Heidrick & Struggles International Inc (HSII) 2025 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Thank you, and welcome to Heidrick & Struggles 2025 second-quarter conference call. Participating on the call today are company's CEO, Tom Monahan; and CFO, Nirupam Sinha. Accompanying slides are posted on the IR home page of the company's website at heidrick.com, and you are encouraged to view these slides for additional context.

謝謝大家，歡迎參加海德思哲2025年第二季電話會議。今天參加電話會議的嘉賓包括該公司首席執行官湯姆·莫納漢 (Tom Monahan) 和首席財務官尼魯帕姆·辛哈 (Nirupam Sinha)。會議幻燈片已發佈在公司網站 heidrick.com 的投資者關係主頁上，歡迎您查看這些幻燈片以了解更多背景資訊。

Please note that in the materials presented today, management may refer to non-GAAP financial measures that the company believes provide additional insight to the underlying results. Reconciliations between these non-GAAP financial measures and the most comparable GAAP measures may be found in the earnings press release. Also, certain forward-looking statements may be made in management's remarks. Please refer to the safe harbor language also included in today's press release.

請注意，在今天提供的資料中，管理階層可能會提及公司認為能夠進一步洞察基本績效的非公認會計準則 (non-GAAP) 財務指標。這些非公認會計準則 (non-GAAP) 財務指標與最具可比性的公認會計準則 (GAAP) 指標之間的對帳表，請參閱收益新聞稿。此外，管理階層的評論中可能包含某些前瞻性陳述。請參閱今天新聞稿中也包含的安全港條款。

I will now turn the call over to Tom Monahan. Please go ahead.

現在我將把電話轉給湯姆·莫納漢。請講。

Thank you for the kind introduction. Let me add my welcome and share an outline of the agenda for today's call. I'll start by touching on our Q2 results and our strong current operating performance, provide some context for our outlook on the rest of 2025, and provide an update on our strategic priorities. Then I'll hand the call over to Nirupam to walk us through a closer look at our Q2 results, our go-forward outlook, and we'll both be available for Q&A.

感謝您的熱情介紹。請容許我先致歡迎辭，並簡要介紹一下今天電話會議的議程。首先，我將介紹我們第二季的業績和目前強勁的營運表現，並對2025年剩餘時間的展望進行一些背景介紹，並介紹我們最新的策略重點。然後，我將把電話會議交給Nirupam，請他詳細介紹我們第二季的業績和未來展望。屆時，我們兩位都可以參與問答環節。

Maintaining our strong start in 2025, our Q2 results exceeded the high end of our revenue range. While we are pleased, we continue to stay close to clients as economic and geopolitical events remain very uncertain.

我們延續了2025年的強勁開局，第二季業績超出了預期營收上限。儘管我們對此感到滿意，但由於經濟和地緣政治事件仍充滿不確定性，我們仍將持續與客戶保持密切聯繫。

Let me quickly reflect on the macro trends that shape our business and strategy and comment on how they are currently affecting our business. In the near to midterm, we see three big trends that affect our clients and provide us with a unique opportunity to grow our business and our impact.

讓我快速回顧一下影響我們業務和策略的宏觀趨勢，並談談它們目前對我們業務的影響。在近期至中期，我們看到三大趨勢將影響我們的客戶，並為我們拓展業務和影響力提供獨特的機會。

The first is probably the least volatile but the most important. Great leadership talent is in chronically short supply. But there are both short- and long-term tailwinds that make it scarcer than ever. First, in the near term, the volatility that we all see is increasing demand for great leaders capable of managing organizations through this period of complexity.

第一個因素或許波動性最小，但卻至關重要。優秀的領導者人才長期供不應求。但短期和長期的利多因素使其比以往任何時候都更加稀缺。首先，短期內，我們普遍看到的市場波動性正在增加對能夠帶領組織度過當前複雜時期的優秀領導者的需求。

Simply put, clients need our help, both to discover new leaders and to enable existing leaders to lead differently. Second, over the long term, demographic headwinds touch all our markets across the coming decades, which will obviously affect general labor availability, but squeeze the pool of top talent even further.

簡而言之，客戶需要我們的幫助，既要發現新的領導者，也要幫助現有領導者以不同的方式領導。其次，從長遠來看，未來幾十年人口結構的不利因素將影響我們所有的市場，這顯然會影響整體勞動力供應，但會進一步擠壓頂尖人才的儲備。

The second major trend is that for more than a decade now, dating back to Brexit, if not earlier, changing geopolitics and global economic relationships are reconfiguring business strategy. Our clients aren't backing away from global markets, supply chains or talent pools, but they do need to adjust strategy to reflect changing context. This obviously continues to be a really important theme in client conversations. Even as our overall business remains strong, we can and do see intermittent pockets of hesitance as clients digest industry-specific implications of, say, tariffs or tax policy.

第二個主要趨勢是，十多年來，甚至更早，甚至更早，地緣政治和全球經濟關係的變化都在重塑商業策略。我們的客戶並沒有放棄全球市場、供應鏈或人才庫，但他們確實需要調整策略以適應不斷變化的環境。這顯然仍然是我們與客戶溝通中一個非常重要的主題。即使我們的整體業務依然強勁，我們也確實看到客戶在消化關稅或稅收政策等特定行業影響時，偶爾會有一些猶豫。

Finally, new technologies continue to remake work. AI is the most obvious of these and clients continue to adapt their strategies to this powerful new asset. And as we have learned in previous technology revolutions, fully realizing the potential of AI requires rethinking leadership, organization and work itself. Our job is to be their partner in transforming the promise of new technologies into progress against their goals through great leaders, teams and high-performing organizations. And at the same time, we need to continue to leverage these technologies in our own organization to drive great client impact.

最後，新技術不斷重塑工作方式。人工智慧是其中最顯著的，客戶也不斷調整其策略以適應這一強大的新資產。正如我們在過去的科技革命中所認知到的，要充分發揮人工智慧的潛力，就需要重新思考領導力、組織架構以及工作本身。我們的工作是成為客戶的合作夥伴，透過優秀的領導者、優秀的團隊和高效的組織，將新技術的​​潛力轉化為實現目標的進展。同時，我們也需要繼續在自身組織中運用這些技術，以推動客戶取得巨大成就。

Against this backdrop, we saw growth in both revenue and confirmations across the firm and believe that we are entering the second half of the year in a great position to sustain and extend our impact on clients. All 3 of our reported solution lines saw growth and contributed to profit through outstanding work in solving client problems against the backdrop of this complex environment.

在此背景下，我們全公司的收入和確認量均有所增長，並相信我們正以良好的狀態進入下半年，以維持並擴大對客戶的影響力。在當前複雜的環境下，我們報告的三條解決方案線均透過出色地解決客戶問題實現了成長，並為利潤做出了貢獻。

In the near term, we know that our diverse business mix across sector, region, service lines and client-driven solutions gives our team the ability to perform even against this complex environment. In the medium and long term, this complexity and the growing client need for great leaders leading in the right way reminds us just how much white space we have available in our existing core business areas. We have an enormous opportunity, both to drive broader client relationships and secure new client relationships in nearly every sector around the world, and we are working hard to grow the teams necessary to realize this opportunity.

短期來看，我們深知，跨產業、跨地區、跨服務線和客戶驅動解決方案的多元化業務組合，使我們的團隊即使在當前複雜的環境下也能高效運作。中長期來看，這種複雜性以及客戶對以正確方式領導的優秀領導者日益增長的需求，提醒著我們在現有核心業務領域擁有巨大的發展空間。我們擁有巨大的機遇，既可以拓展更廣泛的客戶關係，又可以在全球幾乎所有行業中贏得新的客戶關係，我們正在努力壯大團隊，以實現這一機會。

As we have shared, the number one driver of growth in our business or any professional services firm is a simple formula of how many great people you have multiplied by how productive they are. Given the white space opportunity in our existing business areas, we are intensely focused on two things: one, growing our talent base. This, of course, begins with ensuring that we retain, develop and inspire our incredible global community of outstanding Heidrick professionals.

正如我們先前所分享的，我們業務乃至任何專業服務公司成長的首要驅動力都很簡單：優秀人才數量乘以他們的生產力。鑑於我們現有業務領域的空白，我們高度重視兩件事：一是壯大人才隊伍。當然，這首先要確保我們能夠留住、發展並激勵我們全球傑出的海德思哲專業人士團隊。

Our great retention of top performers, combined with our track record of promoting from within, are evidence that we take this really seriously. Achieving our goals also demands that we bring great new people on board effectively at all levels of the firm.

我們出色地保留了優秀人才，並擁有良好的內部提拔記錄，證明我們非常重視這一點。實現我們的目標也要求我們在公司各個層面有效地引進優秀的新人才。

Second, driving great enablement of those people via training, development and importantly, cutting-edge analytic technology. Those of you at Investor Day saw a few of the tools that we've developed, but we see an opportunity to accelerate innovation even further and faster. This focus governs how we think about the consistent margin progression we targeted at Investor Day. You can see that we maintained a healthy margin in the first half.

第二，透過培訓、發展以及至關重要的尖端分析技術，大力賦能這些人才。在投資者日，各位嘉賓已經看到了我們開發的一些工具，但我們看到了進一步加速創新的機會。這一重點決定了我們如何看待投資者日設定的持續獲利成長目標。各位可以看到，我們在上半年維持了健康的利潤率。

As we look to the second half of the year, we expect to see quarterly margins cycle down as we make progress on our hiring plans for the year. Even with this focus, we still anticipate making margin progress on an annual basis and setting ourselves up for continued expansion next year on a full year basis.

展望下半年，隨著全年招募計畫的推進，我們預期季度利潤率將出現下降。即便如此，我們仍預計年度利潤率將有所成長，並為明年全年的持續擴張做好準備。

Before I hand the call over to Nirupam, let me update you on our three areas of strategic priority. First, we aim to build differentiated relationships by being the most trusted leadership partner to the C-suite and Board. The need here is great, as illustrated by the most recent addition of our annual route-to-the-top analysis that looks at CEO succession across major markets globally.

在將電話交給Nirupam之前，請容許我先介紹我們三個策略重點領域。首先，我們致力於建立差異化的關係，成為高階主管和董事會最值得信賴的領導力合作夥伴。這方面的需求非常迫切，正如我們最近發布的年度「晉升之路」分析報告（該分析報告著眼於全球主要市場的CEO繼任情況）所表明的那樣。

The most surprising finding was that although the majority of Boards agreed that CEO succession was a critical strategic priority, 30% of them admitted that time on this topic was crowded up by more urgent and likely less important tasks. This creates a huge opportunity and a huge obligation for us to consistently partner with CEOs and Boards shape their leadership strategy on an ongoing basis.

最令人驚訝的發現是，儘管大多數董事會都認為CEO繼任是一項關鍵的策略重點，但其中30%的董事會承認，在這一議題上的時間被更緊急、可能不那麼重要的任務所佔據。這為我們創造了巨大的機遇，同時也帶來了巨大的責任，我們需要持續與CEO和董事會合作，共同塑造他們的領導策略。

Second, we work to deepen client relationships by partnering with them on transformation in this new world of leadership. We've made great progress in standing up consultant toolkits for key recurring client challenges like cost transformations. These should allow us to bring a fuller set of our capabilities to bear when clients are driving major work.

其次，我們致力於深化客戶關係，與客戶攜手合作，共同因應新領導時代的轉型挑戰。我們在建立顧問工具包方面取得了巨大進展，這些工具包旨在應對客戶經常遇到的關鍵挑戰，例如成本轉型。這些工具包將使我們能夠在客戶推動重大工作時，更充分地發揮我們的能力。

Finally, we aim to create durable client relationships through innovations that embed our solutions more consistently in client workflows. Adding great people, combined with intense focus on our long-term strategic priorities will enable us to create unrivaled value for clients, colleagues and shareholders by creating differentiated, deep and durable client relationships.

最後，我們致力於透過創新，將我們的解決方案更一致地融入客戶工作流程，從而建立持久的客戶關係。透過吸收優秀人才，並高度關注我們的長期策略重點，我們將能夠透過建立差異化、深厚而持久的客戶關係，為客戶、同事和股東創造無與倫比的價值。

In sum, our strong Q2 results reflect our team's energy and focus on our compelling and integrated growth opportunities across Executive Search, consulting and on-demand talent. This performance gives us confidence in our medium-term through-cycle target shared at our Investor Day, organic revenue growth of mid- to high single digits and organic adjusted EBITDA growth between 5% and 8% per year. While top line growth and margins won't always move in a straight line, we see an attractive opportunity for our entire suite of increasingly digitally enabled professional services as our clients move leadership strategy to the forefront of their corporate initiatives.

總而言之，我們強勁的第二季業績體現了我們團隊的活力，以及對高階主管搜尋、諮詢和隨選人才領域引人注目的整合成長機會的專注。這項業績使我們對在投資者日上分享的中期全週期目標充滿信心：實現中高個位數的有機收入成長，以及每年5%至8%的有機調整後EBITDA成長。雖然營收成長和利潤率並非總是直線上升，但隨著我們的客戶將領導力策略置於其企業計劃的首位，我們看到我們日益數位化的專業服務全系列產品蘊藏著誘人的機會。

With that, I'll now hand the call over to Nirupam to provide a detailed review of our financial performance and outlook.

現在，我將把電話交給 Nirupam，讓他詳細回顧我們的財務表現和前景。

Thank you, Tom. We delivered strong results in the second quarter of 2025 with outperformance on revenue that exceeded the high end of our outlook as well as robust profitability. In the next few minutes, I'll walk through the details of our performance along with our Q3 outlook.

謝謝，湯姆。我們在2025年第二季取得了強勁的業績，營收超出了我們預期的上限，獲利能力也十分強勁。接下來的幾分鐘，我將詳細介紹我們的業績以及對第三季的展望。

Second quarter revenue reached approximately $317 million, marking a 14% increase compared to Q2 2024. Adjusted EBITDA improved $5 million to $34 million and adjusted EBITDA margin expanded 40 basis points to 10.7%.

第二季營收達到約 3.17 億美元，與 2024 年第二季相比成長 14%。調整後的 EBITDA 增加 500 萬美元，達到 3,400 萬美元，調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率擴大 40 個基點，達到 10.7%。

Looking more deeply at operating expenses, salary and benefits increased 17.6% from the prior year quarter. Fixed compensation increased $14.1 million in the second quarter of 2025 due to higher base salaries and payroll taxes, expenses related to our deferred compensation plan, talent acquisition, and retention costs, retirement and benefit costs and stock compensation.

更深入審視營運費用，薪資和福利較去年同期成長17.6%。 2025年第二季固定薪酬增加了1,410萬美元，原因是基本工資和工資稅增加、與遞延薪酬計劃相關的費用增加、人才招聘和保留成本增加、退休和福利成本增加以及股票薪酬增加。

Variable compensation increased $17.2 million, benefiting from an increase in consultant productivity. As a percentage of net revenue, salary and benefits was 65.9% versus 63.8% in the year ago period. Excluding a $5.2 million change in the market-based deferred compensation, salary and benefits would have been 64.3%.

浮動薪酬增加了1720萬美元，這得益於顧問生產力的提升。薪資和福利佔淨收入的百分比為65.9%，去年同期為63.8%。若不計入520萬美元的市場遞延薪資變動，薪資及福利佔淨收入的百分比將達到64.3%。

Consistent with our prior commentary for the full year, we continue to expect the normalized run rate to be in the 65% range.

與我們先前對全年的評論一致，我們繼續預計正常化運行率將在 65% 的範圍內。

General and administrative expenses improved by $4.3 million to $42.2 million or 9.2% from the prior year quarter and includes the fair value earn-out adjustment, which is excluded from our adjusted results. As a percentage of net revenue, general and administrative expenses improved 340 basis points from the prior year to 13.3%. Obviously, this is a significant improvement. Part of the improvement is driven by the onetime fair value adjustment, but a major portion is also due to the progress we're making across the enterprise and scaling G&A.

一般及行政開支較去年同期改善430萬美元，至4,220萬美元，增幅9.2%，其中包括公允價值收益調整，該調整未計入我們的調整後業績。一般及行政開支佔淨收入的百分比較去年同期改善340個基點，至13.3%。顯然，這是一個顯著的改善。改善的部分原因是一次性公允價值調整，但很大一部分也歸功於我們在整個企業範圍內取得的進展以及一般及行政開支的擴大。

With respect to R&D, as we have described previously, we continue to invest in the future of Heidrick. At the core of this investment is IP that powers all our businesses, including Search, Heidrick Consulting and our digital product portfolio, which includes digital assessments. R&D spend for the second quarter was $6 million or 1.9% of net revenue. We continue to look for ways to maximize the return of our technology spend.

關於研發，正如我們之前所述，我們將繼續投資於海德思哲的未來。這項投資的核心是智慧財產權，它支撐著我們所有的業務，包括搜尋、海德思哲諮詢以及包括數位評估在內的數位產品組合。第二季的研發支出為600萬美元，佔淨收入的1.9%。我們將繼續探索最大化技術支出回報的方法。

Now let's turn to our service lines for further details. In Executive Search, revenue grew 13% to $238 million. Looking at our regional performance compared to the prior year quarter, we saw revenue increase of 9% in the Americas, 31% in Europe, and 12% in APAC.

現在，讓我們來看看我們的服務線，以了解更多詳情。高階主管搜尋業務的收入成長了13%，達到2.38億美元。與去年同期相比，我們各區域的表現如下：美洲收入成長了9%，歐洲成長了31%，亞太地區成長了12%。

As you know, we have a diversified practice platform with great client engagement. During the second quarter, we saw outperformance by the majority of our practice groups. Consultant productivity annualized in the second quarter at $2.3 million, up from $2 million on the same basis in the year ago quarter, and we saw increases in confirmations and average revenue for Executive Search. Executive Search continues to produce strong profitability with adjusted EBITDA of $54.6 million and an adjusted EBITDA margin of 22.9%.

眾所周知，我們擁有多元化的業務平台，客戶參與度極高。第二季度，我們大多數業務團隊的業績都表現出色。第二季顧問生產力年化為230萬美元，高於去年同期的200萬美元，高階主管搜尋業務的確認數量和平均收入均有所成長。高階主管搜尋業務持續維持強勁獲利能力，調整後息稅折舊攤提前利潤（EBITDA）為5,460萬美元，調整後息稅折舊攤提前利潤率（EBITDA）為22.9%。

Turning to On-Demand Talent. Revenue increased 14% to $48 million, marking a continued outperformance amid-market dynamics. We saw growth in both wins and project extensions. On-Demand Talent reported adjusted EBITDA of $1 million versus an adjusted EBITDA loss of $1.6 million in the year ago period. Clients continue to benefit from our ability to address urgent needs, which complements our Search business and enhances our ability to serve clients comprehensively.

按需人才業務方面，營收成長14%，達到4,800萬美元，在市場波動中持續維持優異表現。我們的專案簽約和專案延期均有所增長。按需人才業務調整後息稅折舊攤銷前利潤（EBITDA）為100萬美元，而去年同期調整後息稅折舊攤銷前利潤（EBITDA）虧損160萬美元。客戶繼續受益於我們滿足緊急需求的能力，這與我們的搜尋業務相輔相成，並增強了我們為客戶提供全面服務的能力。

Looking at Heidrick Consulting, we saw second quarter revenue increased 17% year over year to $31 million, driven by increases in leadership assessment as we implement a more intense focus on pairing assessments with different client solutions. Adjusted EBITDA was positive at $0.6 million for the quarter. Moving forward, we are focused on growing the business and ensuring continued efficiency gains. We're refining and simplifying Heidrick Consulting's offerings to focus on its core strengths, including assessments, leadership development and performance culture.

海德思哲諮詢業務方面，第二季營收年增17%，達到3,100萬美元，這得益於我們更加重視將評估與不同的客戶解決方案結合，從而推動了領導力評估業務的成長。本季調整後息稅折舊攤提前利潤（EBITDA）為正值60萬美元。展望未來，我們將專注於業務成長並確保持續的效率提升。我們正在改進和簡化海德思哲諮詢服務，以專注於其核心優勢，包括評估、領導力發展和績效文化。

Turning to the bottom line performance. Adjusted net income for the quarter was $18.1 million. 2025 second quarter adjusted diluted EPS was $0.85, which was 27% above last year's performance.

談到底線業績。本季調整後淨收入為 1,810 萬美元。 2025 年第二季調整後稀釋每股收益為 0.85 美元，比去年同期成長 27%。

Now I'll turn to the balance sheet. We ended the second quarter in a strong cash position of $400 million, up $103 million from $297 million at the end of June 2024. This balance, coupled with our credit facility, gives us great strength and flexibility to execute our strategic plan. As you will know, we're heading into higher watermark seasonality for cash. With bonus payouts in Q1, cash levels typically build across the rest of the year.

現在我來看一下資產負債表。第二季末，我們的現金狀況良好，達到4億美元，比2024年6月底的2.97億美元增加了1.03億美元。這筆餘額，加上我們的信貸額度，為我們執行策略計畫提供了強大的實力和靈活性。正如各位所知，我們正進入現金水位較高的季節性時期。隨著第一季獎金的發放，現金水準通常會在全年剩餘時間內持續成長。

Moving forward, we expect third quarter revenue to be within a range of $295 million to $315 million. This compares to $279 million in Q3 of 2024, with the midpoint being almost 10% growth.

展望未來，我們預計第三季營收將在2.95億美元至3.15億美元之間。相較之下，2024年第三季的營收為2.79億美元，中位數成長率接近10%。

As we discussed previously, the current economic climate can heighten uncertainty, which may lead clients to delay initiating new projects. In most cases, the underlying demand does not dissipate and this client work resumes once there is greater clarity or stability in the macro environment. Similarly, we also find that client demand can accelerate quickly if critical client needs arise.

正如我們之前所討論的，當前的經濟環境可能會加劇不確定性，這可能會導致客戶推遲啟動新專案。在大多數情況下，潛在的需求不會消失，一旦宏觀環境更加明朗或穩定，這些客戶工作就會恢復。同樣，我們也發現，如果出現關鍵的客戶需求，客戶需求可能會迅速成長。

As Tom mentioned, we're also focused on ensuring continued growth into 2026 and beyond. As we look to the second half of the year, we'd expect to see margins ebb down as we make progress on our hiring plans and subsequent expense comes online.

正如湯姆所說，我們也致力於確保2026年及以後的持續成長。展望下半年，隨著招聘計劃的推進以及後續費用的產生，我們預計利潤率將會下降。

We still anticipate making margin progress on an annual basis.

我們仍然預計利潤率每年都會有所增長。

In conclusion, our performance underscores the ability to deliver for clients across a variety of market environments. We're fortunate to have dedicated and focused global teams who remain committed to serving our clients with excellence. As we look ahead, we remain confident in the ability to navigate the evolving landscape with discipline and continue to drive long-term value for our shareholders.

總而言之，我們的業績彰顯了我們在各種市場環境下為客戶提供服務的能力。我們很榮幸擁有一支敬業專注的全球團隊，他們始終致力於為客戶提供卓越的服務。展望未來，我們堅信我們有能力以嚴謹的態度來應對不斷變化的市場環境，並繼續為股東創造長期價值。

With that, operator, please open the line, Tom and I would be happy to take questions.

接線員，請接通電話，湯姆和我很樂意回答您的問題。

(Operator Instructions) Marc Riddick, Sidoti.

（操作員指示）Marc Riddick，Sidoti。

I wanted to start with the hiring plan announcements that you mentioned for the back half of the year and maybe given the macro, maybe we could get a little bit deeper into that and give maybe some extra thoughts there as to the thought process there as well as maybe how many additions you're looking to add and availability of maybe the right candidates, if you will.

我想從您提到的下半年招聘計劃公告開始，也許考慮到宏觀因素，我們可以更深入地探討一下，並就那裡的思考過程以及您希望增加多少名員工以及合適的候選人的可用性提供一些額外的想法，如果您願意的話。

Yes. As I said in our prepared remarks, growing our team is one of the two foundations for growing the business. The other, of course, is ensuring that those people are super productive through development, making them great with their jobs and technology undergirds how they can be fantastic high-impact client advisers. We're focused on this lever for two reasons.

是的。正如我在準備好的發言中所說，擴大團隊規模是業務成長的兩大基礎之一。當然，另一個基礎是透過發展來確保這些員工擁有極高的生產力，讓他們能夠出色地完成工作，而技術則是他們成為卓越、高效客戶顧問的基礎。我們專注於此槓桿有兩個原因。

First, when we plan the business, we see tons of white space in two directions, both existing clients, we can grow faster across our service lines and lots of clients we just haven't engaged in their first service line yet. So we see two ways to grow the business. We know that's by adding people.

首先，我們在規劃業務時，發現兩個方向存在大量空白：一方面是現有客戶，我們可以在各個服務線上更快地發展；另一方面，還有很多客戶，我們只是還沒有接觸到他們的第一個服務線。所以我們看到了兩種發展業務的方法。我們知道，那就是增加員工。

Second, we know that our people and culture are a source of competitive advantage. We have a distinctive culture, which has yielded great retention of top performers at all levels, and we'll obviously stay laser-focused on this. But we know we also need to leverage this culture to add great talent more consistently than we have in the past.

其次，我們知道，我們的員工和文化是競爭優勢的來源。我們擁有獨特的文化，這使得我們能夠有效留住各級優秀人才，我們當然會繼續高度重視這一點。但我們也知道，我們需要利用這種文化，比過去更持續地引進優秀人才。

We have a distinctive strategy for adding talent, at least for our sector that leans heavily on hiring folks early in their careers, often from industry or other professional services sectors and growing them through development and apprenticeship. And of course, we always keep our eye out for great senior talent in all of our areas as well.

我們擁有獨特的人才引進策略，至少在我們這個行業是如此。我們非常重視招募職涯早期的人才，通常來自工業界或其他專業服務領域，並透過發展和學徒制來培養他們。當然，我們也始終關注各領域的優秀高階人才。

But I think those combinations put us in a great place to go off and create marketing [ paths ]. Clarity around the strategy lets us be more consistent in adding talent and lets us get after that white space quicker.

但我認為這些組合讓我們處於一個很好的位置，可以開始並創造行銷[路徑]。清晰的策略讓我們能夠更持續地引進人才，並讓我們更快地填補市場空白。

I'll let Nirupam just talk for a minute around the quantum you should be thinking about.

我讓 Nirupam 花一分鐘時間談論一下您應該考慮的量子。

Yes. Marc, so in terms of the last part around dollars and cents and sort of think about the numbers of people, I mean it's not a huge number relatively speaking. I think it's just important to note that some of the hiring we've done in the first half will come into the cost base in the second half of the year. And that's not completely [unexpected] part of the strategy, as Tom outlined, to ensure we're set up for '26 and beyond. And so I think you'll see this as not a [future decision], but just enough where we think it will set us up well for the growth that we have outlined for you.

是的。馬克，所以說到最後一點關於金錢和美分的問題，想想員工人數，我的意思是，相對而言，這個數字不算大。我認為需要注意的是，我們上半年招募的部分員工將在下半年計入成本。正如湯姆所說，這並非完全出乎意料的戰略組成部分，是為了確保我們為2026年及以後做好準備。所以，我認為你不會認為這是一個未來的決定，而是一個足以讓我們為先前為你概述的成長做好準備的舉措。

In terms of -- Marc, you had asked about finding the talent. I know some people are really good at that. So we're happy to put our own skills to work on behalf of building the firm.

關於——馬克，你問到尋找人才的問題。我知道有些人在這方面很擅長。所以我們很樂意運用自己的技能來建立公司。

Okay. And is there sort of a general time frame that we should think about as far as the pace of adding and then maybe when those expenses would take place through the year? Or are we expecting that to sort of be a smooth process through the remainder of the year?

好的。那麼，對於增加支出的速度，以及這些支出會在全年的哪個階段發生，我們是否應該考慮一個大致的時間框架？或者我們預計在今年剩餘時間內，這些支出會順利進行嗎？

I think, Marc, it's mostly smooth through the end of the year. And I think this is an evergreen kind of thing for us, right? I think we're just highlighting that I think this year, particularly, we've had a lot of hiring in the first half that is just coming online in the second half. But it's a smooth, I think, throughout the back half of the year and evergreen for us in terms of our strategy.

馬克，我覺得到年底基本上都會很順利。而且我覺得這對我們來說是常青樹，對吧？我想我們只是想強調一下，尤其是今年，我們上半年招募了很多員工，這些員工到下半年才開始陸續上線。但我認為下半年會很順利，而且就我們的策略而言，這對我們來說是常青樹。

Okay. Great. And then switching gears, I wanted to sort of touch a little bit as far as cash usage and prioritization beyond the internal investments, maybe what you're looking at as far as -- has the prioritization changed? Or have you seen any opportunity sets that would sort of maybe be a little bit more highlighted than it would have been at the beginning of the year?

好的。太好了。接下來我想稍微談談現金使用以及內部投資以外的優先順序。您現在關注的重點是否改變了？或者您看到了一些機會，這些機會比年初更加突出？

Yes. I think the broader theme there is, Marc, is just white space. We have -- you saw strength in our businesses across the board. And look, it's a very complex geopolitical environment right now. Every day, there's news in the US

是的。馬克，我認為更廣泛的主題是空白。我們已經－你看到了我們各行各業的強勁表現。而且，現在的地緣政治環境非常複雜。美國每天都有新聞。

and around the world. And as we said before, complexity is our friend. No one ever called Heidrick & Struggles because they were completely happy or believe they have the great leadership team in place to address the challenges they had. So when there's more challenges, there's opportunities for our people to be out in front of clients creating great impact. That's what you see happening.

以及世界各地。正如我們之前所說，複雜性是我們的朋友。沒有人會因為完全滿意或相信海德思哲擁有優秀的領導團隊來應對挑戰而選擇我們。因此，當面臨更多挑戰時，我們的員工就有機會走在客戶面前，創造巨大的影響力。這就是你所看到的。

There's always going to be micro climates in the business, geo, industry, et cetera. But one of the real strengths of the business is we're strong across industries. We're strong across service lines. We're strong across solutions areas. We're strong across geos.

業務、地域、產業等等總是會存在一些微氣候。但我們真正的優勢之一在於，我們在各個產業都表現強勁。我們在各個服務領域都表現強勁。我們在各個解決方案領域都表現強勁。我們在各個地域都表現強勁。

And that gives us the ability to flex the business and meet clients where they are.

這使我們能夠靈活地開展業務並隨時隨地滿足客戶的需求。

And Marc, in terms of the cash flow, a couple of things just to point out there. One is we still have earn-out payments in Q1 2026 that we're managing the cash flows paid for. And certainly, our cash uses factor that in. And then I think, as Tom said, we believe that the right investments are organic. But often in this business, as we, I think, highlighted in the past, some of those hiring conversations sometimes turn into acquisitions or lift outs, and that's where we think there's use of cash.

馬克，關於現金流，我想指出幾點。首先，我們仍然有2026年第一季的獲利支付，我們正在管理已支付的現金流。當然，我們的現金使用也考慮到了這一點。然後，我認為，正如湯姆所說，我們相信正確的投資是有機的。但在這個行業中，正如我們過去所強調的那樣，一些招聘談判有時會變成收購或解聘，我們認為這就是現金的用途。

So some of the hiring that we mentioned in the strategy on the evergreen hiring, it turns into uses of cash off the balance sheet. And I think that's just the life of a professional services firm.

因此，我們在「常青招聘」策略中提到的一些招聘，最終變成了表外現金的用途。我認為這就是專業服務公司的生存之道。

Kevin Steinke, Barrington Research.

凱文‧史坦克，巴靈頓研究中心。

Just wanted to start out by digging into the third quarter revenue guidance range a little bit. Obviously implies really solid year-over-year growth. It does point to a sequential decline versus the second quarter, but I think that is probably explained by typical summer seasonality around vacations. But beyond that, given the global macro environment you talked about with continued uncertainty, potential project delays and pockets of hesitancy among clients. Have you attempted to kind of factor that into the guidance range in terms of some potential conservatism?

首先，我想稍微深入探討一下第三季的營收預期範圍。這顯然意味著同比增長非常穩健。它確實預示著與第二季度相比有所下降，但我認為這可能是由於典型的夏季假期期間的季節性因素造成的。除此之外，考慮到您提到的全球宏觀環境持續存在不確定性、潛在的專案延期以及客戶的一些猶豫不決，您是否嘗試過將這些因素納入預期範圍，以保持一定的保守性？

And maybe could you talk about the assumptions behind what would get you to the low end versus the high end of that range in terms of just the macro?

也許您能從宏觀角度談談導致該範圍低端和高端的假設嗎？

Yes. Certainly, Kevin. So it's a very fair question first and foremost. I think we feel good about the guidance of $295 million to $315 million for the quarter. We're trying to be prudent.

是的，當然，凱文。所以首先，這是一個非常公平的問題。我認為我們對本季2.95億至3.15億美元的預期感到滿意。我們正在努力保持謹慎。

I think we've not witnessed a slowdown in the business. And as you point out, the sequential is just seasonality that you would see normally. But the uncertainty of the macro certainly doesn't seem to be going away.

我認為我們的業務並未出現放緩。正如您所指出的，環比增長只是正常的季節性因素。但宏觀經濟的不確定性似乎並沒有消失。

And so if you think about it from the way you positioned it in terms of what can help us to the upper end, I think it's continuing to see the demand that we're seeing that assumes a bit of uncertainty as normal, frankly. We've seen clients actually move more quickly to launch of search as client needs vary by sector and geo.

所以，如果你從你定位的角度來思考，什麼能幫助我們達到高端市場，我認為坦白說，我們持續看到的需求，假設一些不確定性是正常的。我們已經看到，由於客戶的需求因行業和地理位置而異，他們實際上更快地推出了搜尋服務。

And I think every week kind of brings something different there for certain clients. I think we continue to see the acceleration of the focus in consulting around its strength, including assessment, leadership development and performance culture, that continues to be that pushes to the upper end. And then the acceleration of the tie between search and interim search placements with on demand.

我認為每週都會為特定客戶帶來不同的體驗。我們持續看到顧問業務加速聚焦其優勢領域，包括評估、領導力發展和績效文化，這些優勢正在不斷朝向高端邁進。此外，搜尋和臨時搜尋職位與隨選招聘的結合也在加速發展。

So I think if we continue to see what we've been seeing, I think we feel good about the upper end. What can pull us down, the macro uncertainty. As we've said and we kind of alluded to in the question, we often can see client demand push back.

所以我認為，如果我們繼續保持目前的勢頭，我們對高端市場會感到樂觀。宏觀不確定性可能會拖累我們。正如我們之前所說，以及在問題中提到的，我們經常看到客戶需求出現回落。

Usually, as we talked about, it doesn't usually go away, but we can see it push back. And so even with booked business, the client get delayed to start a project or making offer to a candidate, that has an impact on us. So I think the broader story here is our teams are staying close to clients, focusing very clearly on client needs, and we feel good about the range, and we feel good about the growth.

通常情況下，正如我們之前提到的，這種情況不會消失，但我們可以看到它有所推遲。因此，即使客戶已經預訂了業務，他們也會推遲啟動專案或向候選人發出錄用通知，這會對我們造成影響。所以，我認為更宏觀的原因是，我們的團隊始終與客戶保持密切聯繫，非常明確地關注客戶需求，我們對業務範圍和成長感到滿意。

Great. Well, that's really helpful color. I appreciate it. I wanted to follow up by asking about the executive search productivity in the quarter was really strong, $2.3 million annualized. And the company has historically talked in the past about kind of a target range of $1.8 million to $2.0 million there.

太好了。嗯，這真是太有幫助了。非常感謝。我想跟進一下，本季高階主管搜尋的效率非常高，年化收入達到230萬美元。公司過去曾提過，高階主管搜尋的目標收入範圍在180萬到200萬美元之間。

Do you view that $2.3 million is a little hot and part of the reason you have to ramp up hiring? Or do you think there's potential longer term to maybe exceed that range that's been discussed in the past?

您是否認為 230 萬美元的薪水有點高，是您必須加強招募力度的原因之一？或者，您認為長期來看，薪酬有可能超過過去討論過的這個範圍？

Yes. I'm happy to take that, Kevin. So I think generally, we did see the $2.3 million for the quarter annualized. But if you look at trailing 12, it's still $2 million. And so I think we still see the range is sort of around that $2 million.

是的，凱文，我很樂意接受這個數字。所以我認為總體而言，我們本季的年化利潤確實達到了230萬美元。但如果你看一下過去12個月的利潤，它仍然是200萬美元。所以我認為我們仍然認為利潤範圍在200萬美元左右。

But part of what you say is when you start seeing a little bit of that, it just tells you how much white space you have and how much client demand continues to be there for our services. And so I think that does make us comfortable kind of moving forward on the hiring. But I think from a longer-term trend, still around $2 million.

但您所說的部分內容是，當您開始看到一些這樣的情況時，它就表明您有多少空白，以及客戶對我們服務的持續需求有多大。所以我認為這確實讓我們對繼續招募感到安心。但我認為從長期趨勢來看，招募成本仍在200萬美元左右。

Okay. Great. So obviously, you also talked about the hiring investments you're making and the impact that will have on margins in the second half of the year. Should we think about that as across segments, pretty broad-based hiring? And then just second part of that is you did see some nice profitability increase in the non-search segments in the quarter.

好的。太好了。顯然，您也談到了您正在進行的招聘投資，以及這將對下半年利潤率產生的影響。我們是否應該將其視為跨部門、廣泛的招募？其次，您確實看到本季非搜尋業務的獲利能力有所提升。

Do you think that continues in the second half? Or does the hiring impact that?

您認為這種情況會在下半年持續下去嗎？還是招聘會影響這種情況？

I think one is -- I think most of the investments are just across the business. I mean, in general, we see, as we've talked about before, the synergies across the service lines to serve clients. Clients in some ways don't care which service line things are coming out of, right? They just look to the client needs. So I think we see the demand across all three.

我認為其中一點是——我認為大部分的投資都是跨業務。我的意思是，總的來說，正如我們之前談到的，我們看到了跨服務線的協同效應，從而更好地服務客戶。客戶在某種程度上並不關心產品來自哪個服務線，對吧？他們只關注客戶的需求。所以我認為我們看到了這三個方面的需求。

But having said that, I think what we saw in the non-serve service line is the trajectory that we want. And I think longer term the guidance that we've given around those two service lines, we continue to feel good about that guidance. And I think from an annual basis, we continue to see progression towards it, and that's the goal to see that annual progression, and we feel good about the progression we're seeing.

但話雖如此，我認為我們在非服務業務方面看到的軌跡正是我們想要的。我認為，從長期來看，我們圍繞這兩條服務線給予的指導方針仍然讓我們感到滿意。我認為，從年度來看，我們繼續看到朝著這個方向的進展，而看到這樣的年度進展正是我們的目標，我們對目前所看到的進展感到滿意。

Yes. I think as Nirupam said, it's -- we manage the business on an annual basis. So it won't be perfectly linear quarter-to-quarter, but we feel very comfortable with the business getting to the numbers we put out there for the -- at the Investor Day. That's a long-term target, but it shows we're making progress.

是的。我想正如Nirupam所說，我們按年度管理業務。因此，季度間成長不會完全呈線性，但我們對業務達到投資者日公佈的數字感到非常有信心。這是一個長期目標，但它表明我們正在取得進展。

Okay. And then just lastly, more of a housekeeping question. I think in the year ago second quarter, there were some expenses related to a global consultants conference that you held internally. Is there anything on the horizon like that over the remainder of the year that we should think about in terms of just the G&A expense line?

好的。最後，我想問一個比較常規的問題。我記得去年第二季度，你們內部舉辦的一次全球顧問會議產生了一些費用。今年剩餘時間裡，我們是否應該從一般及行政費用的角度來考慮類似的支出？

When we don't do global consultants conferences, we tend to do regional things, but those are spread out more evenly across the year. So the reason it was notable last year in Q2 is we kind of do it all at once in one quarter versus smoothing it out across the year. So safely assume, we believe getting our people together is a great idea because they connect with each other, they teach each other, they learn from each other, they strategize around client solutions. So we'll still do that, but it doesn't all show up in one quarter. It's spread out through the year.

當我們不舉辦全球顧問會議時，我們傾向於舉辦區域性活動，但這些活動在全年分佈得更均勻。去年第二季之所以引人注目，是因為我們在一個季度內一次完成了所有活動，而不是在全年分階段進行。因此，我們可以放心地認為，我們相信將我們的員工聚集在一起是一個好主意，因為他們可以相互聯繫，互相學習，並圍繞客戶解決方案製定策略。我們仍然會這樣做，但不會在一個季度內全部完成。它會在全年分散進行。

Tobey Sommer, Truist Securities.

托比‧索默 (Tobey Sommer)，Truist Securities。

I was wondering if you could dig into some of the regional differences in Executive Search EBITDA margin with Europe and Asia increasing. Is that sustainable? And the Americas contracting, I'm just kind of curious what's driving that given that the top line across the geos is pretty good.

我想知道您能否深入探討高階主管搜尋EBITDA利潤率的地區差異，歐洲和亞洲都在成長。這種差異可持續嗎？美洲的EBITDA利潤率正在萎縮，鑑於各地區營收都相當不錯，我只是好奇是什麼導致了這種現象。

Yes. No Tobey, it's Nirupam. So a couple of things going on there. So first and foremost, I mean, I think you saw especially in Europe, right, just kind of a great growth number, 31%. And so first and foremost, just profits to the team for great execution there.

是的。不是托比，是尼魯帕姆。所以那裡發生了一些事情。首先，我想你看到，尤其是在歐洲，成長數字相當可觀，31%。所以，最重要的是，團隊在那裡的出色執行帶來了利潤。

But second, as we've seen that, I mean, there is a little bit of just scale built in there and bonuses, people hitting targets earlier, which allows us to just have a little bit of room in the system. And so I think what you're seeing in the non-US or non-North American regions is just a little bit of the growth and the scale that's coming in there.

其次，正如我們所見，我的意思是，這裡面確實存在一些規模效應和獎金，人們更早達到了目標，這讓我們在系統中有了一點空間。所以我認為，你在非美國或非北美地區看到的只是那裡正在出現的一點成長和規模效應。

I think in the US, you have a phenomenon where, obviously, that is the largest and the most profitable, where you have basically what we call the production where certain producers may produce more in the first half of the year.

我認為在美國，有一種現象，顯然這是最大、最賺錢的，基本上就是我們所說的生產，某些生產商可能會在上半年生產更多。

So they're hitting higher tiers, which means there's more bonuses going to them that gets a catch up to the rest of the year. And so seeing that problem is why you've seen probably the quarter come down a little bit. We don't anticipate any structural changes in terms of what margins are in any of these regions.

所以他們正在達到更高的級別，這意味著他們能拿到更多的獎金，從而彌補一年中其他時間的損失。所以，看到這個問題，你可能會看到本季的業績略有下降。我們預計這些地區的利潤率不會發生任何結構性變化。

Yes. We think the long-term margin rate we put out there is going to be the right rate for business as a whole. And it's also -- it's a quarter, right? So I think we'll stay. I don't think we're seeing any changes to the economic structure that we put out there.

是的。我們認為我們所製定的長期保證金率對整個企業來說都是合適的。而且——這是一個季度，對吧？所以我認為我們會維持現狀。我認為我們所製定的經濟結構不會有任何改變。

What are you hearing from customers, particularly those that touch capital markets because we've seen some deal flow be pretty good, I guess, last week, for example. And I don't think the regulatory hurdle for mergers is as high as it has been in the past. So if that really gets going, it can help the industry and the company. So what are you hearing from customers?

您從客戶那裡聽到了什麼，尤其是那些接觸資本市場的客戶，因為我們看到一些交易流程相當不錯，例如上週。而且我認為現在併購的監管門檻不像過去那麼高了。所以，如果這種情況真的開始發生，對整個產業和公司都有好處。那麼您從客戶那裡聽到了什麼呢？

Yes. I think -- I mean, right now, the world is 1,000 different microclimates realistically. So I guess, there's some -- there are places where there can be more enthusiasm due to a change in the regulatory environment. The flip side is there's still uncertainty in some cases around tariff structures, cost of inputs, tax treatments, et cetera. So it's a complex time.

是的。我認為——我的意思是，目前全球實際上有1000種不同的微氣候。所以我想，有些地方——由於監管環境的變化，可能會出現更多的熱情。另一方面，在某些情況下，關稅結構、投入成本、稅收待遇等方面仍存在不確定性。所以這是一個複雜的時期。

I don't think we've yet seen -- again, complexities are a friend in that people need different types of help, new sorts of help, new roles, et cetera. And I'd say our teams have done a great job even when deal flow wasn't coming at the rate it was going to be the next big thing in deal flow for a couple of years now.

我認為我們還沒有看到——再次強調，複雜性是朋友，因為人們需要不同類型的幫助、新的幫助、新的角色等等。我想說，即使交易流的速度還沒有達到未來幾年交易流的下一個大趨勢，我們的團隊仍然做得很好。

Our team has been doing a very good job staying in front of clients who weren't able to do deals and still need to change out management teams or accelerate performance or restructure a business. And I think that's -- our job is to build an all-weather firm that can be in front of clients no matter what external factors they have because they always have challenges.

我們的團隊一直非常出色地服務於那些未能完成交易、仍需要更換管理團隊、加速績效或重組業務的客戶。我認為，我們的工作就是打造一家全天候公司，無論客戶面臨何種外部因素，都能始終為客戶提供服務，因為他們總是面臨挑戰。

What industry verticals are you most optimistic about for the balance of '25?

對於 25 年的平衡，您對哪些垂直產業最為樂觀？

Yes. Look, I think it tends to be -- you've seen our business good balance across industry verticals across time. It tends to be more thematic, right, where people say, you can imagine right now, pretty much every industry is thinking about structure, trying to move AI from promise to actual outcome, what talent do they need specifically to AI, what other talent do they need in the business, how they organize around it.

是的。你看，我認為趨勢是——你已經看到我們的業務在各個垂直行業之間保持了良好的平衡。它往往更具主題性，對吧，人們說，你可以想像現在幾乎每個行業都在思考架構，試圖將人工智慧從承諾轉化為實際成果，他們具體需要哪些人工智慧方面的人才，他們在業務中還需要哪些其他人才，以及他們如何圍繞人工智慧進行組織。

So I don't think we see necessarily kind of a spike in an industry, although you see -- obviously, you find pockets of frontier technologies, et cetera, that are growing quickly because people are investing them from a private capital basis. But more broadly, it tends to be thematic within the existing client base rather than little segments popping here and there.

所以我認為我們不一定會看到某個行業出現某種程度的飆升，儘管你會看到——顯然，你會發現一些前沿技術等等正在快速增長，因為人們正在以私人資本的方式進行投資。但更廣泛地說，它往往是現有客戶群中的主題性成長，而不是零星出現的小部分細分市場。

And if I could sneak in the last one, I'd be remiss if I didn't take the opportunity just to invite you to say that margins in ODT and consulting are on a trajectory that's durable and likely to be sustained here over the balance of the year and into next.

如果我可以偷偷地說最後一點，如果我不藉此機會請您說一下 ODT 和諮詢行業的利潤率正處於持久的軌跡上，並且很可能在今年餘下時間以及明年持續下去，那我就是失職了。

We'll accept your invitation. Look, I think it's a quarter. So we're pleased with the progress. I think we're probably -- rather than spiking the football after 1 quarter, we're more pleased with the incredible both growth and progress those teams are making. And we feel very comfortable with the long-term targets we put out there for those businesses, and those teams have taken those challenges and run at them very hard.

我們會接受你的邀請。你看，我想應該是一個季度。所以我們對進展感到滿意。我想，與其說我們在一個季度後就放棄了，不如說我們更滿意的是這些團隊所取得的驚人成長和進步。我們對為這些業務設定的長期目標感到非常滿意，這些團隊也已經接受了這些挑戰，並努力朝著目標前進。

So yes, we're very pleased. We're not there by any stretch of the imagination, and it won't be perfectly linear to those zones. And if I know these teams when we get to the target zones, they'll want to push harder, faster and higher. That's who those people are. We work with them.

所以，是的，我們非常高興。我們還沒有完全達到目標，而且目標區域也不會完全線性。如果我了解這些團隊，當我們到達目標區域時，他們會想要更努力、更快、更高地前進。他們就是這樣的人。我們與他們合作。

We know how ambitious they are. But it's 1 quarter, but it's a good dot point in the trajectory we want to set in motion.

我們知道他們雄心勃勃。但這只是一個季度，但卻是我們想要啟動的軌跡上的一個良好節點。

And with no further questions in queue, I will now turn the call back to Tom Monahan for closing remarks. Thank you.

現在沒有其他問題了，現在請湯姆·莫納漢做最後發言。謝謝。

Thanks, Tina, and thanks, everyone, for joining us today. We appreciate your continued interest in Heidrick & Struggles, and I'll keep you updated as we move through the second half of the year. Please don't hesitate to reach out with additional questions. And I hope everyone enjoys their summer, and I'm sure Nirupam and I will see you out on the road.

謝謝蒂娜，也謝謝大家今天加入我們。感謝您一直以來對海德思哲的關注，我會在下半年持續更新資訊。如有其他問題，請隨時與我們聯繫。祝大家有個愉快的夏天，我相信我和尼魯帕姆一定會在路上與大家相見。

Thank you again for joining us today. This does conclude today's conference call. You may now disconnect.

再次感謝您今天的參與。今天的電話會議到此結束。您可以掛斷電話了。