Kelly Services (KELYA) 16th Annual Midwest Ideas Conference summary

Company overview and transformation

• Nearly 80 years in business, with $4.3 billion in revenue and a 3.3% adjusted EBITDA margin last year.

• Operates in three main segments: enterprise talent management (ETM), science/engineering/technology (SET), and education.

• Underwent significant portfolio rationalization, divesting over $1 billion in revenue and reinvesting proceeds into higher-margin areas and acquisitions.

• Largest acquisition was Motion Recruitment Partners, a $500 million IT staffing provider, completed last summer.

• Consolidated segments and realigned go-to-market models to focus on large enterprise and specialty offerings.

Market position and segment performance

• Holds the number two position in U.S. temporary staffing and is a dominant provider in K-12 education staffing with 46% market share.

• Education segment has grown from a few hundred million to a $1 billion run rate since 2020, mainly through organic growth.

• SET segment focuses on higher-margin verticals like IT, engineering, life sciences, telecom, and government.

• Blended gross margin is about 20.5%, with margin expansion opportunities across all segments.

• Most education contracts are annually renewable, with minimal risk and a cost-plus model.

Financial strategy and capital allocation

• Deployed significant capital toward acquisitions, funded by divestitures and $240 million in debt, now reduced to $74 million.

• Maintains a $0.30/share dividend and has executed share buybacks totaling $60 million, with $40 million remaining authorized.

• Asset-light model with annual CapEx of $15–$20 million, mainly for IT and branch infrastructure.

• Focused on integrating acquired IT assets onto a unified technology stack to drive efficiency and scale.