Mission Statement, Vision, & Core Values of Kelly Services, Inc. (KELYA)

When a company like Kelly Services, Inc. (KELYA) reports a Q3 2025 operating loss of over $102.1 million-largely due to a goodwill impairment-it forces you to ask: are their foundational principles still guiding the ship, or are they just wall art? Their mission is to connect people to work in ways that enrich their lives, but how does that powerful purpose translate into action when their Q3 revenue dropped to $935.0 million, a nearly 10% year-over-year decline? We need to look past the numbers and defintely see how their Vision and Core Values are shaping their strategy to navigate this challenging talent market, so let's dive into what truly drives the company.

Kelly Services, Inc. (KELYA) Overview

You're looking for a clear picture of Kelly Services, Inc. (KELYA), and the direct takeaway is this: the company is successfully navigating a choppy economic environment by focusing on specialized talent and strategic acquisitions, even as organic revenue growth faces near-term pressure. Kelly Services is a global workforce solutions provider that, quite literally, invented the staffing industry back in 1946.

Today, the company is much more than just temporary help. Its core services span the entire talent lifecycle, from placing temporary staff and direct-hire placements to providing complex outsourcing and consulting solutions like Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO). This broad suite of services helps connect over 400,000 people with work every year, making it a critical player in the US and global job markets. To learn more about how they got here, you can check out Kelly Services, Inc. (KELYA): History, Ownership, Mission, How It Works & Makes Money.

The company's scale is substantial. For the trailing twelve months (TTM) ended September 28, 2025, Kelly Services reported total revenue of approximately $4.39 Billion. That's a big number, but it hides the mixed performance underneath, which is what we need to unpack to understand the risk and opportunity.

2025 Financial Performance: Acquisition-Driven Growth

The latest financial reports for 2025 show a company in transition, using strategic M&A (mergers and acquisitions) to drive top-line growth while managing organic declines. In the first quarter of 2025, Kelly Services reported revenue of $1.16 billion, an increase of 11.5% year-over-year. Here's the quick math: almost all that growth came from the May 2024 acquisition of Motion Recruitment Partners (MRP), as organic revenue growth was only 0.2%. That's a classic example of buying growth in a soft market.

The second quarter of 2025 followed a similar script, with revenue at $1.1 billion, up 4.2% year-over-year. But, honestly, organic revenue declined by 3.3%, including a negative impact from reduced demand for US federal government contract workers. Still, the company is finding pockets of strength:

• The Science, Engineering & Technology (SET) segment saw the strongest reported growth, up 19.4% in Q2 2025, largely due to the MRP acquisition.
• The Education segment has been a consistent outperformer, showing continued strength in K-12 staffing.
• The company's gross profit rate actually improved to 20.5% in Q2 2025, a 30 basis point improvement, which tells you management is focused on margin control.

Looking ahead, management expects Q3 2025 revenue to decline between 5.0% and 7.0% year-over-year, largely due to reduced demand from certain large customers and federal contractors. But they are anticipating adjusted EBITDA margin expansion in Q3 and Q4, which means they are cutting costs and shifting to higher-margin services. They're defintely playing the long game here.

A Leader in Specialty Talent Solutions

Despite the recent organic revenue challenges, Kelly Services maintains a leading position by specializing in high-demand, niche talent areas. They are recognized not just for volume but for quality and innovation in their service delivery. For instance, the Everest Group named Kelly a leader and star performer in Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) in its latest industry rankings, which is a big deal in the talent solutions world.

The company is also a pioneer in adapting to modern work trends. For the 12th consecutive year, Kelly Services was named a Top Company for Remote Jobs in 2025 by FlexJobs. This consistent recognition shows they have the infrastructure and expertise to support the flexible workforce that businesses increasingly rely on. Kelly Services is a specialty talent solutions provider, not a generalist, and that focus is key to their success. To understand the strategic pillars that support this leadership, you need to dig into the company's core principles and future strategy.

Kelly Services, Inc. (KELYA) Mission Statement

You're looking for the bedrock of a company's strategy, and for Kelly Services, Inc. (KELYA), that's their mission statement. It's not just a feel-good phrase; it's the operating principle that guides their annual revenue of about $4.49 Billion USD as of late 2025 (TTM-Trailing Twelve Months). The mission is simple and powerful: Kelly connects people to work in ways that enrich their lives.

This statement is critical because it forces the company to look beyond mere transaction-filling a job-and focus on the long-term value for both the client company and the individual talent. This dual focus is what helps Kelly Services navigate a volatile labor market, maintaining a gross profit rate of 20.5% in Q2 2025, which was an improvement of 30 basis points year-over-year. That's the kind of precision you need in a specialty talent solutions provider.

Core Component 1: Connecting People to Work

The first component is the most direct: providing the connection. For Kelly Services, this means operating as the essential bridge between companies needing specialized skills and individuals seeking meaningful employment. It's about being an efficient marketplace, but with an emphasis on quality over sheer volume.

We see this commitment in their business segmentation. For example, their Education segment is a key growth area, showing organic revenue growth of 6.3% in Q1 2025. This isn't just a staffing play; it's a strategic focus on a resilient, high-demand sector like K-12 staffing. The firm is defintely prioritizing areas where the connection is both stable and high-impact.

• Bridge talent gaps quickly.
• Focus on specialty sectors like Education.
• Drive efficiency with technology.

The goal is to match talent to opportunity, not just a paycheck.

Core Component 2: Enriching Their Lives

This is where the mission statement gets its empathetic, human-centric edge. Enriching lives is the core purpose, meaning Kelly Services is committed to improving the career trajectory and overall well-being of the people they place. It's the difference between a temporary gig and a career step.

For investors, this focus on 'enrichment' translates into lower turnover and higher quality placements, which ultimately drives better financial results. The company's vision to be the world's best workforce solutions company depends on this long-term view of talent. You can see how this philosophy is tied to their strong cash management, with year-to-date free cash flow improving to $87.2 million as of Q3 2025, showing they can invest in their people and still manage capital effectively. Honest to goodness, a stable workforce is a valuable asset.

This component also aligns with their core values of respect and integrity, ensuring every customer, employee, and supplier is treated fairly. It's a crucial factor for attracting top-tier talent in a competitive market. For a deeper look at the stakeholders, you should check out Exploring Kelly Services, Inc. (KELYA) Investor Profile: Who's Buying and Why?

Core Component 3: Adapting to Evolving Needs

The third, unspoken but absolutely crucial, component of their mission is agility-the ability to adapt. The staffing market is dynamic, and Kelly Services has to constantly pivot its solutions. We saw this reality play out in their Q3 2025 results, where revenue declined to $935.0 million year-over-year, largely due to reduced demand from U.S. federal contractors and certain large private customers. That's a near-term risk.

But, their commitment to innovation and improvement, which are stated core values, is their clear action plan. They are actively shifting toward higher-margin outcome-based solutions, especially in sectors like semiconductors and renewables. This is a strategic move to offset the organic revenue decline of 3.3% seen in Q2 2025. They're not waiting for the market to fix itself; they're changing their product mix to meet the new demand curve. That's a realist's move.

Here's the quick math: when one area like federal contracting slows, you need growth in other specialties. The focus on Science, Engineering & Technology (SET) and Enterprise Talent Management (ETM) is a direct response to this need for adaptation, ensuring the company remains relevant and profitable in the long run.

Kelly Services, Inc. (KELYA) Vision Statement

As a seasoned financial analyst, I see Kelly Services, Inc.'s vision-To be the world's best workforce solutions company that connects great talent with great companies-as a clear, dual-focus strategic map. It's not just about scale; it's about quality and impact. This vision is the lens through which we should view their 2025 performance, especially as the company navigates a mixed economic environment with a focus on higher-margin, specialized talent solutions.

For the first half of 2025 alone, Kelly Services, Inc. reported revenue of $2.3 billion, a 7.8% increase year-over-year, which defintely shows their push toward global scale and market leadership. But what matters more is how they are executing on the best part of that vision, which requires a deep dive into their core pillars.

Pillar 1: Becoming the World's Best Workforce Solutions Company

Being the 'best' means delivering profitable, differentiated service, not just chasing volume. Kelly Services, Inc. is executing this through strategic acquisitions and doubling down on specialized segments. The May 2024 acquisition of Motion Recruitment Partners, LLC (MRP) is a prime example, significantly boosting their capabilities in high-demand technology and engineering staffing. This move helped drive their Q1 2025 revenue to $1.16 billion, up 11.5% from the prior year.

The company's Education segment is a standout, showing 6.3% growth in Q1 2025, demonstrating their ability to achieve rapid organic growth in emerging markets like K-12 staffing. However, the pressure is visible in profitability; Adjusted EBITDA for the first half of 2025 was $71.9 million, a 2.6% decrease from the prior year period, suggesting that integrating acquisitions and managing a shifting demand environment is creating near-term margin pressure. That's the trade-off for strategic growth.

• Drive growth through high-value specialties.
• Invest in technology for operational efficiency.
• Manage integration costs to improve profitability.

Pillar 2: Connecting Great Talent

The mission statement, 'Kelly connects people to work in ways that enrich their lives,' is the human element that supports the 'great talent' pillar of the vision. This goes beyond simply filling a job; it speaks to career trajectory and well-being. In 2024, Kelly Services, Inc. placed approximately 440,000 people in temporary and permanent positions, a massive number that underscores their role in the labor market.

Their commitment to inclusion is a key differentiator here, aiming to create real opportunities for underrepresented businesses-including small, minority, women, veteran, and LGBTQ+ enterprises-to add innovation and value to their global solutions. This isn't just a feel-good initiative; it's a strategic move to access a broader, more diverse talent pool that their clients increasingly demand. You can't be the best without the best talent, and that means looking everywhere. For more on the market's view of this strategy, you should read Exploring Kelly Services, Inc. (KELYA) Investor Profile: Who's Buying and Why?

Pillar 3: With Great Companies (Guided by Core Values)

The final part of the vision is about the quality of the client relationship, which is directly mapped to their core values. These values-Responsibility, Relationships, and Respect-are the non-negotiable guiding principles for every transaction. For a staffing company, trust is their most valuable asset.

The shift to outcome-based offerings and technology-enabled solutions is how they operationalize these values for 'great companies.' They are leveraging the leading technology stack obtained from the MRP acquisition to consolidate systems and enhance their AI-powered offerings in Enterprise Talent Management (ETM). Here's the quick math: better technology leads to faster, more precise placements, which strengthens the client relationship (Relationships) and shows a commitment to service quality (Responsibility).

This focus on continuous improvement and innovation is what keeps them competitive. They must own and resolve customer and candidate issues with urgency, which is a direct application of their core values in a high-volume business. The market is demanding a total talent management partner, not just a staffing vendor, so Kelly Services, Inc. is positioning itself to be that essential, trusted partner.

Kelly Services, Inc. (KELYA) Core Values

You're looking for the bedrock of Kelly Services, Inc.'s (KELYA) strategy, and honestly, you find it in their core values. As a veteran analyst, I see these principles not as boilerplate text, but as the operational guideposts that explain both their Q2 2025 revenue of $1.1 billion and their strategic investments. They map directly to actions, risks, and opportunities in the evolving talent solutions market.

The company's values, formally revised in their August 2025 Code of Business Conduct and Ethics, are the framework for how they deliver on their mission: to connect people to work in ways that enrich their lives. This isn't just about filling a job; it's about creating a ripple effect that changes lives and drives client growth.

We are personally responsible for our actions, outcomes, and reputation.

This value is about accountability, which in a publicly traded company means linking ethical conduct to shareholder return. Kelly Services embeds this in its Governance pillar of its Corporate Sustainability strategy, aligning with nine United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs).

Here's the quick math: managing your environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risk is a direct fiduciary responsibility. Kelly Services demonstrated this commitment by integrating sustainability into their enterprise goals. For instance, their 2024 shift to paperless billing was a small action that inspired a vendor to plant 5,000 trees, showing how internal changes create a positive external ripple effect. This kind of values-driven action is defintely a key factor in attracting Gen Z talent, who prioritize purpose.

• Integrate ESG into enterprise goals.
• Hold ourselves accountable for all actions.
• Focus on ethical and trustworthy conduct.

We build strong relationships and create Kelly advocates for life.

In the talent business, your network is your net worth. This value prioritizes long-term loyalty over short-term transactions, extending to candidates, clients, and suppliers alike. It's about turning every touchpoint into a partnership.

A concrete example is their commitment to the veteran community. Kelly Services earned the 2025 Military Friendly® Employer designation, marking their 10th consecutive year of recognition. Through their Veteran Affinity Group, the company hired over 7,400 veterans in 2024 alone, demonstrating a clear, measurable commitment to a specific talent pool. Also, their Supplier Inclusion Program actively works to grow and develop a diverse ecosystem of supplier partners, which strengthens their entire supply chain and client offerings.

We own and resolve customer and candidate issues with urgency.

When you're dealing with a high volume of temporary and permanent placements, speed and resolution are non-negotiable. This value is a direct mandate for operational excellence and a focus on the user experience (UX). You have to fix problems fast, or you lose the talent.

In 2025, Kelly Services addressed this by relaunching the myKelly.com platform. This enhanced digital experience is a direct investment to improve the candidate journey, offering personalized opportunities and a more efficient job search. They also back their placements with the Kelly Guarantee, which commits to arranging a replacement candidate or canceling charges for unsatisfactory service, demonstrating a clear financial ownership of their outcomes. This is how you manage churn risk in a tight labor market.

We treat every customer, employee, and supplier with respect and integrity.

This is the ethical spine of the organization, particularly critical in a global staffing firm dealing with diverse labor laws and human capital. It's about ensuring fair labor practices and a non-discriminatory environment for the 450,000+ people they connect with work every year.

Their Human Rights Policy, revised in September 2025, is a key document here. It explicitly aligns Kelly Services with global standards like the UN Global Compact and the International Labour Organization's (ILO) Conventions. Furthermore, the Equity@Work initiative is a tangible action designed to remove systemic barriers to employment, ensuring equitable access to work and growth for all job seekers. This commitment to integrity is non-negotiable, especially when you consider the reputational risk involved in global supply chains.

We continuously seek opportunities to innovate and improve the Kelly experience.

Innovation is survival in the current staffing industry, especially with the rapid adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI). This value drives Kelly Services to evolve beyond traditional staffing into a specialty talent solutions provider.

The company's CIO discussed this focus in June 2025, highlighting the modernization of their core IT platforms, including their applicant tracking system and CRM tools. The most tangible innovation is the development of their custom AI assistant, GRACE. This tool is designed to automate existing internal processes, drive value, and improve both the candidate and client experience, showing a commitment to leveraging technology to stay ahead of the curve. This strategic investment is crucial as they navigate organic revenue declines in certain segments, using innovation to drive efficiency and margin expansion in the latter half of 2025. Want to dig deeper into the numbers? Check out Breaking Down Kelly Services, Inc. (KELYA) Financial Health: Key Insights for Investors.