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Robert Half is a staffing company that finds and places workers—especially accountants, finance experts, and tech professionals—into temporary and permanent jobs at other businesses.
Robert Half makes its money by matching people to jobs. Companies pay it to find workers—often accountants, finance specialists, and tech professionals—for temporary assignments, contract projects, and full-time roles. It also earns fees when it places a permanent hire. Think of it as a giant matchmaking service for white-collar work: a client says "I need three senior accountants for tax season," and Robert Half finds them, handles the paperwork, and often employs the workers directly while they're on assignment. That last part matters, because when Robert Half employs the temp, it pays their wages and bills the client a markup—that spread is the core of the business.
The company splits into a few main pieces. Its largest business is contract staffing, where workers are placed on temporary or project-based assignments and Robert Half handles payroll and benefits. This is roughly the bulk of revenue and is very sensitive to how confident businesses feel about hiring. The second piece is permanent placement, where it earns a one-time fee for finding a full-time hire—higher margin, but it dries up fast when companies get nervous. There's also Protiviti, a consulting arm that handles risk, compliance, and internal audit work for bigger companies, which tends to be steadier and more project-driven. Because most revenue comes from clients paying by the hour, the business lives and dies by white-collar hiring demand.
The story behind it is simple: Robert Half started in 1948 focused on accounting and finance staffing, and it grew into one of the world's biggest specialized staffing firms. Its edge is niche expertise and long relationships—clients trust it to know finance and tech talent, not just bodies. These days the big question is the hiring cycle: when interest rates rise and companies tighten budgets, temporary and permanent placements both slow, which hits revenue and profit. Robert Half uses its cash to invest in its talent cloud and digital tools, pay dividends, and buy back shares—so when hiring eventually rebounds, it's positioned to capture that demand.
Saved answer · last researched 12 Oct 2026