Robert Half

As the pioneer and leader in temporary and permanent professional staffing for nearly 50 years, we have remained committed to providing service beyond the expectations of our clients and job candidates, and to becoming a strategic staffing partner to our customers. More than 150 Robert Half and Accountemps franchises are operating independently in the United States. Robert Half and Accountemps offices merge to cut costs; company acquires The Affiliates, renaming it Robert Half Legal. Continuing strong economy taxes RHI's ability to place job candidates; stock price drops by half; company is revamped to meet changing market conditions. Robert Half International Inc. (RHI) is a leading provider of temporary, full-time, and contract employees, and is the oldest and largest specialist company placing accounting, finance, and information technology professionals. RHI operates seven divisions and one subsidiary. Accountemps places accountants and other financial professionals in temporary positions; Robert Half Finance & Accounting provides permanent, full-time personnel in the fields of accounting, banking, and finance; Robert Half Technology supplies contract information technology professionals; OfficeTeam specializes in high-end temporary administrative personnel; Robert Half Legal supplies attorneys, paralegals, and legal support personnel for temporary, project, and full-time positions; Robert Half Management Resources provides accounting, banking, and finance professionals on a project basis; and The Creative Group provides creative, advertising, marketing, and Web design professionals on a freelance basis. The subsidiary Protiviti specializes in independent internal audit and business and technology risk consulting. At the end of 2004, RHI had more than 330 offices in 43 states, the District of Columbia, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, and the United Kingdom. Revenues for 2004 totaled $2 billion. Robert Half was a pioneer in the employment services industry, founding Robert Half Inc. in 1948 as an employment agency for accountants. He eventually created Accountemps to supply accountants and other financial professionals to firms needing those skills on a temporary basis, while continuing to place permanent employees through his Robert Half offices. Following the success of his business in California, Half began franchising the concept around the country. The temporary personnel industry grew slowly during the 1960s and 1970s, then began to expand rapidly during the 1980s. By 1985, there were 150 independent Robert Half and Accountemps franchises. The second half of the decade saw major changes in the company. In 1985 Harold M. "Max" Messmer, Jr., assumed the presidency of Robert Half Inc. In July 1986, Boothe Financial Corporation acquired all the outstanding stock of the company and Messmer almost immediately began a program to buy all the franchises in the Robert Half system. In 1987, after being divested by Boothe, Robert Half International Inc. went public, and Messmer became chief executive officer as well as president. The following year, he became chairman of the board. During 1989, the company began opening new offices, and Gibbons, Breen, Van Amerongen, L.P., a merchant banking concern, bought 3.1 million shares of the company's stock, approximately 27 percent of the outstanding common shares. As the decade ended, RHI had revenues of $234.5 million, a 29 percent increase from 1988. The temporary staffing industry experienced double-digit expansion during the 1980s, and many people believed temporary employment firms would survive any national recession. As a result of rapid consolidation, the number of larger, national firms increased, and competition for contracts was intense. This led to a price war which began in the general clerical segment of the industry but soon spread to the specialized areas such as accounting. In