Kelly Services (KELYA) 2026 Baird Global Consumer, Technology & Services Conference summary

Strategic transformation and leadership changes

• New CEO and CFO joined recently, with a refreshed board of seven new members, expanding to 11, and a new controlling shareholder focused on value creation.

• Leadership team strengthened with new Chief Growth Officer and SET segment leader, emphasizing client-centric growth and operational transformation.

• Board and new owners are aligned on shareholder value creation, bringing more sophisticated governance and engagement.

Portfolio evolution and business segments

• Shifted from five to three core segments: ETM (largest, includes industrial, RPO, MSP, BPO), SET (science, engineering, technology, telecom), and Education (K-12 focus, therapy, executive search).

• Divested low-margin international business and non-core assets, raising $500M+ for reinvestment and acquisitions, including Motion Recruitment Partners.

• Education segment grew from 6% to nearly 25% of portfolio, mainly through organic growth and therapy business acquisition.

Financial performance and margin improvement

• Revenue shifted from $4.5B (2020) to $4.3B (2025) with higher margin focus; gross profit and EBITDA margin improved despite slightly lower revenue.

• EBITDA margin more than doubled from historical 1.5-2% to 3.3% in 2025, driven by portfolio remix and SG&A reduction.

• Organic growth achieved in 2024 despite market decline; temporary setback in 2025/2026 due to macro and customer-specific issues, with expectations for recovery in the second half of the year.