with volunteering and giving initiatives while increasing collaboration on social impact opportunities. This allows our employees to actively participate in causes they are passionate about and align with our sustainability strategy. Through our Equity@Work efforts, we are demonstrating our commitment to ensuring access to meaningful work and growth by creating alliances with like-minded companies, policy groups, and institutions. These partnerships aim to positively impact how companies hire, advance and help more people thrive.
For more information about our corporate strategy of connecting people to meaningful work while contributing to a better society, please see our Corporate Sustainability and ESG Report - Growing with Purpose, which is available at www.kellyservices.com.
Talent
In addition to our internal employees, Kelly recruits talent on behalf of our customers globally.  In 2024, we placed more than 400,000 individuals in positions with our customers.  When Kelly remains the employer of record for our employees working at our customer locations, we retain responsibility for all assignments (including ensuring appropriate health and safety protocols in conjunction with our customers), wages, benefits, workers’ compensation insurance, and the employer's share of applicable payroll taxes as well as the administration of the employees' share of these taxes.  We also offer our Kelly talent access to competitive health and benefit programs while they are working with us.
Foreign Operations
For information regarding sales, earnings from operations and long-lived assets by domestic and foreign operations, please refer to the information presented in the Segment Disclosures footnote in the notes to our consolidated financial statements, presented in Part II, Item 8 of this report.
Access to Company Information
We electronically file our annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and all amendments to those reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). The SEC maintains an Internet website at www.sec.gov that contains reports, proxy and information statements and other information regarding issuers that file electronically.
We make available, free of charge, through our website, and by responding to requests addressed to our investor relations office, our annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and all amendments to those reports. These reports are available as soon as reasonably practicable after such material is electronically filed with or furnished to the SEC. Our website address is: www.kellyservices.com. The information contained on our website, or on other websites linked to our website, is not part of this report.

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ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS.
Risks Related to Macroeconomic Conditions
Our business is significantly affected by fluctuations in general economic conditions.
Historically, the general level of economic activity and employment in the United States and the other countries in which we operate has significantly affected the demand for staffing services. In periods of economic growth, employers often add temporary employees before hiring full-time employees. However, when economic activity declines, many employers reduce their use of temporary employees before laying off full-time employees. Customer responses to real or perceived economic conditions, including perceptions related to market conditions, labor supply and inflation, could negatively impact customer behavior. Historically, significant changes in economic activity have disproportionately impacted staffing industry volumes. We may not fully benefit from times of increased economic activity should we experience shortages in the supply of workers. We may also experience more competitive pricing pressure and slower customer payments during periods of economic decline. A substantial portion of our revenues and earnings are generated by our business operations in the United States. Any significant economic downturn in the United States or certain other countries in which we operate could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our stock price may be subject to significant volatility and could suffer a decline in value.
The market price of our common stock may be subject to significant volatility. We believe that many factors, including several which are beyond our control, have a significant effect on the market price of our common stock. These include:
•actual or anticipated variations in our quarterly operating results;
•announcements of new services by us or our competitors;
•announcements relating to strategic relationships, acquisitions or divestitures;
•changes in financial estimates by securities analysts;
•changes in general economic conditions;
•actual or anticipated changes in laws and government regulations;
•commencement of, or involvement in, litigation;
•any major change in our board or management;
•changes in industry trends or conditions; and
•sales of significant amounts of our common stock or other securities in the market.
In addition, the stock market in general, and the Nasdaq Global Market in particular, often experiences significant price and volume fluctuations that frequently are unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of listed companies. These broad market and industry factors may seriously harm the market price of our common stock, regardless of our operating performance. A securities class action suit against us arising out of stock volatility or other investor claims, could result in substantial costs, potential liabilities and the diversion of our management’s attention and resources. Further, our operating results may be below the expectations of securities analysts or investors. In such event, the price of our common stock may decline.
Risks Related to our Industry Segment
We operate in a highly competitive industry with low barriers to entry and may be unable to compete successfully against existing or new competitors.
The worldwide staffing services market is highly competitive with limited barriers to entry. We compete in global, national, regional and local markets with full-service and specialized temporary staffing and consulting companies. Some competitors are considerably larger than we are and have more substantial marketing and financial resources. Additionally, the emergence of online staffing platforms, talent sourcing models, or other forms of disintermediation may pose a competitive threat to our services that operate under a more traditional staffing business model. Price competition in the staffing industry is intense, particularly for the provision of office clerical, light industrial and education personnel. We expect that the level of competition will remain high, which could limit our ability to maintain or increase our market share or profitability.
The number of customers distributing their staffing service purchases among a broader group of competitors continues to increase which, in some cases, may make it more difficult for us to obtain new customers, or to retain or maintain our current share of business, with existing customers. We also face the risk that our current or prospective customers may decide to
provide similar services internally. As a result, there can be no assurance that we will not encounter increased competition in the future.
Technological advances, including advances in artificial intelligence, may significantly disrupt the labor market and weaken demand for human capital.
Our success is directly dependent on our customers’ demand for talent. As technology continues to evolve, an increasing number of tasks currently performed by people may be replaced by automation, robotics, machine learning, artificial intelligence, and other technology advances outside of our control. These changes could result in a decreased demand for human labor. This trend poses a risk to the staffing industry, particularly in lower-skill job categories and to creative, administrative, customer support, and clerical roles vulnerable to advances in artificial intelligence. If we are unsuccessful in responding to this potential shift in customer demand due to advancing technology, it could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.
Competition rules arising from government legislation, litigation or regulatory activity may limit how we structure and market our services.
As a leading staffing and recruiting company, we are closely scrutinized by government agencies under U.S. and foreign competition laws. An increasing number of governments are enforcing competition laws and regulations, leading to increased scrutiny. Some jurisdictions also allow competitors or consumers to assert claims of anti-competitive conduct.
The European Commission and its various competition authorities have targeted industry trade associations in which we participate, which could result in the assessment of fines against our business. Although we have safeguards in place to comply with competition laws, there can be no guarantee that such safeguards will be successful. Any government regulatory actions may result in fines and penalties or hamper our ability to provide cost-effective benefits to consumers and businesses, reducing the attractiveness of our services and the revenues that come from them. New competition law actions could be initiated. The outcome of such actions, or steps taken to avoid them, could adversely affect us in a variety of ways, including:
•We may have to choose between withdrawing certain services from certain geographies to avoid fines or designing and developing alternative versions of those services to comply with government rulings, which may entail a delay in a service delivery.
•Adverse rulings may act as precedent in other competition law proceedings.
Our business is subject to extensive government regulation, which may restrict the types of services we are permitted to offer or result in additional tax or licensing requirements, or other costs that reduce our revenues and earnings.
The temporary employment industry is heavily regulated in many of the countries in which we operate. Changes in laws or government regulations may result in prohibition or restriction of certain types of services we can offer, increased delivery and operating complexity costs, or the imposition of new or additional pay, benefit, licensing or tax requirements that could reduce our revenues and earnings. In particular, we are subject to state unemployment taxes in the U.S., which typically increase during periods of increased levels of unemployment. Increased government regulation of the workplace, such as enhanced wage or labor protections, laws or regulations restricting the use of artificial intelligence in the employment lifecycle, or expansion of employee privacy rights, could adversely impact our business. Changes in the immigration policy in the United States could adversely impact our ability to recruit or retain non-citizen workers, including individuals employed by us on work visas, primarily H-1B, or eligible to work under temporary protected status, deferred enforcement decisions, or similar work authorizations. We also receive benefits, such as the work opportunity income tax credit in the U.S., that regularly expire and may not be reinstated. There can be no assurance that we will be able to increase the fees charged to our customers in a timely manner and in a sufficient amount to fully cover increased costs as a result of any changes in laws or government regulations. Any future changes in laws or government regulations, or interpretations or enforcement thereof, including additional laws and regulations enacted at a state or local level may make it more difficult or expensive for us to provide services and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, as state and local jurisdictions expand their regulation of the workplace, we may be unable to adequately monitor or timely respond to changes in state and local regulations, which could result in significant fines and penalties, criminal sanctions against us, our officers or our employees, prohibitions on the conduct of our business, damage to our reputation, and other adverse consequences.
Unexpected changes in claim trends on our workers’ compensation, unemployment, disability and medical benefit plans may negatively impact our financial condition.
We self-insure, or otherwise bear financial responsibility for, a significant portion of expected losses under our workers’ compensation program, disability and medical benefits claims. Unexpected changes in claim trends, including the severity and frequency of claims, actuarial estimates and medical cost inflation, could result in costs that are significantly different than initially reported. If future claims-related liabilities increase due to unforeseen circumstances, or if we must make unfavorable adjustments to accruals for prior accident years, our costs could increase significantly. In addition, unemployment insurance costs are dependent on benefit claims experience from employees which may vary from current levels and result in increased costs. There can be no assurance that we will be able to increase the fees charged to our customers in a timely manner and in a sufficient amount to cover increased costs as a result of any changes in claims-related liabilities.
We may have additional tax liabilities that exceed our estimates.
We are subject to multiple federal, state, local, and foreign taxes in the jurisdictions in which we operate. Our tax expense could be materially impacted by changes in tax laws in these jurisdictions, changes in the valuation of deferred tax assets and liabilities or changes in the mix of income by country. The overall size of our workforce and visibility of our industry may make it more likely we become a target of government investigations, and we are regularly subject to audit by tax authorities. Although we believe our tax estimates are reasonable, the final determination of audits and any related litigation could be materially different from our historical tax provisions and accruals. The results of an audit or litigation could materially harm our business.
Risks Related to Strategy and Execution
Our future performance depends on the Company’s effective execution of our business strategy.
The performance of the Company’s business is dependent on our ability to effectively execute our growth strategy. Our strategy includes targeted investments in select specialty areas, focusing on growth platforms and implementation of a cost-effective operating model to bridge our strategy to execution. If we are unsuccessful in executing our strategy, we may not achieve either our stated goal of revenue growth or the intended productivity improvements, which could negatively impact profitability. Even if effectively executed, our strategy may be insufficient considering changes in market conditions, technology, changes in customer buying behavior, competitive pressures or other external factors.
If we fail to successfully improve or develop new service offerings, we may be unable to retain and acquire customers, resulting in a decline in revenues.
The Company’s successful execution of our growth strategy requires that we match evolving customer expectations with evolving service offerings. The development of new or improved service offerings requires accurate anticipation of customer needs and emerging technology and workforce trends. We must make long-term investments in our information technology infrastructure and commit resources to development efforts without certainty that these investments will result in service offerings that achieve customer acceptance and generate the revenues required to provide desired returns. If we fail to accurately anticipate and meet our customers’ needs through the development of new or improved service offerings or do not successfully deliver these service offerings, our competitive position could weaken, causing a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.
A loss of major customers or a change in such customers’ buying behavior or economic strength could have a material adverse effect on our business.
We serve many large corporate customers through high volume service agreements. While we intend to maintain or increase our revenues and earnings from our major corporate customers, we are exposed to risks arising from the possible loss of major customer accounts. A change in labor strategy or labor disruptions, including work stoppages or the deterioration of the financial condition or business prospects of these customers could reduce their need for our services and result in a significant decrease in the revenues and earnings we derive from these customers. Such change could occur due to economic, social, climate, or political factors outside of our customers' control. Inability to meet customer demands in response to these factors could result in the decline in use of our service or outright loss of customers. Our customers are also exposed to third-party risk through their use of vendors and suppliers which, in the event of a third-party incident at a customer, could result in a deterioration in their financial condition. Continuing merger and acquisition activity involving our large corporate customers could put existing business at risk or impose additional pricing pressures. Since receipts from customers generally lag payroll to temporary employees, the bankruptcy of a major customer could have a material adverse impact on our ability to meet our
working capital requirements. The expansion of payment terms may extend our working capital requirements and reduce available capital for investment. Additionally, most of our customer contracts can be terminated by the customer on short notice without penalty. This creates uncertainty with respect to the revenues and earnings we may recognize with respect to our customer contracts.
Our business with large customer accounts reflects a market-driven shift in buying behaviors in which reliance on a small number of staffing partners has shifted to reliance upon a network of talent providers. The movement from single-sourced to competitively sourced staffing contracts may also substantially reduce our future revenues from such customers. While Kelly has sought to address this trend, including providing supplier and vendor management services as a customer’s MSP within our OCG segment, we may not be selected or retained as the MSP by our large customers, or if we are the MSP, we may not be one of the underlying staffing providers. This may result in a material decrease in the revenue we derive from providing staffing services to such customers. In addition, revenues may be materially impacted if we decide to exit customers due to pricing pressure or other business factors.
Our business with the federal government and government contractors presents additional risk considerations. We must comply with laws and regulations relating to the formation, administration and performance of federal government contracts. Failure to meet these obligations could result in civil penalties, fines, suspension of payments, reputational damage, disqualification from doing business with government agencies and other sanctions or adverse consequences. Government procurement practices may change in ways that impose additional costs or risks upon us or pose a competitive disadvantage. Our employees may be unable to obtain or retain the security clearances necessary to conduct business under certain contracts, or we could lose, or be unable to secure or retain, a necessary facility clearance. In the event of a security incident by us or our personnel, we may not be able to conduct future business for certain federal government clients. In addition, government agencies may temporarily or permanently lose funding for awarded contracts, reduce spending, or deprioritize future spending on contracts on which we participate, or there could be delays in the start-up of projects already awarded and funded.
We are at risk of damage to our brands, which are important to our success.
Our success depends, in part, on the value associated with our brands. Because we assign employees to work under the direction and supervision of our customer at work locations not under Kelly’s control, we are at risk of our employees engaging in unauthorized conduct that could harm our reputation. Our Education segment is particularly susceptible to this exposure. Our brand reputation could also be damaged by the actions of unrelated third parties with diverse or unclear motives. Political activists, social media posts, or traditional news media could reference the Kelly brand as part of a broader communication unrelated to our business, which could result in backlash against our business practices. In addition, undesirable actions by our competitors could adversely impact the reputation of the staffing industry as a whole, negatively impacting our brand. As we increasingly use artificial intelligence in our services, incidents of bias, hallucination, or error by artificial intelligence we use, or ethical objections to our use of artificial intelligence, could negatively impact our brand. Any incident, act or omission that damages Kelly’s reputation could cause the loss of current and future customers, additional regulatory scrutiny and liability to third parties, which could negatively impact profitability.
As we increasingly offer services outside the realm of traditional staffing, including outcome-based services, business process outsourcing, vendor and supplier management, and services intended to connect independent talent to independent work, we are exposed to additional risks which could have a material adverse effect on our business.
Our business strategy focuses on driving profitable growth in key specialty areas, including through business process outsourcing arrangements, where we provide operational management of our customers’ non-core functions or departments. We also plan to expand the outcome-based services we provide, which increases our risk associated with product delivery. This could expose us to certain risks unique to that business, including civil liability, product liability, or product recalls. As the nature of work changes, we deliver services that connect independent talent to independent work with our customers which could expose the Company to risks of misclassifying workers, which could result in regulatory audits and penalties. Although we have internal vetting processes intended to control such risks, there is no assurance that these processes will be effective or that we will be able to identify these potential risks in a timely manner. Our specialties also include professional services where errors or omissions by employees or independent contractors can result in substantial injury or damages. We attempt to mitigate and transfer such risks through contractual arrangements with our customers and suppliers; however, these services may give rise to liability claims and litigation. While we maintain insurance in types and amounts we believe are appropriate for the contemplated risks, there is no assurance that such insurance coverage will remain available on reasonable terms or be sufficient in amount or scope.
We are increasingly dependent on third parties for the execution of critical functions and could be liable for their inability to perform or adhere to global compliance standards.
We rely on third parties to support critical functions within our operations, including portions of our technology infrastructure, vendor management, customer relationship management, applicant tracking systems and in-country staffing services. If we are unable to contract with third parties having the specialized skills needed to support our growth strategies or integrate their products and services with our business, or if they fail to meet our performance requirements, the results of operations could be adversely impacted. We also rely on supplier partnerships to deliver certain services to customers. If our suppliers fail to meet our standards and expectations, or are unfavorably regarded by our customers, our ability to discontinue the relationship may be limited, which could result in reputational damage, customer loss, and adversely affect our results of operations. The failure or inability to adequately perform on the part of one or more of these critical vendors, suppliers, or partners could cause significant disruptions and increased costs. Moreover, these third parties are often subject to international laws and regulations regarding their conduct, including compliance with anti-bribery, anti-corruption, human trafficking, forced or child labor, trade sanctions, sustainability, and other compliance obligations ("Global Compliance Obligations"). While we maintain processes to monitor these third-parties for compliance to these standards, failure of these third-parties to adhere to Global Compliance Obligations could result in significant fines and penalties, criminal sanctions against us, our officers or our employees, prohibitions on the conduct of our business, and damage to our reputation.
Our information technology strategy may not yield its intended results.
Our information technology strategy focuses on improvements to our technology stack across the company, including synergies in our applicant onboarding and tracking systems, order management system, and improvements to financial processes. We do not currently use a single enterprise resource planning ("ERP") system, which limits our ability to react to evolving technology and customer expectations and increases the amount of investment and effort necessary to provide global service integration to our customers. Although we carefully plan for intelligent integration of our acquisitions with our legacy businesses, there is no assurance that we will adequately resolve the issues presented by lack of a single ERP, or that we will successfully integrate technology across the Company. Although the technology strategy is intended to increase productivity and operating efficiencies, these initiatives may not yield their intended results. Any delays in completing, or an inability to successfully complete, these technology initiatives, or an inability to achieve the anticipated efficiencies, could adversely affect our operations, liquidity and financial condition. Some of the initiatives are dependent on the products and services of third-party vendors. If our vendors are unable to provide these services, or fail to meet our standards and expectations, we could experience business interruptions or data loss which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Past and future acquisitions may not be successful.
As a part of our growth strategy, we continue to monitor the market for acquisition targets to bolster our inorganic growth aspirations. Acquisitions involve a number of risks, including the diversion of management’s attention from its existing operations, the failure to retain key personnel or customers of an acquired business, the failure to realize anticipated benefits such as cost savings and revenue enhancements, potential substantial transaction costs associated with acquisitions, the assumption of unknown liabilities of the acquired business and the inability to successfully integrate the business into our operations. There can be no assurance that any past or future acquired businesses will generate anticipated revenues or earnings.
Further, acquisitions result in goodwill and intangible assets which have the risk of impairment if the future operating results and cash flows of such acquisitions are lower than our initial estimates. In the event of an impairment determination, we may be required to record a significant non-cash charge to earnings that could adversely affect our results of operations.
Risks Related to Operating a Global Enterprise
We conduct a portion of our operations outside of the United States and we are subject to risks relating to our international business activities, including fluctuations in currency exchange rates and numerous legal and regulatory requirements.
We conduct our business in major markets throughout the world. Our operations outside the United States are subject to risks inherent in international business activities, including:
•fluctuations in currency exchange rates;
•restrictions or limitations on the transfer of funds;
•government intrusions including asset seizures, expropriations or de facto control;
•varying economic and geopolitical conditions;
•differences in cultures and business practices;
•differences in employment and tax laws and regulations;
•differences in accounting and reporting requirements;
•differences in labor and market conditions;
•compliance with trade sanctions;
•changing and, in some cases, complex or ambiguous laws and regulations; and
•litigation, investigations and claims.
Our operations outside the United States are reported in the applicable local currencies and then translated into U.S. dollars at the applicable currency exchange rates for inclusion in our consolidated financial statements. Exchange rates for currencies of these countries may fluctuate in relation to the U.S. dollar and these fluctuations may have an adverse or favorable effect on our operating results when translating foreign currencies into U.S. dollars.
Our international operations subject us to potential liability under anti-bribery, anti-corruption, anti-trafficking, supply chain, trade protection, and other laws and regulations.
The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and other anti-bribery and anti-corruption laws and regulations ("Anti-Corruption Laws") prohibit corrupt payments by our employees, vendors, or agents. Other international laws and compacts hold companies liable for human rights violations that occur within their supply chain, and impose obligations on companies to prohibit human trafficking, forced labor, and child labor ("Human Rights and Supply Chain Laws"). While we devote substantial resources to our global compliance programs and have implemented policies, training, and internal controls designed to reduce the risk of corrupt payments and ensure compliance with human rights standards, our employees, directors, officers, vendors, or agents may violate our policies. Our failure to comply with Anti-Corruption Laws or Human Rights and Supply Chain Laws could result in significant fines and penalties, criminal sanctions against us, our directors, officers, employees, agents, or our vendors, prohibitions on the conduct of our business, and damage to our reputation. Operations outside the United States may be affected by changes in trade protection laws, policies and measures, and other regulatory requirements affecting trade and investment. As a result, we may be subject to legal liability and reputational damage.
Events such as natural disasters, severe weather, terrorist attacks, war, pandemics, and other catastrophic events could decrease demand for our services in impacted areas.
Because we conduct our business in major markets throughout the world, we face risks in those environments that are beyond our control. Natural disasters, severe weather, climate change, disease, pandemics, war, terrorist acts, or other similar unforeseen events could materially adversely affect our operations or financial condition. Even where the event does not directly impact our operations, its impact on regional business could adversely impact our business through decreased customer demand or inability to perform services due to the event. Historically, large-scale events have resulted in a temporary economic downturn in areas impacted by such catastrophic events. Even where we are able to provide services in relief and support operations, there is no assurance that we will be able to offset the adverse impacts of the catastrophic event.
We are subject to substantial pressure to meet external stakeholder’s sustainability and ESG requirements.
Influential investors, regulators, and advocacy groups have increasingly focused on evaluating environmental, social, and governance ("ESG") commitments of companies in which they invest. While we have made public sustainability commitments, our customers often require us to comply with their ESG requirements as part of their own practices. These enhanced expectations from our customers around ESG practices can increase operating costs and require incremental resources to satisfy. Our inability to meet customer ESG or sustainability requirements could also result in the possible loss of major customer accounts. Although we maintain a sustainability program that we believe currently matches or exceeds our customer demands, there can be no guarantee that our program will be able to adequately meet future regulatory or customer requirements or that we will meet our established commitments.
Risks Related to Human Capital
We depend on our ability to attract, develop and retain qualified permanent full-time employees.
As we aim to expand the number of clients utilizing our higher margin specialty solutions in support of our growth strategy, we are highly reliant on individuals who possess specialized knowledge and skills to lead related specialty solutions and operations. Social, political and financial conditions can negatively impact the availability of qualified personnel. Competition for
individuals with proven specialized knowledge and skills is intense, and demand for these individuals is expected to remain strong in the foreseeable future. Our success is dependent on our ability to attract, develop and retain these employees.
We depend on the ability of Kelly and third-party talent suppliers to attract and retain qualified personnel to provide our services.
We depend on our and our suppliers' ability to attract qualified personnel who possess the skills and experience necessary to meet the workforce demands of our customers. We must continually evaluate our base of available qualified personnel and suppliers to keep pace with changing customer needs. Competition for individuals with established professional skills is fierce, and demand for these individuals is anticipated to remain robust for the foreseeable future. Rapid evolution of technology may widen the skills gap, where the demand for expertise outpaces the availability of suitably skilled professionals. Low unemployment, as well as social, political and financial conditions can negatively impact the amount of qualified personnel available to meet the talent requirements of our customers. There can be no assurance that qualified personnel will continue to be available in sufficient numbers and on terms of employment acceptable to us and our customers.
We may be exposed to employment-related claims and losses, including class action lawsuits and collective actions, which could have a material adverse effect on our business.
We employ and assign personnel in the workplaces of other businesses. The risks of these activities include possible claims relating to:
•discrimination and harassment;
•wrongful termination or retaliation;
•violations of employment rights related to employment screening or privacy issues;
•apportionment between us and our customer of legal obligations as an employer of temporary employees;
•classification of workers as employees or independent contractors;
•employment of unauthorized workers;
•violations of wage and hour requirements;
•entitlement to employee benefits, including health insurance and retroactive benefits;
•failure to comply with leave policy and other labor requirements; and
•errors and omissions by our temporary employees, particularly for the actions of professionals such as engineers, therapists, accountants, doctors, teachers and scientists.
We are also subject to potential risks relating to misuse of customer proprietary information, misappropriation of funds, death or injury to our employees, damage to customer facilities due to negligence of temporary employees, criminal activity and other similar occurrences. We may incur fines and other losses or negative publicity with respect to these risks. In addition, these occurrences may give rise to litigation, which could be time-consuming and expensive. In the U.S. and certain other countries in which we operate, new employment and labor laws and regulations have been proposed or adopted that may increase the potential exposure of employers to employment-related claims and litigation. In addition, such laws and regulations are arising with increasing frequency at the state and local level in the U.S. and the resulting inconsistency in such laws and regulations results in additional complexity. There can be no assurance that the corporate policies and practices we have in place to help reduce our exposure to these risks will be effective or that we will not experience losses as a result of these risks. Although we maintain insurance in types and amounts we believe are appropriate in light of the aforementioned exposures, there can also be no assurance that such insurance policies will remain available on reasonable terms or be sufficient in amount or scope of coverage. Additionally, should we have a material inability to produce records as a consequence of litigation or a government investigation, the cost or consequences of such matters could become much greater.
Risks Related to Cyber Security and Data Privacy
Damage to our data facilities could affect our ability to sustain critical business applications.
Many business processes critical to our continued operation are hosted in outsourced facilities in America, Europe and Asia, hosted at our corporate headquarters or, increasingly, occur in cloud-based computer environments. These critical processes include, but are not limited to, payroll, customer reporting, and order management. Although we have taken steps to protect such instances by establishing data backup and disaster recovery capabilities, the loss or inability to access of this data or cloud environment could create a substantial risk of business interruption which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
A failure to maintain the privacy of personal data entrusted to us could have significant adverse consequences.
In the normal course of business we control, process, or have access to personal data regarding candidates and persons employed or engaged by us, our customers, certain customer employees, and managed suppliers. Information concerning these individuals may also reside in systems controlled by third parties for purposes such as employee benefits, assignment information, and payroll administration. The legal and regulatory environment concerning data privacy is becoming more complex and challenging, and the potential consequences of non-compliance have become more severe. The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation, the California Consumer Privacy Act, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 ("HIPAA"), and similar laws impose additional compliance requirements related to the collection, use, processing, transfer, disclosure, security, and retention of personal or protected health information ("PHI"), which can increase operating costs and resources to accomplish. The further expansion of privacy laws, and litigation for violations of those laws, including at a state-level in the United States, could make it more difficult or expensive for us to provide services and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Any failure to abide by these regulations or to protect such personal information or PHI from inappropriate access or disclosure, whether through social engineering or by accident or other cause, could have severe consequences including fines, litigation, regulatory sanctions, reputational damage, and loss of customers or employees. Although we have a privacy compliance program designed to preserve the privacy and rights of the individuals whose personal data we control or process, as well as personal data that we entrust to third parties, there can be no assurance that our program will meet all current and future regulatory requirements, anticipate all potential methods of unauthorized access, or prevent all inappropriate disclosures. Our insurance coverage may not be sufficient to cover all such costs or consequences, and there can be no assurance that any insurance that we now maintain will remain available under acceptable terms.
Cyberattacks, damage or disruption to our technology systems and services, breaches of network or information technology security, or other serious security incidents could have an adverse effect on our systems, services, reputation and financial results.
We rely upon multiple information technology systems and networks, some of which are web-based or managed by third parties or open source, to process, transmit, and store electronic information and to manage or support a variety of critical business processes and activities. Our networks and applications are increasingly accessed from locations and by devices not within our physical control, and the specifics of our technology systems and networks may vary by geographic region. In the course of ordinary business, we may store or process proprietary or confidential information concerning our business and financial performance and current, past or prospective employees, customers, vendors and managed suppliers. The secure and consistent operation of these systems, networks and processes is critical to our business operations. Moreover, our workers may be exposed to, or have access to, similar information in the course of their customer assignments. We routinely experience cyberattacks, which may include the use or attempted use of malware, ransomware, computer viruses, phishing, social engineering schemes and other means of attempted disruption or unauthorized access. Advanced social engineering and impersonation techniques by criminal organizations and nation-state adversaries for the purposes of espionage, data theft, or system disruption have sought to exploit information technology job opportunities at many companies. Although we have not experienced a material attack of this nature, because our services involve providing talent solutions for these roles, we are at increased risk for this advanced type of attack, whether directly or through a supplier in our MSP services.
Additionally, the rapid pace of change in information security and cyber security threats could result in a heightened threat level for us or companies in our industry without notice. The potential risk increases as we expand and publicize new services. In addition to cyberattacks, our systems and services are vulnerable to damage or disruption from technology or software failures, errors by our employees or our vendors, power outages, natural disasters, extreme weather, conflicts, or other unforeseen events, which could disrupt our business operations. Our relationships with third parties, including suppliers we manage, customers, and vendors, create potential avenues for malicious actors to initiate a supply chain attack. Even in instances where we are not a target of a malicious actor, we could be exposed to risk due to our relationships and business processes with these third parties.
The actions we take to reduce the risk of impairments to our operations or systems and breaches of confidential or proprietary data may not be sufficient to prevent or repel future cyber events or other impairments of our networks or information technologies, especially as cyberattacks become more sophisticated with advances in artificial intelligence. An event involving the destruction, modification, accidental or unauthorized release, or theft of sensitive information from systems related to our business, or an attack that results in damage to or unavailability of our key technology systems or those of critical vendors (e.g., ransomware), could result in damage to our reputation, fines, regulatory sanctions or interventions, contractual or financial liabilities, additional compliance and remediation costs, loss of employees or customers, loss of payment card network privileges, operational disruptions and other forms of costs, losses or reimbursements, any of which could materially adversely
affect our operations or financial condition. Our cyber security and business continuity plans, and those of our third parties with whom we do business, may not be effective in anticipating, preventing and effectively responding to all potential cyber risk exposures. Cyberattacks, even if unsuccessful, may damage or disrupt our systems and services or require us to take actions to protect our systems that could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Our insurance coverage may not be sufficient to cover all such costs or consequences, and there can be no assurance that any insurance that we now maintain will remain available under acceptable terms.
Risks Related to Our Capital Structure
Our controlling stockholder exercises voting control over our company and has the ability to elect or remove from office all of our directors.
The Terence E. Adderley Revocable Trust K ("Trust K"), which became irrevocable upon the death of Terence E. Adderley on October 9, 2018, is our controlling stockholder. In accordance with the provisions of Trust K, William U. Parfet, David M. Hempstead and Andrew H. Curoe were appointed as successor trustees of the trust. Mr. Parfet is the brother of Donald R. Parfet, a member of the board of directors of the Company. The trustees, acting by majority vote, have sole investment and voting power over the shares of our Class B common stock held by Trust K, which represent approximately 95.3% of the outstanding Class B shares. The voting rights of our Class B common stock are perpetual, and our Class B common stock is not subject to transfer restrictions or mandatory conversion obligations under our certificate of incorporation or bylaws.
Our Class B common stock is the only class of our common stock entitled to voting rights. The trustees of Trust K are therefore able to exercise voting control with respect to all matters requiring stockholder approval, including the election or removal from office of all members of the Company’s board of directors.
We are not subject to certain of the listing standards that normally apply to companies whose shares are quoted on the Nasdaq Global Market.
Our Class A and Class B common stock are quoted on the Nasdaq Global Market. Under the listing standards of the Nasdaq Global Market, we are deemed to be a “controlled company” due to Trust K having voting power with respect to more than fifty percent of our outstanding voting stock. A controlled company is not required to have a majority of its board of directors comprised of independent directors. Director nominees are not required to be selected or recommended for the board’s selection by a majority of independent directors or a nominations committee comprised solely of independent directors, nor do the Nasdaq Global Market listing standards require a controlled company to certify the adoption of a formal written charter or board resolution, as applicable, addressing the nominations process. A controlled company is also exempt from Nasdaq Global Market’s requirements regarding the determination of officer compensation by a majority of independent directors or a compensation committee comprised solely of independent directors. A controlled company is required to have an audit committee composed of at least three directors who are independent as defined under the rules of both the SEC and the Nasdaq Global Market. The Nasdaq Global Market further requires that all members of the audit committee have the ability to read and understand fundamental financial statements and that at least one member of the audit committee possess financial sophistication. The independent directors must also meet at least twice a year in meetings at which only they are present.
We currently comply with the listing standards of the Nasdaq Global Market that do not apply to controlled companies. Our compliance is voluntary, however, and there can be no assurance that we will continue to comply with these standards in the future.
Provisions in our certificate of incorporation and bylaws and Delaware law may delay or prevent an acquisition of our Company.
Our certificate of incorporation and bylaws contain provisions that could make it harder for a third party to acquire us without the consent of our board of directors. For example, if a potential acquirer were to make a hostile bid for us, the acquirer would not be able to call a special meeting of stockholders to remove our board of directors or act by written consent without a meeting. The acquirer would also be required to provide advance notice of its proposal to replace directors at any annual meeting and would not be able to cumulate votes at a meeting, which would require the acquirer to hold more shares to gain representation on the board of directors than if cumulative voting were permitted.
Our board of directors also has the ability to issue additional shares of common stock which could significantly dilute the ownership of a hostile acquirer. In addition, Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law limits mergers and other business combination transactions involving 15 percent or greater stockholders of Delaware corporations unless certain board
or stockholder approval requirements are satisfied. These provisions and other similar provisions make it more difficult for a third party to acquire us without negotiation.
Our board of directors could choose not to negotiate with an acquirer that it did not believe was in our strategic interests. If an acquirer is discouraged from offering to acquire us or prevented from successfully completing a hostile acquisition by these or other measures, our shareholders could lose the opportunity to sell their shares at a favorable price.
The holders of shares of our Class A common stock are not entitled to voting rights.
Under our certificate of incorporation, the holders of shares of our Class A common stock are not entitled to voting rights, except as otherwise required by Delaware law. As a result, Class A common stockholders do not have the right to vote for the election of directors or in connection with most other matters submitted for the vote of our stockholders, including mergers and certain other business combination transactions involving the Company.
We may not be able to realize value from, or otherwise preserve and utilize, our tax credit and net operating loss carryforwards.
Provisions in U.S. and foreign tax law could limit the use of tax credit and net operating loss carryforwards in the event of an ownership change. In general, an ownership change occurs under U.S. tax law if there is a change in the corporation’s equity ownership that exceeds 50% over a rolling three-year period. If we experience an ownership change, inclusive of our Class A and Class B common stock, our tax credit and net operating loss carryforwards generated prior to the ownership change may be subject to annual limitations that could reduce, eliminate or defer their utilization. Such limitation could materially impact our financial condition and results of operations.
Failure to maintain specified financial covenants in our bank credit facilities, or credit market events beyond our control, could adversely restrict our financial and operating flexibility and subject us to other risks, including risk of loss of access to capital markets.
Our bank credit facilities contain covenants that require us to maintain specified financial ratios and satisfy other financial conditions. During 2024, we met all of the covenant requirements. Our ability to continue to meet these financial covenants, particularly with respect to interest coverage (see Debt footnote in the notes to our consolidated financial statements), cannot be assured. If we default under this or any other of these requirements, the lenders could declare all outstanding borrowings, accrued interest and fees to be due and payable or significantly increase the cost of the facility. Additionally, our credit facilities contain cross-default provisions. In these circumstances, there can be no assurance that we would have sufficient liquidity to repay or refinance this indebtedness at favorable rates or at all. Events beyond our control could result in the failure of one or more of our banks, reducing our access to liquidity and potentially resulting in reduced financial and operating flexibility. If broader credit markets were to experience dislocation, our potential access to other funding sources would be limited.

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ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS.
None.

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ITEM 2. PROPERTIES
ITEM 2. PROPERTIES.
Our headquarters is a leased facility located in Troy, Michigan and is available to our corporate, subsidiary and divisional employees. We also conduct business operations in both the U.S. and international locations in additional leased facilities. Since 2020, the majority of our internal employees have also conducted business remotely as part of our flexible work policy.

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ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS.
The Company is continuously engaged in litigation, threatened ligation, claims, audits or investigations arising in the ordinary course of its business, such as matters alleging employment discrimination, wage and hour violations, claims for indemnification or liability, violations of privacy rights, anti-competition regulations, commercial and contractual disputes, and tax related matters which could result in a material adverse outcome. We record accruals for loss contingencies when we believe it is probable that a liability has been incurred and the amount of loss can be reasonably estimated. Such accruals are recorded in accounts payable and accrued liabilities and in accrued workers’ compensation and other claims in the consolidated balance sheet. The Company maintains insurance coverage which may cover certain claims. When claims exceed the applicable policy deductible and realization of recovery of the claim from existing insurance policies is deemed probable, the Company records receivables from the insurance company for the excess amount, which are included in prepaid expenses and other current assets and other assets in the consolidated balance sheet.
While the outcome of these matters currently pending cannot be predicted with certainty, we believe that the resolution of any such proceedings will not have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.
In January 2018, the Hungarian Competition Authority (the "Authority") initiated proceedings against a local industry trade association and its members, due to alleged infringement of national competition regulations. The Authority announced its decision on December 18, 2020, levying a fine against the trade association with joint and several secondary liability placed on the 20 member companies. The Authority apportioned secondary liability against us as a member company to be approximately $300,000. Certain member companies exercised their right to challenge the decision in Court. On or about October 3, 2023, the Court issued its decision which repealed the Authority's decision and ordered a repeated procedure to determine the amount of the imposed fine as well as the allocation between the parties. Although Kelly's staffing operations in Hungary were sold to Gi Group Holdings S.P.A. ("Gi") in January 2024, we have agreed to indemnify Gi for any liability resulting from this matter. The Company does not believe that resolution of this matter will have a material adverse effect upon the Company’s competitive position, results of operations, cash flows or financial position.

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ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURE
ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES.
Not applicable.
PART II

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ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT'S COMMON EQUITY
ITEM 5. MARKET FOR THE REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES.
Market Information and Dividends
Our Class A and Class B common stock is traded on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbols “KELYA” and “KELYB,” respectively. The high and low selling prices for our Class A common stock and Class B common stock as quoted by the Nasdaq Global Market and the dividends paid on the common stock for each quarterly period in the last two fiscal years are reported in the table below. Our ability to pay dividends is subject to compliance with certain financial covenants contained in our debt facilities, as described in the Debt footnote in the notes to our consolidated financial statements.
Per share amounts (in dollars)
First
Quarter
Second
Quarter
Third
Quarter
Fourth
Quarter
Year
Class A common
High $ 25.27 $ 25.02 $ 23.80 $ 22.44 $ 25.27
Low 19.74 20.84 19.00 12.68 12.68
Class B common
High 25.00 24.53 22.98 21.22 25.00
Low 19.80 21.30 19.70 14.00 14.00
Dividends 0.075 0.075 0.075 0.075 0.30
Class A common
High $ 19.01 $ 19.43 $ 19.29 $ 22.11 $ 22.11
Low 15.23 15.53 16.80 17.40 15.23
Class B common
High 18.62 18.36 18.95 21.65 21.65
Low 15.28 14.86 17.23 18.17 14.86
Dividends 0.075 0.075 0.075 0.075 0.30
Holders
The number of holders of record of our Class A and Class B common stock were approximately 14,300 and 600, respectively, as of January 31, 2025.
Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities
None.
Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
During the fourth quarter of 2024, we reacquired shares of our Class A common stock as follows:
Period Total Number
of Shares
(or Units)
Purchased
Average
Price Paid
per Share
(or Unit)
Total Number
of Shares (or
Units) Purchased
as Part of Publicly
Announced Plans
or Programs
Maximum Number
(or Approximate
Dollar Value) of
Shares (or Units)
That May Yet Be
Purchased Under the
Plans or Programs
(in millions of dollars)
September 30, 2024 through November 3, 2024 8,888 $ 20.32 - $ -
November 4, 2024 through December 1, 2024 323 14.39 - $ -
December 2, 2024 through December 29, 2024 744,544 13.50 742,163 $ 40.0
Total 753,755 $ 13.58 742,163
On November 26, 2024, the Company's board of directors approved a share repurchase program for the Company to repurchase shares covering up to an aggregate of $50.0 million of the Company's Class A common stock. The share repurchase authorization expires on December 2, 2026. We may also reacquire shares outside of the program in connection with shares sold to cover employee tax withholdings due upon the vesting of restricted stock held by employees. Accordingly, 11,592 shares were reacquired in transactions outside the repurchase program during the Company’s fourth quarter.
Performance Graph
The following graph compares the cumulative total return of our Class A common stock with that of the S&P SmallCap 600 Index and the S&P 1500 Human Resources and Employment Services Index for the five years ended December 31, 2024. The graph assumes an investment of $100 on December 31, 2019 and that all dividends were reinvested.
COMPARISON OF FIVE YEAR CUMULATIVE TOTAL RETURN
Assumes Initial Investment of $100
December 31, 2019 - December 31, 2024
2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Kelly Services, Inc. $ 100.00 $ 91.45 $ 74.94 $ 76.65 $ 99.65 $ 65.24
S&P SmallCap 600 Index $ 100.00 $ 111.29 $ 141.13 $ 118.41 $ 137.42 $ 149.37
S&P 1500 Human Resources and Employment Services Index $ 100.00 $ 100.85 $ 152.43 $ 113.87 $ 121.22 $ 143.93

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ITEM 6. SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA
ITEM 6. [RESERVED]

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ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS
ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS.
Executive Overview
While the challenging staffing market dynamics that developed in 2023 continued into 2024, we have remained focused on capturing a greater share of growth where it exists and converting a greater share of our revenue to bottom-line growth by continuing to enhance efficiency and focus across the Company.
We continue to build on the goals of our transformation activities and the aggressive actions we took in 2023 to improve Kelly’s profitability and accelerate growth over the long term. Our business unit and enterprise function teams, together with the Transformation Management Office, continue to make progress on multiple initiatives to drive organizational efficiency and effectiveness.
We are also committed to finding new avenues of growth. This includes a refreshed go-to-market strategy with a comprehensive approach to delivering the full suite of Kelly solutions to our large enterprise customers that is intended to capture a greater share of wallet as we move through 2025. We also remain committed to delivering the highest quality of service to all customers regardless of spend or size. In our P&I segment, for example, we have enhanced our local delivery model and rolled out our Kelly Now mobile application across the U.S. to meet the needs of both our clients and our talent.
We completed the sale of our European staffing operations on January 2, 2024 and on June 12, 2024 announced the sale of the Ayers Group, a division of our OCG segment. We move forward with a streamlined operating model focused on North American staffing and solutions and global Managed Service Provider ("MSP") and recruitment process outsourcing ("RPO") solutions.
To further expand our higher-margin, higher-growth specialties, we acquired Motion Recruitment Partners, LLC ("MRP") on May 31, 2024. The acquisition of MRP enhanced the scale and capabilities of Kelly’s staffing and consulting solutions across technology, telecommunications, and government specialties in North America, and RPO solutions globally. In addition, we remained focused on expanding the higher-margin therapy practice in our Education segment, evidenced by the November 2024 acquisition of Children’s Therapy Center ("CTC").
Together these changes represent structural shifts in Kelly’s operations and deliver meaningful improvement to the Company’s growth prospects and EBITDA margin profile, which we expect to continue as we move forward in 2025 and beyond.
Financial Measures
Reported percentage changes were computed based on actual amounts in thousands of dollars.
EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) and EBITDA margin (EBITDA divided by revenue from services) are measures used for understanding the Company's ability to generate cash flow and for judging overall operating performance. EBITDA measures are non-GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) measures and are used to supplement measures in accordance with GAAP. Our non-GAAP measures may be calculated differently from those provided by other companies, limiting their usefulness for comparison purposes. Non-GAAP measures should not be considered a substitute for, or superior to, measures of financial performance prepared in accordance with GAAP.
Days sales outstanding ("DSO") represents the number of days that sales remain unpaid for the period being reported. DSO is calculated by dividing average net sales per day (based on a rolling three-month period) into trade accounts receivable, net of allowances at the period end. Although secondary supplier revenues are recorded on a net basis (net of secondary supplier expense), secondary supplier revenue is included in the daily sales calculation in order to properly reflect the gross revenue amounts billed to the customer.
NM (not meaningful) in the following tables is used in place of percentage changes where: the change is in excess of 500%, the change involves a comparison between earnings and loss amounts, or the comparison amount is zero.
Results of Operations
Total Company
(Dollars in millions)
2024 2023 % Change
Revenue from services $ 4,331.8 $ 4,835.7 (10.4) %
Gross profit 882.6 961.4 (8.2)
SG&A expenses excluding restructuring, depreciation, and amortization 760.8 856.0 (11.1)
Restructuring charges 6.1 38.6 (84.2)
Total SG&A expenses excluding depreciation and amortization 766.9 894.6 (14.3)
Depreciation and amortization 51.5 40.1 28.2
Total SG&A expenses 818.4 934.7 (12.4)
Goodwill impairment charge 72.8 - NM
Asset impairment charge 13.5 2.4 451.8
Gain on sale of assets (5.4) - NM
Gain on sale of EMEA staffing operations (1.6) - NM
Earnings (loss) from operations (15.1) 24.3 NM
Other income (expense), net (6.8) 0.6 NM
Earnings (loss) before taxes (21.9) 24.9 NM
Income tax benefit (21.3) (11.5) (84.1)
Net earnings (loss) $ (0.6) $ 36.4 NM %
Gross profit rate 20.4 % 19.9 % 0.5 pts.
The total company discussion that follows focuses on 2024 results compared to 2023. For a discussion of total company 2023 results compared to 2022, see "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in Part II, Item 7 of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, filed on February 20, 2024.
In the segment level discussions that follow the total company discussion, the comparative results for 2023 and 2022 have been recast to conform to the new structure in which our Mexico operations were transferred to our Professional & Industrial ("P&I") segment following the sale of our EMEA staffing operations and to reflect our updated corporate allocation method.
2024 vs. 2023
Revenue from services decreased 10.4%, which primarily reflects the January 2, 2024 sale of our EMEA staffing operations, partially offset by an increase related to the acquisition of MRP in May 2024. Excluding the impact from the sale and the acquisition, revenue from services increased 0.5%. This increase reflects revenue increases in the Education and Outsourcing & Consulting ("OCG") segments, partially offset by declines in the P&I and Science, Engineering & Technology ("SET") segments. Compared to 2023 and excluding the impact from the sale and acquisition, revenue from staffing services increased 1.7% and revenue from outcome-based services decreased 3.2%. In addition, revenue from talent solutions increased 3.0% and permanent placement revenue decreased 24.2% from the prior year, excluding the impact from the sale and the acquisition.
Gross profit decreased 8.2% largely driven by the sale of our EMEA staffing operations, partially offset by an increase related to the acquisition of MRP. Excluding the impact from the sale and the acquisition, gross profit decreased 4.7%. The gross profit rate increased 0.5 basis points to 20.4% and was favorably impacted by the sale of our EMEA staffing operations and the acquisition of MRP. Excluding the impact from the sale and the acquisition, the gross profit rate declined 110 basis points. The decrease is due primarily to business mix and a decrease in permanent placement revenue. Permanent placement revenue has higher gross profit due to very low direct costs of services and thus has a disproportionate impact on gross profit rates. The gross profit rate decreased in all segments excluding the sale and the acquisition.
Total selling, general and administrative ("SG&A") expenses decreased 12.4%, including the sale of our EMEA staffing operations and the acquisition of MRP. Excluding these impacts, SG&A expenses decreased 8.6%. Included in SG&A expenses in 2024 and 2023 were $6.1 million and $38.6 million of restructuring and transformation charges, respectively. Actions taken in both periods were a continuation of the actions that were announced in the second quarter of 2023 as part of the comprehensive transformation initiative. In addition, restructuring actions taken in the first quarter of 2023 reflected management undertaking actions to further our cost management efforts in response to the demand levels and reflected a repositioning of our P&I staffing business to better capitalize on opportunities in local markets. SG&A expenses in 2024 also include $17.9 million of transaction-related costs arising from the sale of our EMEA staffing operations and acquisition of MRP, $10.0 million of integration costs related to initiatives to integrate MRP and aligning Company processes and technology, and $2.3 million of executive transition charges. Excluding the impact of the sale and acquisition, as well as transaction, integration, restructuring and executive transition charges-and excluding depreciation and amortization-SG&A expenses decreased 8.5% primarily due to structural workforce reductions as part of our transformation initiatives, as well as proactive resource management and lower variable, performance-based incentive compensation expenses in response to lower revenue volume. Depreciation and amortization represents the total company depreciation and amortization of intangibles, including the amortization of hosted software.
The gain on sale of EMEA staffing operations relates to the completion of the sale in January 2024 in which we recognized a gain of $1.6 million in 2024. The $5.4 million gain on sale of assets in 2024 represents the sale of the Company's Ayers Group in the second quarter of 2024.
Impairment of assets in 2024 represents the impairment of certain right-of-use ("ROU") assets related to our leased headquarters facility. The goodwill impairment charge in 2024 relates to our Softworld reporting unit which delivers technology staffing and workforce services and is included in the SET segment. Changes in internal projections of financial performance due to continued challenging market conditions resulted in a lower estimated fair value for the reporting unit and an impairment charge of $72.8 million. Impairment of assets in 2023 represents the impairment of ROU assets related to an unoccupied office space lease exited in the second quarter.
Loss from operations in 2024 totaled $15.1 million, compared to earnings from operations of $24.3 million in 2023. The decrease is primarily related to the goodwill impairment charge, higher asset impairment charges and the impact of lower revenue compared to the prior year, partially offset by the impact of lower SG&A compared to the prior year, the gain on sale of Ayers Group and the gain on sale of our EMEA staffing operations.
The change in other income (expense), net is primarily the result of an increase in interest expense related to the long-term debt taken on in 2024 in conjunction with the acquisition of MRP.
Income tax benefit was $21.3 million in 2024 compared to an income tax benefit of $11.5 million in 2023. 2024 benefited from lower pretax earnings, which included an $18.5 million tax benefit from the impairment of tax-deductible goodwill. 2023 benefited from recording a $15.0 million benefit on outside basis difference in held for sale assets, offset by a net $4.4 million charge for valuation allowance changes.
Our tax benefit or expense is affected by recurring items, such as the amount of pretax income and its mix by jurisdiction, U.S. work opportunity credits and the change in cash surrender value of non-taxable investments in life insurance policies. It is also affected by discrete items that may occur in any given period but are not consistent from period to period, such as tax law changes or changes in judgment regarding the realizability of deferred tax assets.
The net loss for 2024 was $0.6 million, compared to net earnings of $36.4 million in 2023.
Operating Results By Segment
(Dollars in millions)
2024 2023 2024 vs. 2023
% Change 2022 2023 vs. 2022
% Change
Revenue From Services:
Professional & Industrial $ 1,470.7 $ 1,539.5 (4.5) % $ 1,709.9 (10.0) %
Science, Engineering & Technology 1,422.8 1,190.8 19.5 1,265.4 (5.9)
Education 972.3 841.9 15.5 636.2 32.3
Outsourcing & Consulting 468.3 454.7 3.0 468.0 (2.8)
International - 812.1 (100.0) 887.0 (8.4)
Less: Intersegment revenue (2.3) (3.3) (27.5) (1.1) 182.2
Consolidated Total $ 4,331.8 $ 4,835.7 (10.4) % $ 4,965.4 (2.6) %
2024 vs. 2023
The decrease in P&I revenue from services was due primarily to a 5.6% decline in staffing services resulting from lower hours volume, partially offset by higher bill rates. Revenue from outcome-based services decreased 1.4% due to lower demand for our call-center solutions, partially offset by higher revenue from other specialties.
The increase in SET revenue from services was driven by the acquisition of MRP in May 2024. Excluding the acquisition, revenue from services decreased 4.5%, primarily due to declines in hours volume in our staffing specialties, partially offset by higher bill rates. Excluding the acquisition, revenues from outcome-based services decreased 5.5%.
The increase in Education revenue from services reflects increased demand for our services as compared to a year ago. Increased demand for our services reflects new customer wins and an increased fill rate related to demand of existing customers.
The increase in OCG revenue from services was driven by increased demand in payroll process outsourcing ("PPO"), partially offset by declines in RPO and MSP.
International reflects the sale of our EMEA staffing operations in January 2024 and the transfer of our Mexico operations to our P&I segment. The P&I segment information for 2023 has been recast to conform to the new structure.
2023 vs. 2022
The decrease in P&I revenue from services was due primarily to a 17.5% decline in staffing services resulting from lower hours volume, partially offset by higher bill rates. Revenue from outcome-based services increased 13.6% due to the expansion of existing customers.
The decrease in SET revenue from services was driven by a decline in staffing services resulting from declines in hours volume in our staffing specialties, partially offset by higher bill rates. Revenues from outcome-based services increased 3.7% and permanent placement fees were down 40.2%.
The increase in Education revenue from services includes the impact of the acquisition of PTS in May 2022. Excluding the acquisition, revenue increased 29.8% reflecting an increased fill rate and an increased demand for our services from existing customers and from net new customer wins.
The decrease in OCG revenue from services includes the revenue from the acquisition of RocketPower in March 2022. Excluding the acquisition, revenue decreased 3.4% due primarily to lower RPO and MSP revenue.
The decrease in International revenue from services was primarily the result of the sale of our Russian operations in July 2022 and lower volume in several geographies, partially offset by favorable foreign currency fluctuations.
Operating Results By Segment (continued)
(Dollars in millions)
2024 2023 2024 vs. 2023
Change 2022 2023 vs. 2022
Change
Gross Profit:
Professional & Industrial $ 261.3 $ 277.1 (5.7) % $ 313.1 (11.5) %
Science, Engineering & Technology 335.6 272.0 23.4 297.0 (8.4)
Education 139.8 128.7 8.6 100.3 28.4
Outsourcing & Consulting 145.9 163.5 (10.8) 169.6 (3.7)
International - 120.1 (100.0) 131.8 (8.8)
Consolidated Total $ 882.6 $ 961.4 (8.2) % $ 1,011.8 (5.0) %
Gross Profit Rate:
Professional & Industrial 17.8 % 18.0 % (0.2) pts. 18.3 % (0.3) pts.
Science, Engineering & Technology 23.6 22.8 0.8 23.5 (0.7)
Education 14.4 15.3 (0.9) 15.8 (0.5)
Outsourcing & Consulting 31.2 36.0 (4.8) 36.3 (0.3)
International 0.0 14.8 (14.8) 14.9 (0.1)
Consolidated Total 20.4 % 19.9 % 0.5 pts. 20.4 % (0.5) pts.
2024 vs. 2023
Gross profit for the P&I segment decreased on lower revenue volume. In comparison to the prior year, the gross profit rate decreased 20 basis points primarily due to declines in permanent placement revenue and business mix which were partially offset by lower employee-related costs.
SET gross profit increased resulting from the acquisition of MRP, partially offset by the decrease in revenue volume in other components of the segment. The gross profit rate increased 120 basis points due to the acquisition of MRP which generates higher gross profit rates. This impact was partially offset by a 40 basis point decrease in the gross profit rate in other components of SET reflecting business mix and lower permanent placement fees, partially offset by lower employee-related costs.
Gross profit for the Education segment increased on higher revenue volume. The gross profit rate decreased 90 basis points due primarily to customer mix, lower permanent placement fees and higher employee-related costs.
OCG gross profit decreased with a decrease in the gross profit rate. The gross profit rate decreased 480 basis points primarily due to a change in business mix within this segment as a result of strong growth in PPO. The unfavorable business mix was primarily driven by declines in revenue in RPO and MSP, which generate higher margins and improving PPO revenue which generates lower margins.
International reflects the sale of our EMEA staffing operations in January 2024 and the transfer of our Mexico operations to our P&I segment. The P&I segment information for 2023 has been recast to conform to the new structure.
2023 vs. 2022
Gross profit for the P&I segment decreased on lower revenue volume combined with a decrease in the gross profit rate. In comparison to the prior year, the gross profit rate decreased 30 basis points. This decrease reflects lower permanent placement income and higher employee-related costs, partially offset by favorable business mix.
SET gross profit decreased on lower revenue volume. The gross profit rate decreased 70 basis points due to lower permanent placement revenues, partially offset by favorable business mix.
Gross profit for the Education segment increased on higher revenue volume. The gross profit rate decreased 50 basis points due primarily to lower permanent placement fees and unfavorable customer mix, partially offset by lower employee-related costs.
OCG gross profit decreased on lower revenue volume, combined with a decrease in the gross profit rate. The gross profit rate decreased 30 basis points primarily driven by declines in revenue in RPO and MSP, which generate higher margins.
International gross profit decreased primarily as a result of the sale of our Russian operations in July 2022 and the servicing of certain customer programs by OCG in 2023. Partially offsetting these impacts was improving gross profit primarily driven by higher revenue volume in Portugal and Germany as well as favorable foreign currency fluctuations.
Operating Results By Segment (continued)
(Dollars in millions)
2024 2023 2024 vs. 2023
% Change 2022 2023 vs. 2022
% Change
SG&A Expenses (excluding depreciation and amortization):
Professional & Industrial $ 226.6 $ 260.8 (13.1) % $ 293.5 (11.2) %
Science, Engineering & Technology 245.8 196.9 24.9 218.0 (9.7)
Education 95.9 92.4 3.7 81.5 13.5
Outsourcing & Consulting 140.2 159.3 (11.9) 154.6 3.0
International - 122.0 (100.0) 126.5 (3.4)
Corporate expenses 58.4 63.2 (7.5) 32.3 95.5
Consolidated Total $ 766.9 $ 894.6 (14.3) % $ 906.4 (1.3) %
2024 vs. 2023
The decrease in total SG&A expenses excluding depreciation and amortization in P&I includes the impact of restructuring and transformation charges. Excluding restructuring and transformation charges of $0.3 million in 2024 and $6.7 million in 2023, the decrease is 10.9%. The decrease excluding restructuring and transformation charges is primarily due to lower direct salaries as a result of cost management in response to lower revenue volume compared to the prior year, as well as the impact of transformation-related actions. Other segment expenses declined primarily due to lower shared service costs for IT, finance, human resources and legal support and lower facilities and equipment-related costs.
The increase in total SG&A expenses excluding depreciation and amortization in SET is due to the MRP acquisition. Excluding the impact from the acquisition, expenses decreased 9.8% from the prior year primarily due to lower shared service costs which are included in other segment expenses and lower direct salaries reflecting the response to lower revenue volume compared to the prior year, as well as the impact of transformation-related actions.
The increase in total SG&A expenses excluding depreciation and amortization in Education is primarily due to increased direct salaries and other segment expenses as revenue levels increased and were partially offset by the impact of transformation-related actions.
The decrease in total SG&A expenses excluding depreciation and amortization in OCG is due primarily to lower direct salaries expense partially offset by the impact of restructuring charges in 2023. Direct salaries declined as a result of lower incentive compensation expense, as well as the result of transformation-related actions.
International reflects the sale of our EMEA staffing operations in January 2024 and the transfer of our Mexico operations to our P&I segment. The P&I segment information for 2023 has been recast to conform to the new structure.
The decrease in Corporate expenses includes the impact of transaction, integration and executive transition costs. Excluding these impacts, expenses decreased 12.6%. This decrease primarily reflects lower legal settlement costs and employee compensation costs. Transaction, integration and executive transition costs were $21.5 million and restructuring and transformation charges were $5.1 million in 2024. Restructuring and transformation charges were $19.9 million and transaction costs were $6.9 million in 2023.
2023 vs. 2022
The decrease in total SG&A expenses in P&I includes the impact of restructuring charges. Excluding restructuring charges of $6.7 million, the decrease is 13.4%. The decrease excluding restructuring charges is primarily due to lower direct salaries, which includes performance-based compensation expenses due to transformation-related actions and in response to lower revenue volume.
The decrease in total SG&A expenses in SET is primarily due to lower direct salaries as a result of lower performance-based incentive compensation expenses.
The increase in total SG&A expenses in Education includes the first quarter impact of the acquisition of PTS in May 2022. Excluding the impact of the PTS acquisition, SG&A expenses increased 11.9% from 2022, due primarily to higher direct salaries, which includes performance-based incentive compensation expenses, as headcount has increased as revenues have grown.
The increase in total SG&A expenses in OCG includes the impact of restructuring charges and the first quarter impact of the acquisition of RocketPower in March 2022. Excluding restructuring charges of $3.0 million, the increase was 1.2%. Excluding restructuring charges and the impact of the RocketPower acquisition, SG&A expenses were flat to 2022.
The decrease in total SG&A expenses in International was primarily due to the impact of the sale of our Russian operations in July 2022, partially offset by employee termination costs in 2023 related to the sale of the EMEA staffing operations in the first quarter of 2024 and favorable foreign currency fluctuations.
The increase in Corporate expenses was primarily due to restructuring and transformation charges as well as transaction costs in 2023 related to the sale of the EMEA staffing operations in the first quarter of 2024. Excluding restructuring and transformation charges of $23.0 million and transaction costs of $3.8 million, expenses increased 14.4% year-over-year. The increase excluding these charges is primarily due to higher legal settlement expenses.
Operating Results By Segment (continued)
(Dollars in millions)
2024 2023 2024 vs. 2023
% Change 2022 2023 vs. 2022
% Change
Business Unit Profit (Loss)
Professional & Industrial $ 34.7 $ 16.0 116.1 % $ 19.6 (17.9) %
Science, Engineering & Technology 17.0 75.0 (77.4) 79.0 (5.0)
Education 43.9 36.3 21.3 18.8 93.1
Outsourcing & Consulting 5.7 2.2 152.4 (26.0) NM
International - (1.9) (100.0) 5.3 NM
Business Unit Profit (Loss) 101.3 127.6 (20.7) 96.7 32.0
Corporate (58.4) (63.2) (7.5) (32.3) 95.5
Asset impairment charge (13.5) - NM - NM
Gain on sale of EMEA staffing operations 1.6 - NM - NM
Loss on disposal - - NM (18.7) NM
Gain (loss) on sale of assets 5.4 - NM 6.2 NM
Depreciation and amortization (51.5) (40.1) 28.2 (37.1) 8.1
Consolidated Total Earnings from Operations $ (15.1) $ 24.3 NM % $ 14.8 65.0 %
2024 vs. 2023
P&I reported profit increased versus the prior year due primarily to lower SG&A expenses, partially offset by lower revenue and gross profit.
SET reported profit in 2024 includes a $72.8 million goodwill impairment charge related to Softworld and $12.8 million of business unit profit from the acquisition of MRP. Excluding the goodwill impairment and acquisition impacts, the decrease in profit was essentially flat to prior year.
Education reported profit increased versus the prior year primarily due to higher revenue and gross profit.
OCG reported profit increased compared to a year ago due primarily to lower SG&A expenses and an increase in revenue, partially offset by a decline in gross profit.
International reflects the sale of our EMEA staffing operations in January 2024 and the transfer of our Mexico operations to our P&I segment. The P&I segment information for 2023 has been recast to conform to the new structure.
Corporate expenses decreased year-over-year primarily due to lower transformation-related charges, partially offset by higher transaction-related expenses from the sale of our EMEA staffing operations and integration costs related to the acquisition of MRP.
2023 vs. 2022
P&I reported profit decreased versus the prior year primarily due to lower revenue and gross profit, partially offset by lower SG&A expenses.
SET reported profit decreased versus the prior year primarily due to declines in revenue and gross profit, partially offset by lower SG&A expenses.
Education reported profit increased versus the prior year primarily due to higher revenue and gross profit, partially offset by higher SG&A expenses. 2023 results also include the impact of first quarter profit of $3.4 million from PTS acquired in May 2022.
OCG reported profit in 2023, compared to a loss in 2022. The change was primarily due to the impact of the 2022 $41.0 million charge related to the impairment of goodwill of RocketPower, the impact of a $2.0 million ROU asset impairment charge in the second quarter of 2023, the impact of restructuring charges and the impact of lower revenue and gross profit.
International reported a loss in 2023, compared to profit in 2022. The change was primarily due to the transfer of certain customer programs to Outsourcing & Consulting, the impact of the sale of our Russian operations in 2022 and employee termination costs in 2023 related to the sale of the EMEA staffing operations in the first quarter of 2024.
Corporate expenses increased in 2023 from 2022 primarily due to restructuring and transformation charges of $23.0 million and transaction costs of $3.8 million.
Results of Operations
Financial Condition
Historically, we have financed our operations through cash generated by operating activities and access to credit markets. Our working capital requirements are primarily generated from temporary employee payroll, which is generally paid weekly or monthly, and customer accounts receivable, which is generally outstanding for longer periods. Since receipts from customers lag payroll payments to temporary employees, working capital requirements increase and operating cash flows may decrease substantially in periods of growth. Conversely, when economic activity slows, working capital requirements may substantially decrease and operating cash flows increase. Such increases dissipate over time if the economic downturn continues for an extended period.
As highlighted in the consolidated statements of cash flows, our liquidity and available capital resources are impacted by four key components: cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, operating activities, investing activities and financing activities.
Cash, Cash Equivalents and Restricted Cash
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash totaled $45.6 million at year-end 2024, compared to $167.6 million, including $33.5 million held for sale, at year-end 2023. As further described below, during 2024, we generated $26.9 million of cash from operating activities, used $361.6 million of cash for investing activities and generated $214.8 million of cash from financing activities.
Operating Activities
In 2024, we generated $26.9 million of net cash from operating activities, as compared to generating $76.7 million in 2023 and using $76.3 million in 2022. The decrease from prior year is primarily due to increased working capital requirements. Net cash used for operating activities in 2022 included $86.8 million of cash outflows related to the repayment of U.S. payroll taxes originally deferred in 2020. In addition, in 2022 we paid $48.4 million of income taxes related to the sale of Persol Holdings common stock.
Trade accounts receivable totaled $1.3 billion at year-end 2024 and $1.2 billion at year-end 2023, excluding $200.9 million held for sale. Global DSO was 59 days for 2024 and 2023, which included receivables held for sale in 2023. Accounts payable and accrued liabilities was $613.8 million at year-end 2024, and decreased $32.3 million from year-end 2023 as a result of a decrease in supplier payables related to our MSP business.
Our working capital position (total current assets less total current liabilities), was $539.0 million at year-end 2024 including the impact of our acquisition of MRP of $71.2 million. Our working capital position at year-end 2023 was $606.7 million or $485.3 million excluding amounts held for sale of $121.4 million. Held for sale amounts were disposed of in the sale of our EMEA staffing operations in 2024. Excluding the impact of the sale and the MRP acquisition in 2024, working capital decreased $17.5 million year-over-year. Working capital decreased from 2023 primarily due to lower cash balances. The current ratio (total current assets divided by total current liabilities) was 1.7 at year-end 2024 and 1.6 at year-end 2023.
Investing Activities
In 2024, we used $361.6 million of net cash for investing activities, compared to using $14.1 million in 2023 and generating $167.5 million in 2022. Included in cash used for investing activities in 2024 is $431.9 million of cash used for the acquisition of MRP in June 2024 and CTC in November 2024, net of cash received, $11.1 million of cash used for capital expenditures, partially offset by $77.1 million of proceeds from the sale of the EMEA staffing operations, net of cash disposed.
Included in cash used for investing activities in 2023 is $15.3 million of cash used for capital expenditures, partially offset by $2.0 million for the receipt of the final payment in connection with an investment that was sold in 2021.
Included in cash generated from investing activities in 2022 is $196.9 million of proceeds from the sale of the investment in Persol Holdings, $119.5 million of proceeds from the sale of almost all of the Company's shares in our equity investment in PersolKelly and $10.1 million of proceeds from the sale of land and other real property. This was partially offset by $58.3 million of cash used for the acquisition of RocketPower in March 2022, net of cash received, $84.8 million of cash used for the acquisition of PTS in May 2022, net of cash received, $12.0 million of cash used for capital expenditures, and $6.0 million of cash disposed from the sale of our operations in Russia in July 2022, net of proceeds.
Capital expenditures in 2024, 2023 and 2022 primarily related to the Company's IT infrastructure and technology programs.
Financing Activities
In 2024, we generated $214.8 million of cash for financing activities, as compared to using $59.6 million in 2023 and using $50.6 million in 2022. The cash generated from financing activities is driven by the net borrowings of $239.4 million on the Company's credit facilities in connection with the acquisition of MRP and represents the primary driver of the change in cash from 2023 related to financing activities, in addition to a decrease in the purchase of treasury stock. The change in cash used for financing activities from 2022 to 2023 was primarily related to the year-over-year change in the purchase of treasury stock, representing a repurchase program for the buyback of the Company's common shares. In 2024, the buyback of $10.0 million represents repurchases of the Company's Class A common stock compared to $42.2 million in shares repurchased in 2023 and $7.8 million in 2022. In addition, the $27.2 million buyback of common shares in 2022 represents the buyback of the Company's common shares held by Persol Holdings in February 2022.
Dividends paid per common share were $0.30 in 2024 and 2023 and $0.275 in 2022. Payments of dividends are restricted by the financial covenants contained in our debt facilities. Details of this restriction are contained in the Debt footnote in the notes to our consolidated financial statements.
Debt-to-total capital (total debt reported in the consolidated balance sheet divided by total debt plus stockholders’ equity) is a common ratio to measure the relative capital structure and leverage of the Company. Our ratio of debt-to-total capital was 16.2% at year-end 2024. We had no debt outstanding at year-end 2023.
Liquidity
We expect to meet our ongoing short-term and long-term cash requirements principally through cash generated from operations, available cash and equivalents, securitization of customer receivables and committed unused credit facilities. The credit facilities, which were amended in the second quarter of 2024, now include an accordion feature which allows us to increase our combined borrowing capacity by $250.0 million as discussed in the Debt footnote in the notes to our consolidated financial statements. Additional funding sources could include additional bank facilities or sale of non-core assets. To meet significant cash requirements related to our nonqualified retirement plan, we may utilize proceeds from Company-owned life insurance policies.
We have historically managed our cash and debt closely to optimize our capital structure. As our cash balances build, we tend to pay down debt as appropriate, unless it is needed for organic or inorganic investments that align with our overall growth strategy. Conversely, when working capital needs grow, we tend to use corporate cash and cash available in the global cash pooling arrangement (the "Cash Pool") first, and then access our borrowing facilities. We expect our working capital requirements to increase if demand for our services increases.
We assess and monitor our liquidity and capital resources globally. We use the Cash Pool, intercompany loans, dividends, capital contributions, redemptions and local lines of credit to meet funding needs and allocate our capital resources among our various subsidiaries. We periodically review our foreign subsidiaries’ cash balances and projected cash needs. As part of those reviews, we may identify cash that we feel should be repatriated to optimize the Company’s overall capital structure. As of year-end 2024, these reviews have not resulted in specific plans to repatriate a majority of our international cash balances. Following the sale of our EMEA staffing operations completed in the first quarter of 2024, discussed below, the Company continues to provide MSP, RPO and Functional Service Provider solutions in the EMEA region. Therefore, we expect much of our remaining international cash will be needed to fund working capital growth in our local operations.
On January 2, 2024, the Company completed the sale of its EMEA staffing operations to Gi Group Holdings S.P.A. and received cash proceeds of $110.6 million, or $77.1 million net of cash disposed. The Company expects to receive additional cash proceeds related to the sale to reflect the cash-free, debt-free transaction basis, as well as working capital and other adjustments. The Company will not receive any proceeds from the contingent consideration opportunity associated with the transaction. As of year-end 2024, the Company has recorded a net receivable of $16.4 million. The Company is actively reconciling the receivable in accordance with the purchase agreement and expects it to be settled upon completion of this process. The Company entered into foreign currency forward contracts to manage the foreign currency risk associated with the transaction, which were settled during 2024. See the Acquisitions and Dispositions footnote and the Fair Value Measurements footnote in the notes to our consolidated financial statements for more details.
On May 31, 2024, the Company indirectly acquired 100% of the equity interests in MRP for a purchase price of $425.0 million. Under terms of the agreement, the purchase price was adjusted for estimated cash held by MRP at the closing date and estimated working capital adjustments, resulting in the Company paying cash of $440.0 million, funded with cash on hand and available credit facilities. Per the terms of the agreement, there was an earnout with a maximum potential cash payment of $60.0 million due to the seller in the second quarter of 2025. In the fourth quarter of 2024, the initial fair value of the earnout was written down to zero. See the Acquisitions and Dispositions footnote and the Fair Value Measurements footnote in the notes to our consolidated financial statements for more details.
On November 13, 2024, Kelly Services USA, LLC ("KSU"), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, acquired 100% of the issued and outstanding limited liability company interests of CTC. Under terms of the purchase agreement, the purchase price of $3.3 million was adjusted for cash held by CTC at the closing date and estimated working capital adjustments, resulting in the Company paying cash of $3.1 million. See the Acquisitions and Dispositions footnote in the notes to our consolidated financial statements for more details.
At year-end 2024, we had $110.0 million of available capacity on our $150.0 million revolving credit facility and $4.5 million of available capacity on our $250.0 million securitization facility. The revolving credit facility carried $40.0 million of long-term borrowings on the term benchmark line of credit. The securitization facility carried $199.4 million of long-term borrowings and $46.1 million of standby letters of credit related to workers’ compensation. On July 17, 2024, we entered into interest rate swaps that effectively locked in the variable Secured Overnight Financing Rate ("SOFR") component of our interest rate for a portion of the long-term borrowings on the Securitization Facility. As of year-end 2024, the Company recorded a liability totaling $0.4 million related to the mark-to-market fair value change of the interest rate swaps. See the Fair Value Measurements footnote and the Debt footnote in the notes to our consolidated financial statements for more details.
Together, the revolving credit and securitization facilities provide the Company with committed funding capacity that may be used for general corporate purposes subject to financial covenants and restrictions. We believe our cash flow from operations, the availability of liquidity under our credit facilities, including the accordion feature which allows us to increase our borrowing capacity, and our ability to access capital from financial markets will be sufficient to meet our anticipated cash requirements, while maintaining sufficient liquidity for normal operating purposes. Throughout 2024 and as of the 2024 year end, we met the debt covenants related to our revolving credit facility and securitization facility.
At year-end 2024, we had additional unsecured, uncommitted short-term local credit facilities totaling $3.1 million, under which we had no borrowings. Details of our debt facilities as of the 2024 year end are contained in the Debt footnote in the notes to our consolidated financial statements.
We repurchased $10.0 million of the Company's Class A common stock in fiscal 2024 pursuant to the $50.0 million share repurchase program, which was approved by the Company's board of directors in November 2024. A total of $40.0 million remains available under the share repurchase program as of year-end 2024.
We monitor the credit ratings of our banking partners on a regular basis and have regular discussions with them. Based on our reviews and communications, we believe the risk of one or more of our banks not being able to honor commitments is insignificant. We also review the ratings and holdings of our money market funds and other investment vehicles regularly to ensure high credit quality and access to our invested cash.
Contractual Obligations and Commercial Commitments
In addition to our discussion of liquidity and capital resources, consideration should also be given to the following contractual obligations:
•Long-term debt - The Company maintains a revolving credit facility and securitization facility as discussed above in Liquidity. Further details regarding these facilities, including terms, rates, and conditions, can be found in the Debt footnote in the notes to our consolidated financial statements.
•Leases - The Company has operating leases for headquarters and field offices and various equipment. Our leases generally have remaining lease terms of one year to 10 years. As of December 29, 2024, we have lease payment obligations of $76.1 million, with $15.5 million payable within the next 12 months. See our Leases footnote in the notes to our consolidated financial statements for further information.
•Accrued workers compensation - The Company has a combination of insurance and self-insurance contracts in the U.S. under which it bears the first $1.0 million of risk per accident. As of December 29, 2024, the accrual for workers' compensation claims, net of related receivables, was $44.4 million, with $19.0 million payable within the next 12 months. Management utilizes actuarial methods to estimate the future cash payments for these claims, including an allowance for incurred-but-not-reported claims. Further details can be found in the Summary of Significant Accounting Policies footnote in the notes to our consolidated financial statements.
•Accrued retirement benefits - The Company provides nonqualified retirement plans for officers and certain other employees. As of December 29, 2024, the value of our obligations under these plans are $260.5 million, with $20.8 million payable within the next 12 months. The timing of payments related to the plans vary based on individual elections and specific plan provisions. See the Retirement Benefits footnote in the notes to our consolidated financial statements for further information.
•Purchase obligations - Our purchase obligations represent unconditional commitments relating primarily to technology services and online tools which we expect to utilize generally within the next three fiscal years, in the ordinary course of business. As of December 29, 2024, the value of our non-cancelable unconditional purchase obligations is $72.5 million, with $34.5 million expected to be paid within the next 12 months.
Critical Accounting Estimates
We prepare our consolidated financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States. In this process, it is necessary for us to make certain assumptions and related estimates affecting the amounts reported in the consolidated financial statements and the attached notes. Actual results can differ from assumed and estimated amounts.
Critical accounting estimates are those that we believe require the most difficult, subjective or complex judgments, often as a result of the need to make estimates about the effect of matters that are inherently uncertain. We base our estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying value of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Judgments and uncertainties affecting the application of those estimates may result in materially different amounts being reported under different conditions or using different assumptions. We consider the following estimates to be most critical in understanding the judgments involved in preparing our consolidated financial statements.
Workers’ Compensation
In the U.S., we have a combination of insurance and self-insurance contracts under which we effectively bear the first $1.0 million of risk per single accident. There is no aggregate limitation on our per-accident exposure under these insurance and self-insurance programs. We establish accruals for workers’ compensation utilizing actuarial methods to estimate the undiscounted future cash payments that will be made to satisfy the claims, including an allowance for incurred-but-not-reported claims. We retain an independent consulting actuary to establish ultimate loss forecasts for the current and prior accident years of our insurance and self-insurance programs. The consulting actuary establishes loss development factors and loss rates, based on our historical claims experience as well as industry experience, and applies those factors to current claims information to derive an estimate of our ultimate claims liability. In preparing the estimates, the consulting actuary may consider factors such as the nature, frequency and severity of the claims; reserving practices of our third-party claims administrators; performance of our medical cost management and return to work programs; changes in our territory and business line mix; and current legal, economic and regulatory factors such as industry estimates of medical cost trends. Where appropriate, multiple generally accepted actuarial techniques are applied and tested in the course of preparing the loss forecast. We use the ultimate loss forecasts, as developed by the consulting actuary, to establish total expected program costs for each accident year by adding our estimates of non-loss costs such as claims handling fees and excess insurance premiums. When claims exceed the applicable loss limit or self-insured retention and realization of recovery of the claim from existing insurance policies is deemed probable, we record a receivable from the insurance company for the excess amount.
We evaluate the accrual quarterly and make adjustments as needed. The ultimate cost of these claims may be greater than or less than the established accrual. While we believe that the recorded amounts are reasonable, there can be no assurance that changes to our estimates will not occur due to limitations inherent in the estimation process. In the event we determine that a smaller or larger accrual is appropriate, we would record a credit or a charge to cost of services in the period in which we made such a determination. The accrual for workers’ compensation, net of related receivables which are included in prepaid expenses and other current assets and other assets in the consolidated balance sheet, was $44.4 million and $43.6 million at year-end 2024 and 2023, respectively.
Business Combinations
We account for business combinations using the acquisition method of accounting, in which the purchase price is allocated for assets acquired and liabilities assumed and recorded at the estimated fair values at the date of acquisition. Any excess of the purchase price over the estimated fair values of the net assets acquired is recorded as goodwill. Management is required to make significant assumptions and estimates in determining the fair value of the assets acquired, particularly intangible assets. Purchased intangible assets are primarily comprised of acquired trade names and customer relationships that are recorded at fair value at the date of acquisition. We utilize third-party valuation specialists to assist us in the determination of the fair value of the intangibles. The fair value of trade name intangibles is determined using the relief-from-royalty method, which relies on the use of estimates and assumptions about expected future revenue growth rates, royalty rates and discount rates. The fair value of customer relationship intangibles is determined using the multi-period excess earnings method, which relies on the use of estimates and assumptions about expected future revenue growth rates, customer attrition rates, profit margins and discount rates. Determining the useful lives of intangible assets also requires judgment and are inherently uncertain. There is a measurement period of up to one year in which to finalize the fair value determinations and preliminary fair value estimates may be revised if new information is obtained during this period.
Income Taxes
Income tax expense is based on expected income and statutory tax rates in the various jurisdictions in which we operate. Judgment is required in determining our income tax expense.
Our effective tax rate includes the impact of accruals and changes to accruals that we consider appropriate, as well as related interest and penalties. A number of years may lapse before a particular matter, for which we have or have not established an accrual, is audited and finally resolved. While it is often difficult to predict the final outcome or the timing of resolution of any particular tax matter, we believe that our accruals are appropriate under generally accepted accounting principles. Favorable or unfavorable adjustments of the accrual for any particular issue would be recognized as an increase or decrease to our income tax expense in the period of a change in facts and circumstances. Our current tax accruals are presented in income and other taxes in the consolidated balance sheet and long-term tax accruals are presented in other long-term liabilities in the consolidated balance sheet.
Tax laws require items to be included in the tax return at different times than the items are reflected in the consolidated financial statements. As a result, the income tax expense reflected in our consolidated financial statements is different than the liability reported in our tax return. Some of these differences are permanent, which are not deductible or taxable on our tax return, and some are temporary differences, which give rise to deferred tax assets and liabilities. We establish valuation allowances for our deferred tax assets when the amount of expected future taxable income is not likely to support the use of the deduction or credit. Our net deferred tax asset is recorded using currently enacted tax laws, and may need to be adjusted in the event tax laws change.
The U.S. work opportunity credit is allowed for wages earned by employees in certain targeted groups. The actual amount of creditable wages in a particular period is estimated, since the credit is only available once an employee reaches a minimum employment period and the employee’s inclusion in a targeted group is certified by the applicable state. As these events often occur after the period the wages are earned, judgment is required in determining the amount of work opportunity credits accrued for in each period. We evaluate the accrual regularly throughout the year and make adjustments as needed.
Goodwill
We test goodwill for impairment annually and whenever events or circumstances make it more likely than not that an impairment may have occurred. GAAP requires that goodwill be tested for impairment at a reporting unit level. For segments with a goodwill balance, we determine if our reporting units are the same as our operating and reportable segments based on our organizational structure or one level below our operating segments (the component level).
We may first use a qualitative assessment ("step zero") for the annual impairment test if we have determined that it is more likely than not that the fair value for one or more reporting units is greater than their carrying value. In conducting the qualitative assessment, we assess the totality of relevant events and circumstances that affect the fair value or carrying value of the reporting unit. Such events and circumstances may include macroeconomic conditions, industry and market conditions, cost factors, overall financial performance, entity-specific events and events affecting a reporting unit.
If we elect to forgo the qualitative assessment for a reporting unit, goodwill is tested for impairment by comparing the estimated fair value of a reporting unit to its carrying value ("step one"). If the estimated fair value of a reporting unit exceeds the carrying value of the net assets assigned to a reporting unit, goodwill is not considered impaired and no further testing is required. If the carrying value of the net assets assigned to a reporting unit exceeds the estimated fair value of a reporting unit, goodwill is deemed impaired and is written down to the extent of the difference.
For the step one quantitative test, we determine the fair value of our reporting units using the income approach. Under the income approach, estimated fair value is determined based on estimated future cash flows discounted by an estimated market participant weighted-average cost of capital, which reflects the overall level of inherent risk of the reporting unit being measured. Estimated future cash flows are based on our internal projection model and reflects management’s outlook for the reporting units. Assumptions and estimates about future cash flows and discount rates are complex and often subjective. They can be affected by a variety of factors, including external factors such as industry and economic trends, and internal factors such as changes in our business strategy and our internal forecasts. Our analysis used significant assumptions by reporting unit, including: expected future revenue growth rates, profit margins and discount rates.
The goodwill resulting from the acquisition of Softworld during the second quarter of 2021 was allocated to the SET reportable segment and Softworld was deemed to be a separate reporting unit. The goodwill resulting from the acquisition of PTS during the second quarter of 2022 was allocated to the Education reportable segment and PTS was deemed to be a separate reporting unit. The goodwill resulting from the acquisition of RocketPower during the first quarter of 2022 was allocated to the OCG reportable segment and RocketPower was deemed to be a separate reporting unit, which was fully impaired by year-end 2022.
The goodwill resulting from the acquisition of MRP in the second quarter of 2024 was allocated to the SET reportable segment and was deemed to be a separate reporting unit. The goodwill resulting from the acquisition of CTC in the fourth quarter of 2024 was allocated to the Education reportable segment. See the Acquisitions and Dispositions footnote in the notes to our consolidated financial statements for more information.
We completed our annual impairment test for all reporting units with goodwill in the fourth quarter for the fiscal year ended 2024. For the PTS and Education reporting units, we performed step zero qualitative analyses and have concluded that there are no indications that the fair values of the PTS and Education reporting units are less than their respective carrying values and therefore no further testing was required. For the Softworld and MRP reporting units, our annual goodwill impairment testing included step one quantitative tests. As a result of the quantitative assessment, we determined that the estimated fair value of the MRP reporting unit was more than its carrying value and that the estimated fair value of the Softworld reporting unit no longer exceeded the carrying value. Softworld's 2024 financial performance was lower than internal projections due to continued challenging market conditions. As a result, management’s expectation for near-term financial performance and projected long-term growth rates were revised accordingly. These changes in circumstances were also indicators that the respective long-lived assets may not be recoverable. Softworld has definite-lived intangible assets, consisting of trade names, customer relationships and non-compete agreements, which are amortized over their estimated useful lives. We performed a long-lived asset recoverability test for Softworld and determined that undiscounted future cash flows exceeded the carrying amount of the asset group and were recoverable. Based on the result of our annual goodwill impairment test, we recorded an impairment charge of $72.8 million, which was included in goodwill impairment charge in the consolidated statements of earnings for the year ended 2024, to write-off a portion of Softworld's goodwill balance. Included in the impairment charge was an $18.4 million tax benefit associated with the impairment. The remaining goodwill balance for the Softworld reporting unit was $38.5 million as of year-end 2024.
Our quantitative analyses used significant assumptions, including: expected future revenue growth rates, profit margins and discount rate. Although we believe the assumptions and estimates we have made are reasonable and appropriate, different assumptions and estimates could materially impact our reported financial results. Different assumptions of the anticipated future results and growth from our business could result in an impairment charge, which would decrease operating income and result in lower asset values on our consolidated balance sheet. As a measure of sensitivity of the fair value for the MRP reporting unit, while holding all other assumptions constant, an increase in the discount rate of 75 basis points or a decrease of 75 basis points in the revenue growth rate assumptions for each forecasted period used to determine the fair value of the reporting unit would not result in an impairment of goodwill. The estimated fair value of the MRP reporting unit exceeds the carrying value by less than 10%. If current expectations of future revenue and profit margins are not met, or if market factors outside of our control change significantly, including discount rate, then the goodwill of the MRP reporting unit may be impaired in the future, resulting in goodwill impairment charges.
As a measure of sensitivity for the fair value for Softworld reporting unit, while holding all other assumptions constant, an increase in the discount rate of 75 basis points or a decrease of 75 basis points in the revenue growth rate assumptions for each forecasted period used to determine the fair value of the reporting unit would result in additional goodwill impairment of approximately $9.9 million and $8.8 million, respectively. If current expectations of future revenue and profit margins are not met, or if market factors outside of our control change significantly, including discount rate, then the goodwill of the Softworld reporting unit may be further impaired in the future, resulting in additional goodwill impairment charges.
We completed our annual impairment test for all reporting units with goodwill in the fourth quarter for the fiscal year ended 2023. We performed a step one quantitative test for the Softworld and PTS reporting units. As a result of the quantitative assessment, we determined that the estimated fair value of the Softworld and PTS reporting units was more than its carrying value. Additionally, we performed a step zero qualitative analysis for the Education reporting unit to determine whether a further quantitative analysis was necessary and concluded that a step one quantitative analysis was not necessary. As a result of the quantitative and qualitative assessments, the Company determined goodwill was not impaired as of year-end 2023.
We completed our annual impairment test for all reporting units with goodwill in the fourth quarter for the fiscal year ended 2022. We performed a step one quantitative test for the Softworld and PTS reporting units. As a result of the quantitative assessment, we determined that the estimated fair value of the Softworld and PTS reporting units was more than its carrying value. Additionally, we performed a step zero qualitative analysis for the Education and RocketPower reporting units to determine whether a further quantitative analysis was necessary and concluded that a step one quantitative analysis was not necessary at that time. As a result of the quantitative and qualitative assessments, the Company determined goodwill related to these reporting units was not impaired at that time.
During the second half of 2022, customers within the high-tech industry vertical, in which RocketPower specializes, reduced or eliminated their full-time hiring, reducing demand for RocketPower’s services, and on-going economic uncertainty had more broadly impacted the growth in demand for RPO in the near-term. These changes in market conditions therefore caused triggering events requiring interim impairment tests for both long-lived assets and goodwill as of the third and fourth quarters of 2022. We performed a long-lived asset recoverability tests for RocketPower and determined that undiscounted future cash flows exceeded the carrying amount of the asset group and were recoverable. We performed interim step one quantitative tests for RocketPower’s goodwill and determined that the estimated fair value of the reporting unit no longer exceeded the carrying value. Based on the result of our interim goodwill impairment tests, we recorded a total goodwill impairment charge of $41.0 million as of year-end 2022 to write-off all of RocketPower's goodwill balance.
At year-end 2024 and 2023, total goodwill amounted to $304.2 million and $151.1 million, respectively. See the Goodwill and Intangible Assets footnote in the notes to our consolidated financial statements for more information.
Litigation
Kelly is subject to legal proceedings, investigations and claims arising out of the normal course of business. Kelly routinely assesses the likelihood of any adverse judgments or outcomes to these matters, as well as ranges of probable losses. A determination of the amount of the accruals required, if any, for these contingencies is made after analysis of each known issue. Development of the analysis includes consideration of many factors including: potential exposure, the status of proceedings, negotiations, discussions with our outside counsel and results of similar litigation. The required accruals may change in the future due to new developments in each matter. For further discussion, see the Contingencies footnote in the notes to our consolidated financial statements. At year-end 2024 and 2023, the gross accrual for litigation costs amounted to $1.5 million and $6.4 million, of which $1.5 million was held for sale, respectively, which is included in accounts payable and accrued liabilities and in accrued workers’ compensation and other claims in the consolidated balance sheet. See the Acquisitions and Dispositions footnote in the notes to our consolidated financial statements for more information.
NEW ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCEMENTS
See New Accounting Pronouncements footnote in the notes to our consolidated financial statements presented in Part II, Item 8 of this report for a description of new accounting pronouncements.
CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Certain statements contained in this report and in our investor conference call related to these results are “forward-looking” statements within the meaning of the applicable securities laws and regulations. Forward-looking statements include statements which are predictive in nature, which depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, or which include words such as “expects,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “estimates,” or variations or negatives thereof or by similar or comparable words or phrases. In addition, any statements concerning future financial performance (including future revenues, earnings or growth rates), ongoing business strategies or prospects, and possible future actions by us that may be provided by management, including oral statements or other written materials released to the public, are also forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and projections about future events and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions about our Company and economic and market factors in the countries in which we do business, among other things. These statements are not guarantees of future performance, and we have no specific intention to update these statements.
Actual events and results may differ materially from those expressed or forecasted in forward-looking statements due to a number of factors. The principal important risk factors that could cause our actual performance and future events and actions to differ materially from such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, (i) changing market and economic conditions, (ii) disruption in the labor market and weakened demand for human capital resulting from technological advances, loss of large corporate customers and government contractor requirements, (iii) the impact of laws and regulations (including federal, state and international tax laws), (iv) unexpected changes in claim trends on workers’ compensation, unemployment, disability and medical benefit plans, (v) litigation and other legal liabilities (including tax liabilities) in excess of our estimates, (vi) our ability to achieve our business's anticipated growth strategies, (vii) our future business development, results of operations and financial condition, (viii) damage to our brands, (ix) dependency on third parties for the execution of critical functions, (x) conducting business in foreign countries, including foreign currency fluctuations, (xi) availability of temporary workers with appropriate skills required by customers, (xii) cyberattacks or other breaches of network or information technology security, and (xiii) other risks, uncertainties and factors discussed in this report and in our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Actual results may differ materially from any forward-looking statements contained herein, and we undertake no duty to update any forward-looking statement to conform the statement to actual results or changes in the Company’s expectations. Certain risk factors are discussed more fully under “Risk Factors” in Part I, Item 1A of this report.

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ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK
ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK.
In the normal course of business, we are exposed to foreign currency exchange rate and interest rate risks that could impact our financial position and results of operations.
Foreign Currency
We are exposed to foreign currency risk primarily related to our foreign subsidiaries. Exchange rates impact the U.S. dollar value of our reported earnings, our investments in and held by subsidiaries, local currency denominated borrowings and intercompany transactions with and between subsidiaries. Our foreign subsidiaries primarily derive revenues and incur expenses within a single country and currency which, as a result, provide a natural hedge against currency risks in connection with normal business operations. Accordingly, changes in foreign currency rates vs. the U.S. dollar and euro generally do not impact local cash flows. Intercompany transactions which create foreign currency risk include services, royalties, loans, contributions and distributions.
On November 2, 2023, the Company entered into a foreign currency forward contract with a notional amount of €90.0 million to manage the foreign currency risk associated with the sale of our EMEA staffing operations, which was completed on January 2, 2024. This contract was not designated as a hedging instrument; therefore, it was marked-to-market and the changes in fair value were recognized in earnings. An unrealized loss of $3.6 million associated with the forward contract was recorded as of year-end 2023. A total loss of $2.4 million was realized upon settlement on January 5, 2024; therefore, the Company recorded a gain of $1.2 million in the first quarter of 2024 (see Fair Value Measurements footnote in the notes to our consolidated financial statements for more details).
On February 8, 2024, the Company entered into a foreign currency forward contract with a notional amount of €17.0 million to manage the foreign currency risk associated with the expected additional proceeds related to the sale of our EMEA staffing operations (see Acquisitions and Dispositions footnote in the notes to our consolidated financial statements). The expected proceeds are recorded as a euro-denominated receivable which is remeasured each period. The forward contract was designated as a fair value hedge, with the mark-to-market changes of the forward contract offsetting the mark-to-market changes of the receivable in the gain on sale of EMEA staffing operations in the consolidated statement of earnings. In the fourth quarter of
2024, the Company settled the contract with a $0.4 million cash payment and recognized a corresponding loss of $0.4 million on the contract. As of year-end 2024, there is no asset or liability related to the forward contract (see Fair Value Measurements footnote in the notes to our consolidated financial statements for more details).
Interest Rates
We are exposed to interest rate risks through our use of our credit facilities and other local borrowings, when applicable. Following our acquisition of MRP, the Company has long-term borrowings on our credit facilities. On July 17, 2024, we entered into a $50.0 million 12-month interest rate swap and a $50.0 million 18-month interest rate swap that effectively locked in the variable SOFR component of our interest rate for a portion of the long-term borrowings on the Securitization Facility at a fixed rate of 4.772% and 4.468% from the effective date through July 17, 2025 and January 17, 2026, respectively. A hypothetical fluctuation of 10% of market interest rates would not have had a material impact on 2024 earnings.
We are exposed to market risk as a result of our obligation to pay benefits under our nonqualified deferred compensation plan and our related investments in Company-owned variable universal life insurance policies. The obligation to employees increases and decreases based on movements in the equity and debt markets. The investments in mutual funds, as part of the Company-owned variable universal life insurance policies, are designed to mitigate, but not eliminate, this risk with offsetting gains and losses.

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ITEM 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA
ITEM 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA.
The financial statements and supplementary data required by this Item are set forth in the accompanying index on page 47 of this filing and are presented in pages 48-99.

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ITEM 9. CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS
ITEM 9. CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS ON ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE.
None.

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ITEM 9A. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES
ITEM 9A. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES.
Conclusion Regarding the Effectiveness of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
Based on their evaluation as of the end of the period covered by this report, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer have concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934) are effective at a reasonable assurance level.
Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
Management’s report on internal control over financial reporting is presented preceding the consolidated financial statements on page 48 of this report.
Attestation Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, independent registered public accounting firm, has audited the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 29, 2024, as stated in their report which appears herein.
Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
There were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting that occurred during our fourth fiscal quarter that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

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ITEM 9B. OTHER INFORMATION
ITEM 9B. OTHER INFORMATION.
Securities Trading Plans of Directors and Executive Officers
During the fourth quarter ended December 29, 2024, none of the Company's directors or executive officers adopted, modified or terminated any contract, instruction or written plan for the purchase or sale of Company securities that was intended to satisfy the affirmative defense conditions of Rule 10b5-1(c) or any "non-Rule 10b5-1 trading arrangement."

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ITEM 10. DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
ITEM 10. DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE.
Insider Trading Policy
The Company has an insider trading policy governing the purchase, sale and other dispositions of the Company’s securities that applies to all Company personnel, including directors, officers, employees, and other covered persons. The Company also follows procedures for the repurchase of its securities. The Company believes that its insider trading policy and repurchase procedures are reasonably designed to promote compliance with insider trading laws, rules and regulations, and listing standards applicable to the Company. A copy of the Company’s insider trading policy is filed as Exhibit 19 to this Form 10-K.
Code of Business Conduct and Ethics
We have adopted a Code of Business Conduct and Ethics that applies to our directors, officers and employees, including our principal executive officer, principal financial officer and principal accounting officer or controller or persons performing similar functions. The Code of Business Conduct and Ethics is included as Exhibit 14 to this Form 10-K. We have posted our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics on our website at www.kellyservices.com. We intend to post any changes in or waivers from our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics applicable to any of these officers on our website.
The remaining information required by this Item will be included in the Company's definitive proxy statement to be filed with the SEC within 120 days after December 29, 2024, in connection with the solicitation of proxies for the Company's 2025 Annual Meeting of Stockholders (the "2025 Proxy Statement"), and is incorporated herein by reference.

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ITEM 11. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
ITEM 11. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION.
The information required by this Item will be included in the 2025 Proxy Statement, and is incorporated herein by reference.

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ITEM 12. SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS
ITEM 12. SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT AND RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS.
The information required by this Item will be included in the 2025 Proxy Statement, and is incorporated herein by reference.

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ITEM 13. CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS
ITEM 13. CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS, AND DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE.
The information required by this Item will be included in the 2025 Proxy Statement, and is incorporated herein by reference.

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ITEM 14. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTING FEES AND SERVICES
ITEM 14. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTANT FEES AND SERVICES.
The information required by this Item will be included in the 2025 Proxy Statement, and is incorporated herein by reference.
PART IV

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ITEM 15. EXHIBITS, FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES
ITEM 15. EXHIBITS, FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES.
(a)The following documents are filed as part of this report:
(i)Financial statements:
Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm (PCAOB ID 238)
Consolidated Statements of Earnings for the three fiscal years ended December 29, 2024
Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income for the three fiscal years ended December 29, 2024
Consolidated Balance Sheets at December 29, 2024 and December 31, 2023
Consolidated Statements of Stockholders’ Equity for the three fiscal years ended December 29, 2024
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the three fiscal years ended December 29, 2024
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
(ii)Financial Statement Schedule -
For the three fiscal years ended December 29, 2024:
Schedule II - Valuation Reserves
All other schedules are omitted because they are not applicable or the required information is shown in the financial statements or notes thereto.
(iii)The Exhibits are listed in the Index to Exhibits included beginning at page 100, which is incorporated herein by reference.
(b)The Index to Exhibits and required Exhibits are included following the Financial Statement Schedule beginning at page 100 of this filing.
(c)None.