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Robert Half achieves 45% gross margin, readies for 'deflating bubble'

Robert Half has grown its gross margin to 45% despite operating a large contractor book; meanwhile its technology business has now surpassed its finance and accounting roots, says APAC boss David Jones.

Reflecting on the company's calendar 2021 results recently filed with ASIC, Jones says both perm and contracting grew very quickly during the period, but the former grew faster, "similar to lots of other recruitment companies out there".

"What makes us very different from most others is the fact that we're a 45% gross margin business, and we achieved that off a predominant contracting book," he tells Shortlist.

In contrast, competitors have gross margins "significantly beneath that, around the 20% and below, and have a much higher proportion of their business being perm than ours", Jones says.

Only 15% of Robert Half's business is perm, he adds, "so achieving a 45% gross margin on that basis is a little different from industry norms"...