Korn Ferry (KFY) 2026 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by and welcome to the Korn Ferry fourth quarter fiscal-year 2026 conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Following the prepared remarks, we will conduct a question-and-answer session. As a reminder, this conference call is being recorded for replay purposes. We have also made available in the Investor Relations section of our website at kornferry.com, a copy of the financial presentation that we will be reviewing with you today.

各位女士、先生，感謝您耐心等候，歡迎參加 Korn Ferry 2026 會計年度第四季財報電話會議。此刻，所有與會者皆處於僅收聽模式。在預先準備的發言之後，我們將進行問答環節。提醒各位，本次電話會議將錄音以供重播。我們也已在 kornferry.com 網站的投資人關係專區提供今日將與各位一同檢視的財務簡報副本。

Before I turn the call over to your host, Mr. Gary Burnison, let me first read a cautionary statement to investors. Certain statements made in the call today, such as those relating to future performance, plans, and goals, constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Although the company believes the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such statements. Actual results in future periods may differ materially from those currently expected or desired because of a number of risks and uncertainties which are beyond the company's control.

在我把電話交給本次主持人 Gary Burnison 先生之前，先向投資人宣讀一段警示性聲明。今日電話會議中的某些陳述，例如與未來表現、計畫與目標相關者，構成《1995 年私人證券訴訟改革法》所定義的前瞻性陳述。儘管公司相信此等前瞻性陳述所反映之預期係基於合理假設，仍提醒投資人切勿過度依賴此等陳述。由於多項超出公司控制範圍之風險與不確定性，未來期間之實際結果可能與目前預期或期望者存在重大差異。

Additional information concerning such risks and uncertainties can be found in the release relating to this presentation and in the periodic and other reports filed by the company with the SEC, including the company's soon-to-be-filed annual report for fiscal year 2026. Also, some of the comments today may reference non-GAAP financial measures such as constant currency amounts, EBITDA, and adjusted EBITDA. Additional information concerning these measures, including reconciliations to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure, is contained in the financial presentation and earnings release relating to this call, both of which are posted in the Investor Relations section of the company's website at kornferry.com.

關於此等風險與不確定性的更多資訊，可參閱與本簡報相關之新聞稿，以及公司向美國證券交易委員會（SEC）提交的定期及其他報告，包括公司即將提交的 2026 會計年度年度報告。此外，今日部分評論可能會提及非 GAAP 財務衡量指標，例如固定匯率金額、EBITDA 及調整後 EBITDA。關於這些衡量指標的更多資訊（包括與最直接可比之 GAAP 財務衡量指標的調節表），載於與本次電話會議相關之財務簡報與盈餘新聞稿；兩者皆已發布於公司網站 kornferry.com 的投資人關係專區。

With that, I'll turn the call over to Mr. Burnison. Please go ahead, Mr. Burnison.

接下來，我把電話交給 Burnison 先生。Burnison 先生，請開始。

Okay, thank you, sir, and thank you, everybody, for joining us. I'm going to let our team walk through the numbers, but our quarterly performance was outstanding. It marks our fifth consecutive quarter of top-line growth, underscoring the strength of our strategy. But let me first reflect on a moment. On these calls, I used to talk about opportunities measured in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Today, I think in terms of opportunities measured in the billions, far beyond where we are today.

好的，謝謝您，也謝謝各位加入我們。我會讓團隊帶各位走過數字，但我們本季表現非常出色。這是我們連續第五個季度營收成長，凸顯我們策略的強勁力道。不過，先讓我稍作回顧。過去在這些電話會議上，我常談到以數億美元衡量的機會。而今天，我以數十億美元來思考機會，遠遠超出我們目前所在的位置。

In leadership, we spend a lot of time talking about the what, the how and the when. Too often, though, the why and the who get overlooked. Despite all the Korn Ferry's success and evolution, our why has never changed. Enabling people and organizations to be more than, and I was reminded of that a few months ago while I was traveling in the Midwest. And out of nowhere, I heard the sound of a train horn, which I hadn't heard in years.

在領導力議題上，我們花很多時間談「做什麼」、「怎麼做」以及「何時做」。但太常見的是，「為什麼」與「由誰來做」反而被忽略。儘管 Korn Ferry 取得了各種成功並不斷演進，我們的「為什麼」從未改變。那就是讓人與組織能夠成就更多；幾個月前我在美國中西部出差時，再次被提醒了這一點。突然之間，我聽到了火車鳴笛聲——那是我多年未曾聽見的聲音。

It wasn't the sound that struck me. It was that feeling. In an instant, I was taken back to where I was raised, where trains ran next to our house, and that moment peeled back the years and made me reflect about the essence of who we are and what we do. And as I think about the Korn Ferry of today, this image feels particularly relevant.

打動我的不是那個聲音本身。而是那種感覺。一瞬間，我被帶回成長的地方——火車從我們家旁邊駛過；那一刻彷彿掀開歲月的帷幕，讓我反思我們是誰、我們在做什麼的本質。當我想到今日的 Korn Ferry，這個畫面顯得格外貼切。

We're at the intersection of a present that feels far different than our past and the future that will even be brighter than today. That's why our foundational headmark is evolving from one Korn Ferry to We Are Korn Ferry. And We Are Korn Ferry begins with deep client centricity and expanding the breadth of our solutions we deliver within every client relationship. And there are just a few examples during the quarter of a Fortune 50 tech company that turned to us to accelerate their sales organization or a global professional services firm that looked to us as their sole source of interim technology talent.

我們正處在一個交會點：當下與過去截然不同，而未來將比今天更加光明。因此，我們的基礎識別標誌正從「One Korn Ferry」演進為「We Are Korn Ferry」。而「We Are Korn Ferry」始於深度以客戶為中心，並在每一段客戶關係中擴大我們所交付解決方案的廣度。本季僅舉幾個例子：一家《財富》50 大科技公司找上我們，加速其銷售組織的推進；或是一家全球專業服務公司選擇我們作為其臨時科技人才的唯一來源。

I mean, I could go on and on and on, including in the quarter we won a number of substantial RPO engagements, spanning multiple industries across all three regions. And when we take a client-centric approach and we leverage our relationships across geographies and deliver impact with the totality of the firm, we build sustainable relationships of scale.

我的意思是，我還可以一直舉例下去；包括本季我們贏得多項具規模的 RPO 委託案，橫跨多個產業並涵蓋三大區域。當我們採取以客戶為中心的方法，運用跨地域的關係，並以全公司之力交付影響力時，我們就能建立具規模且可持續的關係。

Over the last several months, I've looked in the mirror and realized that what got us here by itself is not what will get us there. To reach our destination, we need to shift our mindset. That's when our whole becomes bigger than the sum of our parts. As such, I want our industries to be accelerators, our solutions to be innovators and enablers, and our geographies to be the integrators. And so starting in this quarter, Q1, our external reporting segments are going to be reflected through a regional lens of the Americas, EMEA, and APAC.

過去幾個月，我反思後意識到：讓我們走到今天的因素，單靠它本身並不足以帶我們到達下一個目標。要抵達目的地，我們需要轉變心態。那時，我們的整體就會大於各部分之和。因此，我希望我們的產業團隊成為加速器、我們的解決方案成為創新者與賦能者，而我們的地理區域成為整合者。因此，自本季（第一季）起，我們對外揭露的報導分部將以區域視角呈現：美洲、EMEA 與 APAC。

And our solution-level detail will be provided in three categories: Search, comprised of Executive Search and Professional Search & Interim; Talent and Organizational Solutions, comprised of Digital and Consulting; and finally Workforce Solutions, comprised of RPO and Interim. These categories serve our clients across the entire talent continuum. Search is about identifying talent, Workforce Solutions is about scaling talent, and Talent and Organizational Solutions is about unlocking potential. Grouping our solutions like this more accurately reflects how work gets done today and orients our services to the competitive landscape and the way clients buy these solutions. I'm confident that amid all the changes in the world today, it can also be the best environment where good companies become even greater, aligning to opportunities ahead.

而我們在解決方案層級的明細將以三大類別提供：Search（搜尋），包含高階主管搜尋（Executive Search）與專業搜尋與臨時（Professional Search & Interim）；Talent and Organizational Solutions（人才與組織解決方案），包含數位（Digital）與顧問（Consulting）；以及最後的 Workforce Solutions（勞動力解決方案），包含 RPO 與 Interim。這些類別在整個人才連續體上為客戶提供服務。Search 著重於辨識人才，Workforce Solutions 著重於擴充人才規模，而 Talent and Organizational Solutions 著重於釋放潛能。以此方式將解決方案分組，更能準確反映當今工作的完成方式，並使我們的服務與競爭格局以及客戶購買這些解決方案的方式相一致。我相信，在當今世界各種變化之中，這也可能是最好的環境——讓好公司變得更卓越，並與前方的機會對齊。

I'm also incredibly proud, enormously proud of our colleagues around the world. Their expertise and passion are the catalyst as we change people's lives, unlock the potential of people, and unleash transformation across organizations.

我也為我們遍布全球的同仁感到無比自豪，極其自豪。他們的專業與熱情是催化劑，讓我們得以改變人們的生命、釋放人的潛能，並在各個組織中引爆轉型。

With that, I'll turn the call over to Bob. Bob, go ahead.

接下來，我把電話交給 Bob。Bob，請開始。

Great, thanks, Gary, and good afternoon and good morning, everybody. I would be remiss if I didn't start by saying thank you to all the colleagues Gary was just referring to, as fiscal '26 was another outstanding year for Korn Ferry. And despite uneven market conditions, uncertain macro environment, we achieved a new fee revenue high and delivered very strong earnings. We continue to skillfully execute our We Are Korn Ferry go-to-market strategy, integrating our intellectual property data along with our consulting capabilities, to drive enterprise-wide results for our clients.

很好，謝謝你，Gary；各位下午好、早安。如果我不先向 Gary 剛才提到的所有同仁致謝，那就說不過去了，因為 2026 會計年度對 Korn Ferry 而言又是非常出色的一年。儘管市場狀況不均、總體環境不確定，我們仍創下費用收入新高，並交出非常強勁的獲利表現。我們持續熟練地執行「We Are Korn Ferry」的市場進入策略，整合我們的智慧財產資料與顧問能力，為客戶推動全企業層級的成果。

We continue to demonstrate how we're different, and we are different. Growing for the fifth consecutive quarter while others in the industry continue to contract or just perform less worse. Our results demonstrate the resilience and effectiveness of our strategy and the benefits of our diversified business model. We continue to evolve into a comprehensive organizational and talent solutions partner for all of our clients.

我們持續展現我們的差異化，而且我們確實與眾不同。在同業仍持續萎縮或只是下滑幅度較小之際，我們已連續第五個季度成長。我們的成果展現了我們策略的韌性與有效性，以及多元化商業模式所帶來的效益。我們持續演進，成為所有客戶的全方位組織與人才解決方案合作夥伴。

We perform differently because we're not simply a monoline transactional business. We're a diversified data and IP-driven talent advisory with multiple synergistic revenue streams and growing earnings power. Now let me turn to our Q4 performance. This will be in addition to the detailed results in the earnings presentation that we posted. I'm going to provide you a couple of company-wide and solutions-specific highlights for the quarter.

我們之所以表現不同，是因為我們不僅僅是單一產品線的交易型業務。我們是以數據與智慧財產（IP）驅動、具多元且相互協同的營收來源並具備持續提升獲利能力的人才顧問服務。現在我來談談我們第四季的表現。這將作為我們已發布之財報簡報中詳細結果的補充。我將提供幾項本季全公司及各解決方案層級的重點摘要。

So for Q4, our ending estimated remaining fees under existing contracts grew 10% year over year to almost $1.9 billion, with growth in every solution. Our business referral rate increased to 29.1% of consolidated fee revenue in the fourth quarter. It's up by about 320 basis points. And the Marquee and Diamond account penetration remained strong at 40% of our consolidated fee revenue. Now both these metrics really demonstrate the effectiveness of our We Are Korn Ferry go-to-market strategy.

就第四季而言，我們在既有合約下期末估計剩餘費用年增10%，接近19億美元，且各項解決方案皆有成長。我們的業務轉介率在第四季提升至合併費用收入的29.1%。約增加320個基點。而 Marquee 與 Diamond 帳戶的滲透率仍維持強勁，佔我們合併費用收入的40%。這兩項指標確實展現了我們「We Are Korn Ferry」市場推進策略的有效性。

Executive Search grew 7% in the fourth quarter and has now grown for eight consecutive quarters. Professional Search & Interim fee revenue was up 14%, with 17% growth in Professional Search and 12% growth in Interim. Our Interim solution continues to perform better than other industry players, driven by both strong business referrals and expanding bill rates. Digital subscription and license fee revenue was up 10% year over year, and last, our Consulting fee revenue grew 7%, driven by an increase in larger engagements and stronger bill rates.

高階人才搜尋（Executive Search）在第四季成長7%，且已連續八個季度成長。專業人才搜尋與臨時人力（Professional Search & Interim）費用收入成長14%，其中專業人才搜尋成長17%，臨時人力成長12%。在強勁的業務轉介與計費費率擴張的帶動下，我們的臨時人力解決方案持續優於其他同業。數位訂閱與授權費用收入年增10%；最後，我們的顧問服務（Consulting）費用收入成長7%，主要受較大型專案增加及更強勁的計費費率所帶動。

Now let me turn to overall company results. For the full year, fee revenue was about $2.9 billion, up 7%. We delivered close to $500 million in Adjusted EBITDA, also up 7%. Adjusted EPS of $5.28, which is also up 8%. Focusing on the fourth quarter, we grew for the fifth consecutive quarter, as Gary mentioned, with consolidated fee revenue up 7%, reaching $760 million.

接著我來談談公司整體業績。全年費用收入約29億美元，成長7%。我們實現接近5億美元的調整後 EBITDA，同樣成長7%。調整後每股盈餘（EPS）為5.28美元，也成長8%。聚焦第四季，如 Gary 所提及，我們已連續第五個季度成長，合併費用收入成長7%，達7.6億美元。

Earnings and profitability also remained strong. Adjusted EBITDA grew $8 million, or 7%, to $130 million. Adjusted EBITDA margin remained very strong at 17%. Adjusted diluted earnings per share grew $0.08, or 6%, to $1.40. Total company new business grew 2% when you exclude RPO 4%. When you include it, the RPO business itself won $137 million of new business in the fourth quarter, and 74% of that came from new logos.

獲利與盈利能力也維持強勁。調整後 EBITDA 增加800萬美元（或7%），至1.3億美元。調整後 EBITDA 利潤率維持在非常強勁的17%。調整後稀釋每股盈餘增加0.08美元（或6%），至1.40美元。若排除 RPO，全集團新業務成長2%（RPO 為4%）。若納入 RPO，RPO 業務本身在第四季贏得1.37億美元新業務，其中74%來自新客戶（new logos）。

As I previously mentioned, estimated remaining fees under existing contracts at the end of the fourth quarter were almost $1.9 billion. 57%, or about $1 billion of that, is projected to be recognized within the next year, and the remaining 43%, or $800 million or so, is going to be recognized beyond the next four quarters.

如我先前提到，第四季末既有合約下的期末估計剩餘費用接近19億美元。其中57%（約10億美元）預計將在未來一年內認列，其餘43%（約8億美元）將在接下來四個季度之後認列。

Now looking at our regional results, fee revenue in the Americas was up 8%, with strength in Executive Search, Pro Search and Interim, and RPO. EMEA revenue also grew 8%, with strong growth in Consulting and Professional Search and Interim. In our Asia Pac, fee revenue was kind of flat year over year.

再看各區域表現，美洲地區費用收入成長8%，高階人才搜尋、專業人才搜尋與臨時人力，以及 RPO 皆表現強勁。EMEA 地區收入亦成長8%，顧問服務以及專業人才搜尋與臨時人力成長強勁。亞太地區（Asia Pac）費用收入則與去年同期大致持平。

Finally, we continue to maintain a disciplined approach to capital allocation. In the fourth quarter, we purchased 1.24 million shares using approximately $78 million. Now if you remember when we talked in our last earnings call, we said we're going to lean more heavily into buybacks, and that's exactly what we did. For all of fiscal '26, we returned $221 million to shareholders through the combination of share repurchases and dividends, invested $85 million into CapEx for the development of Talent Suite and the delivery of all our productivity tools for our solutions.

最後，我們持續維持嚴謹的資本配置方針。在第四季，我們以約7,800萬美元回購124萬股。如果各位還記得我們在上次法說會提到，我們表示將更積極投入回購，而我們確實如此執行。在整個2026會計年度，我們透過股票回購與股利的組合向股東回饋2.21億美元，並投入8,500萬美元資本支出（CapEx），用於 Talent Suite 的開發以及為各項解決方案提供所有生產力工具的交付。

Now turning to our outlook for the first quarter of fiscal '27, assuming no further changes in worldwide geopolitical conditions, economic conditions, financial markets, and foreign exchange rates, we expect fee revenue to range from $725 million to $745 million, our adjusted EBITDA margin to be right around 17%, and our consolidated adjusted earnings per share to range from $1.32 to $1.38.

接著談我們對2027會計年度第一季的展望：在假設全球地緣政治情勢、經濟狀況、金融市場與外匯匯率不再出現進一步變化的前提下，我們預期費用收入將介於7.25億至7.45億美元，調整後 EBITDA 利潤率約為17%，合併調整後每股盈餘預期介於1.32至1.38美元。

Now before I conclude, as Gary mentioned earlier, the company will continue to build on our We Are Korn Ferry go-to-market strategy. We expect this initiative to continue to drive deeper client penetration and industry-leading growth. Through this initiative, we are orienting more towards regions or our integrators, as Gary said. This will also result in a change to the company's financial reporting segments. As Gary mentioned, beginning in the first quarter of fiscal '27, our external reporting segments will transition from global solution-based presentation to three regional reporting segments: the Americas, EMEA, and APAC.

在我結語之前，如 Gary 先前提到，公司將持續以「We Are Korn Ferry」市場推進策略為基礎再接再厲。我們預期此一計畫將持續推動更深的客戶滲透率與業界領先的成長。透過此計畫，我們將更以區域或整合者（integrators）為導向，如 Gary 所說。這也將導致公司財務報導分部的變更。如 Gary 所提，自2027會計年度第一季起，我們對外報導分部將由以全球解決方案為基礎的呈現方式，轉為三個區域報導分部：美洲、EMEA 與 APAC。

The region segment results will include fee revenue and profitability through adjusted EBITDA. And then we'll continue to provide solution-level results for new business, fee revenue, and estimated remaining fees under existing contracts through the three solution groupings, again, Search, Executive Search and Professional Search, Talent and Organizational Solutions, comprised of Consulting and Digital, and Workforce Solutions, comprised of RPO and Interim. We really believe this reporting structure better reflects how work is delivered across the firm, aligns much more closely with how our clients are actually buying our services, and better enables our We Are Korn Ferry operating model.

區域分部的結果將包含費用收入與截至調整後 EBITDA 的獲利表現。此外，我們仍將透過三個解決方案群組提供新業務、費用收入，以及既有合約下估計剩餘費用的解決方案層級結果；同樣地，分別為：搜尋（Search，包含 Executive Search 與 Professional Search）、人才與組織解決方案（Talent and Organizational Solutions，包含 Consulting 與 Digital），以及勞動力解決方案（Workforce Solutions，包含 RPO 與 Interim）。我們確實相信，這樣的報導架構更能反映公司內部如何交付工作，更貼近客戶實際購買我們服務的方式，並更能支援我們的「We Are Korn Ferry」營運模式。

Now, to assist folks in understanding the impact of these changes, the company will be providing recast supplemental unaudited information containing historical financial information for the three reporting segments following the filing of our Q1 FY27 10-Q in September. In addition, our Q1 FY27 press release will reflect the new reporting segments, and the investor presentation that we will post to our website will reflect both the new reporting segments and the selected financial data previously mentioned for our three solution groupings.

為協助各位理解這些變更的影響，公司將在我們於9月提交2027會計年度第一季（Q1 FY27）10-Q 之後，提供重編（recast）的補充未經查核資訊，內容包含三個報導分部的歷史財務資訊。此外，我們的 Q1 FY27 新聞稿將反映新的報導分部，而我們將發布於官網的投資人簡報，將同時反映新的報導分部，以及先前提到的三個解決方案群組之選定財務數據。

Now, in conclusion, we continue to be extremely encouraged by the strength of our business, the progress we've made executing our strategy, and the continued trust our clients place in Korn Ferry. Our diversified portfolio of global scale and integrated solutions position us well to navigate through any business environment. We are going to continue to invest in our people, our platforms, and drive our long-term growth opportunities. We remain focused on driving performance, delivering value to our clients and shareholders, and we look forward to continuing with industry-leading differentiated success in the year ahead.

最後總結，我們對業務的強勁表現、策略執行所取得的進展，以及客戶持續對 Korn Ferry 的信任，仍深受鼓舞。我們具全球規模且整合式解決方案的多元化組合，使我們能在任何商業環境中順利因應。我們將持續投資於我們的人才、平台，並推動長期成長機會。我們仍專注於提升績效、為客戶與股東創造價值，並期待在未來一年持續以業界領先、具差異化的成功表現向前邁進。

With that, we would be glad to answer any questions you may have.

基於此，我們很樂意回答您可能有的任何問題。

(Operator Instructions) Trevor Romeo, William Blair.

（接線員指示）Trevor Romeo，William Blair。

I had a couple on the Executive Search business. First of all, I think in the press release you mentioned winning more work at the higher levels of the organization. I wanted to dig in there. So when you talk about the higher levels of the organization, is that primarily Korn Ferry gaining market share in those areas or some kind of shift in the client base, and is that a sustainable trend that you would see continuing?

我有幾個關於高階主管獵才（Executive Search）業務的問題。首先，我想在新聞稿中你們提到在組織更高層級贏得了更多案子。我想深入了解一下。所以當你們談到組織更高層級時，這主要是 Korn Ferry 在那些領域取得市占，還是客戶基礎出現某種轉移？而且這是否是一個可持續、你們認為會延續的趨勢？

Well, certainly, I'll tell you that over the long run here, the brand around the Executive Search solution has certainly gone upmarket. And you can just look at the climb in our average fees, and the average fees are up almost 10% just over the last couple of years. And if I go further back than that, it would be very dramatic. So I think that we've proven that we can take the access that's afforded us and surround it with a lot of adjacent solutions that not only diversifies the firm, but positions us.

嗯，當然，長期來看，我可以告訴你，高階主管獵才解決方案的品牌定位確實已經往更高端市場移動。你只要看看我們平均費用的上升即可；平均費用在過去幾年就上升了將近 10%。如果我再往更早之前回溯，那會更為顯著。所以我認為我們已經證明，我們能夠運用所獲得的接觸機會，並以許多相鄰的解決方案加以環繞，這不僅讓公司更多元化，也讓我們的定位更有利。

And I can think of six or seven big marquee consumer CEO changes this year in the United States that we were part of. So yeah, we've definitely moved that brand. Now whether we're taking market share or not, I don't look at -- I look at the market opportunity as $300 billion. I think the search market is probably $14 billion or $15 billion, so we tend to look at the $300 billion and what we can do to drive share there.

而且我可以想到今年在美國有六、七個大型、具指標性的消費產業 CEO 更替案，我們都有參與。所以是的，我們確實推動了這個品牌往上移。至於我們是否在取得市占，我不會那樣看——我把市場機會看作是 3,000 億美元。我認為獵才市場大概是 140 億或 150 億美元，所以我們傾向於看 3,000 億美元的市場，以及我們能做什麼來推動在那裡的份額。

Having said that, it is incredibly important to us that it gives us unparalleled access, and I think we've proven that if we're careful about it with high quality, we can monetize that access.

話雖如此，對我們而言，這能帶來無與倫比的接觸機會極其重要；而且我認為我們已經證明，只要以高品質並謹慎地運作，我們就能將這些接觸機會變現。

And maybe a follow-up on the search business again just in terms of the volume side. I think that's been a pretty good story the last few years with executive turnover being kind of elevated and the demographics and such, but I think this quarter the new engagements were more like flat-ish. So from what you can see in the pipeline, I guess what would you say about the volume trends that you see now and you'd expect going forward? Is that moderating or what would you see there?

另外再追問一下獵才業務，主要是量的部分。過去幾年這一直是個不錯的故事，因為高階主管流動率偏高、人口結構等因素；但我想這一季的新案委託（new engagements）看起來比較像是持平。所以就你們在管線中所看到的，我想問你們現在看到、以及對未來的量的趨勢會怎麼說？這是在降溫嗎？或你們會怎麼看？

Well, it's certainly been, it's certainly been -- it's accelerated for sure over the last couple of years. I'll just tell you that trailing four months here and even so far this month, it's looking very good. And so, again, I'm going to like on the last quarterly earnings call, I mean, our business essentially deals with the outliers of achievement, and whether that is in Workforce Solutions or Talent and Organizational Solutions, it's dealing at the very, very high end.

嗯，這確實——這確實在過去幾年明顯加速。我只能告訴你，過去四個月（rolling four months），甚至到本月目前為止，看起來都非常不錯。所以，再次呼應我在上一季財報電話會議上說的，我們的業務本質上是在服務卓越成就的「離群值」；不論是在 Workforce Solutions 或 Talent and Organizational Solutions，都是在非常、非常高端的層級運作。

And out of the 170 million working Americans, it's certainly with the outliers of achievement, the 10 million or 15 million that would be, quote, in the C-suite or upper management. So I can only tell you that the demographic trends are real, and the last four months have continued on pace.

在 1.7 億名美國勞動人口中，我們確實是在服務那些成就的離群值——大約 1,000 萬到 1,500 萬名可被稱為 C-suite 或高階管理層的人。所以我只能說，人口結構的趨勢是真實存在的，而過去四個月也持續維持同樣的步調。

Okay, thanks again. And maybe one more, if you don't mind, kind of a similar theme, but on the Pro Search and Interim side. I think a lot of the growth there seems to be driven by maybe mix shift to higher skills, higher salaries, like the Interim bill rate being up $20 versus last year. I think the Pro Search fee per placement is also growing nicely, so maybe you could just speak to what you're seeing across the different verticals in that business and maybe in the context of the skill sets where you're seeing the candidates move up in the skill set curve and how that's helping you outperform the peer set there.

好的，再次感謝。如果你不介意，我再問一個，主題有點類似，但關於 Pro Search 和 Interim（臨時人力）這一塊。我認為那邊的成長似乎很大程度是由組合轉向更高技能、更高薪資所帶動，例如 Interim 的計費時薪（bill rate）比去年高了 20 美元。我想 Pro Search 的每次媒合費用（fee per placement）也成長得不錯，所以也許你可以談談你們在該業務不同垂直領域看到的情況，以及就技能組合而言，你們看到候選人在技能曲線上移的狀況，如何幫助你們在同業中表現更突出。

Well, I think the outperformance is, I would point to the ability to have a client-centric approach and drive deeper relationships with our clients. So what we found is that solution is very synergistic with the rest of the firm. That is number one. And we have seen -- we just got into that solution 5.5 years ago, and today, for example, in Interim, that's almost a $400 million annual solution, where there's a market opportunity of billions and billions of dollars, and it's the same for RPO.

嗯，我認為表現優於同業的原因，我會指向我們能以客戶為中心的方法，並與客戶建立更深的關係。因此我們發現，這個解決方案與公司其他業務具有很強的協同效應。這是第一點。而且我們也看到——我們是在 5.5 年前才進入這個解決方案；而今天，例如在 Interim 方面，這幾乎已是一個年化接近 4 億美元的解決方案，而市場機會則是數十億、數十億美元；RPO 也是一樣。

Both of those are massive markets, and clearly over time here, I mean, I think we started, Bob, with the rate per hour in the Interim was like 100, and it was close to $100. Yeah, and so it's gone from $100 to $150, and right now the principal areas that we are in are technology, finance, and accounting, HR and supply chain. But you can imagine that we're just getting started here on this.

這兩個都是非常龐大的市場，而且很明顯，隨著時間推進——我的意思是，我想我們一開始，Bob，Interim 的每小時費率大概是 100，接近 100 美元。對，所以它已經從 100 美元到 150 美元；而目前我們主要聚焦的領域是科技、財務與會計、人資以及供應鏈。但你可以想像，我們在這方面其實才剛開始。

And so we've definitely seen a pickup over the last three months or so, four months, around the Interim solution. And so some of that, clearly some of that is market, right. The penetration level was going down forever, 36, 37 months. And so you've seen that, that's stabilized. That has definitely helped, but I think it's the other factors as well.

因此，在過去三個月左右、四個月，我們確實看到 Interim 解決方案有所回升。所以其中一部分，顯然有一部分是市場因素，對吧。滲透率（penetration level）之前一路下滑了很久，36、37 個月。所以你已經看到那個趨勢穩定下來。這確實有幫助，但我認為也還有其他因素。

And like I said, we're just getting started with this.

而且如我所說，我們在這方面才剛開始。

Yeah, Trevor, this is Bob. The thing I would add to it is it's being part of our ecosystem. So you heard Gary talk about the size of the Interim business. North of 10% of it comes from referrals across the organization, right? So those are engagements that never would have existed had they not been part of the Korn Ferry family.

是的，Trevor，我是 Bob。我想補充的是，這是因為它成為我們生態系的一部分。所以你聽到 Gary 談到 Interim 業務的規模。其中超過 10% 來自於組織內部的轉介，對吧？所以如果它們不是 Korn Ferry 家族的一部分，這些委託案根本不會存在。

The other stat I mentioned in my remarks are business referrals. So the referred work across the system is now up to a little bit north of 29%, right? If you go back prior to the beginning of this year, we were stuck at 25% for a number of quarters. You put the We Are Korn Ferry go-to-market strategy in place at the beginning of this year, and you've seen that ramp throughout the course of the year up to 29% now.

我在發言中提到的另一個數據是業務轉介。因此，整個系統內的轉介工作現在已經上升到略高於 29%，對吧？如果你回到今年年初之前，我們有好幾季都卡在 25%。你們在今年年初導入「We Are Korn Ferry」的 go-to-market 策略後，你就看到它在一年當中一路爬升，到現在的 29%。

So I think some of what you're seeing in these businesses is just being part of our ecosystem, and engagements and deeper client penetration result in more business referrals across.

所以我認為你在這些業務中看到的一部分，就是成為我們生態系的一部分；而委託案與更深的客戶滲透，會帶來更多跨部門的業務轉介。

That all makes sense. All right, thank you guys very much. I appreciate it.

這一切都很合理。好，真的非常感謝各位。我很感激。

George Tong, Goldman Sachs.

George Tong，高盛。

A little bit deeper into the new business trends. So ex-RPO new business was up 2% year over year or relatively flat on a constant currency basis, and that moderated a bit from the prior quarter. Can you talk about what contributed to the deceleration in new business ex-RPO and what the implications are for revenue over the next year?

我想再更深入談一下新的業務趨勢。因此，剔除 RPO 的新業務年增 2%，若以固定匯率計則大致持平，而且相較上一季略有放緩。你們能談談是什麼因素導致剔除 RPO 的新業務增速放緩，以及這對未來一年營收有何意涵嗎？

Yeah. It's a little thing called the war, so the Middle East. It definitely has had an impact in a big way on the levels of new business. And it's a little bit of a flywheel impact, so trailing four months, we've seen strong new business in the Americas, but it's definitely impacted APAC. No question about it, and it's obviously impacted EMEA in the Middle East. So that's what I would point to.

是的。有個小事叫做戰爭，也就是中東局勢。它確實在很大程度上影響了新業務的水準。而且有點像飛輪效應，過去四個月，我們在美洲看到強勁的新業務，但它確實影響了亞太。毫無疑問，而且顯然也影響了 EMEA 在中東的業務。所以我會把原因歸結於此。

Got it. And then with respect to margins, EBITDA margins in the quarter were flat year over year. Can you talk about some of the puts and takes on margin performance?

了解。接著關於利潤率，本季 EBITDA 利潤率與去年同期持平。你們能談談利潤率表現的一些正負因素嗎？

Yeah, I'm glad you asked that, George, because I saw your note, you mentioned that. There's really one reason why. I mean, if you look at the revenue overperformance in the quarter, you have to pay people for that, and so we ended up having to book more bonus expense in the quarter, which is something I'd happily do to drive that type of revenue growth every quarter, to be honest with you.

是的，我很高興你問到這點，George，因為我看到你的備註，你提到了這個。其實主要就一個原因。我的意思是，如果你看本季營收超預期的表現，你得為此付錢給員工，所以我們最後必須在本季認列更多的獎金費用；坦白說，如果能在每一季都帶動這種營收成長，我很樂意這麼做。

Got it. Very helpful.

了解。非常有幫助。

Mark Marcon, Baird.

Mark Marcon，Baird。

Hey, good morning or good afternoon, depending on where you are. Really nice results. Gary, can you talk a little bit about just from a leadership perspective internally to Korn Ferry, what you're going to do in terms of reporting structures? Are you going to have like a head of Search, a head of Talent and Organizational Solutions, a head of Workforce Solutions, or are you going to have the head of Americas and EMEA and APAC? How is that going to work? How does the reporting structure go? How is it going to end up optimizing the performance on a go-forward basis for you?

嗨，早安或午安，取決於你所在的地方。結果真的很不錯。Gary，你能從 Korn Ferry 內部領導的角度談談，你們在匯報架構方面打算怎麼做嗎？你們會設置例如 Search 的負責人、Talent and Organizational Solutions 的負責人、Workforce Solutions 的負責人，還是會設置美洲、EMEA 和 APAC 的負責人？這會怎麼運作？匯報架構會怎麼走？它最終將如何在未來幫你們優化績效？

Well, I -- So first of all, we started this a little bit over a year ago, Mark. And the starting point is mindset. And so we've been very, very deliberate, starting with leadership 15 months ago around mindset and client centricity. Up to this point, we haven't -- we don't have five businesses. We have one business with up to this point five solutions.

嗯，我——所以首先，我們在一年多前就開始做這件事了，Mark。起點是心態。因此我們非常、非常審慎地推動，從 15 個月前的領導團隊開始，圍繞心態與以客戶為中心。到目前為止，我們並不是——我們沒有五個業務。我們是一個業務，只是到目前為止有五個解決方案。

So you are going to be left with a matrix organization for sure. And the truth is that we have to pivot more towards geographies. We were, I think, a little bit over-indexed on solutions, and so we do have a head of APAC, the Americas, and EMEA. And if you want to get at client centricity, you've got to get at it both top down through the enterprise accounts, but you also have to do it bottom up.

所以你們肯定會是一個矩陣式組織。而事實是，我們必須更多轉向以地理區域為主。我認為我們過去在解決方案上有點過度偏重，因此我們確實有 APAC、美洲與 EMEA 的負責人。如果你要做到以客戶為中心，你必須一方面自上而下透過企業級客戶（enterprise accounts）來推動，但同時也必須自下而上。

And the bottom up is on a regional basis. And so we have carefully over time here, over the last year, shifted mindset. Now ultimately, say in another year, where that ends up, to directly answer your question, I think that's premature, but for sure we've shifted the focus of the organization, including the 1,800 partners and principals that we have at the firm that are responsible for originating business.

而自下而上是以區域為基礎。因此在過去一年裡，我們隨著時間推進，已經謹慎地轉變了心態。至於最終——比如再過一年——會走到哪一步，直接回答你的問題，我覺得現在下結論還太早；但可以確定的是，我們已經把組織的重點轉移了，包括公司內 1,800 位合夥人與資深主管（principals），他們負責開發業務。

And every single day now, the leadership team looks at every piece of new business that's opened over a certain level. And keep in mind, you're talking about 40 or 50 engagements a day, where the team and it's very programmatic with the regional leaders, with the solution leaders, with the industry leaders about who does what. And we are looking at each of those engagements to making sure that we have a good team on it, what the opportunity is, and whether we can not only land something but expand it.

而且現在每天，領導團隊都會檢視所有達到某個金額門檻以上的新案子。請記住，你說的是每天 40 或 50 個案子；團隊會以非常制度化的方式，與區域負責人、解決方案負責人、產業負責人一起，釐清誰負責什麼。我們會逐一檢視每個案子，確保配置了合適的團隊、了解機會在哪裡，以及我們是否不僅能拿下案子，還能進一步擴大合作。

So every single day that's been happening now for about 13 or 14 months. And so my starting point rather than org structure has been on mindset: mindset of our leaders and mindset of the organization. Because the fact is, when you look at the data, we do business with almost 14,000 clients around the world. 5,000 of those clients represent 90% of our revenue. When you look at those 5,000, you're going to find that 60%, 65% of those are only utilizing about 1.5 of our solutions. And if you look at the logos there, the opportunity just comes screaming off the page. So I think we have to continue to evolve this organization.

所以這件事每天都在發生，現在大概已經持續了 13 或 14 個月。因此我的起點與其說是組織架構，不如說是心態：領導者的心態，以及整個組織的心態。因為事實是，當你看數據，我們在全球幾乎服務 14,000 家客戶，其中 5,000 家客戶貢獻了我們 90% 的營收。再看這 5,000 家，你會發現其中 60%、65% 只使用了我們大約 1.5 項解決方案。如果你看那些客戶標誌（logos），機會簡直躍然紙上。所以我認為我們必須持續演進這個組織。

And I just looked in the mirror a year ago, Mark, and I said, wow, what you're doing, including how you're going to clients, how you're representing yourself to Wall Street, you're dividing before you are uniting. We have one firm, and what I want in three years is that when colleagues go to clients, they say we are from Korn Ferry, not I'm from this or I'm from that. And that's really what we're striving for in a deeper penetration of that very, very rich client base.

而我在一年前照鏡子時，Mark，我說，哇，你現在做的事情——包括你如何拜訪客戶、如何向華爾街呈現自己——是在團結之前先把自己分割了。我們是一家事務所（firm），而我希望三年後，同仁去見客戶時會說「我們來自 Korn Ferry」，而不是「我來自這個」或「我來自那個」。這正是我們努力的方向：在那個非常、非常優質的客戶基礎上做更深的滲透。

Totally makes sense. And so I hate to ask a segment question after that. But how should we think about the margins on Digital and Consulting? Was that also reflective of the strong performance and then the bonuses that were associated there?

完全合理。所以在你講完這些之後，我有點不好意思再問分部問題。但我們應該如何看待 Digital 和 Consulting 的利潤率？那是否也反映了強勁表現，以及相關的獎金支出？

I think the reality is we had pretty broad-based growth across the firm, Mark, with the exception, as George -- the exception is the Middle East. And I didn't finish my answer to George. Hopefully -- What we've seen in every crisis is opportunity, but we've also seen in every crisis there's pent-up demand.

我認為現實是，除了——如同 George 提到的——例外是中東之外，我們在公司各業務線都出現相當廣泛的成長，Mark。而且我對 George 的回答還沒講完。希望——我們在每一次危機中都看到了機會，但我們也看到每一次危機都會帶來被壓抑的需求。

And so I do believe as hopefully as the skies clear here and oil starts to flow through the Strait, I think you're probably going to see some pent-up demand. It may be six months out, but there's no doubt that that has had an impact on the levels of new business for sure. But I would say, Mark, that it was pretty broad-based.

因此我確實相信，隨著情勢希望逐漸明朗、石油開始通過海峽流通，我想你可能會看到一些被壓抑的需求釋放。也許要等六個月，但毫無疑問，這確實影響了新業務的水準。但我會說，Mark，整體而言成長是相當廣泛的。

Okay, that's great. And are you, I know it's really early, Gary, but are you seeing any signs of, at least in APAC and EMEA, in terms of some increased optimism and saying, okay, looks like things are finally getting back to normal and we should see a decent burst?

好的，那太好了。我知道現在還很早，Gary，但你是否看到任何跡象——至少在亞太（APAC）和歐洲、中東及非洲（EMEA）——顯示樂觀情緒有所升溫，大家覺得，好吧，看起來事情終於要回到正常軌道，我們應該會看到一波不錯的反彈？

We just had a bunch of colleagues together from all over, actually all over the world, about 700 of our partners and principals, and there is definite hope. Can I say so far this month have we seen it? Not materially, but I do think that calmer minds will prevail here. And there's probably going to be some pent-up demand for sure.

我們剛把來自各地的同事聚在一起，實際上是來自全球各地，大約700位我們的合夥人與負責人，確實有明顯的希望。要我說到目前為止這個月我們有看到嗎？沒有顯著到足以稱之為明確趨勢，但我確實認為大家會更冷靜地看待這件事。而且肯定會有一些被壓抑的需求。

Tobey Sommer, Truist.

Tobey Sommer，Truist。

I wanted to ask about what initiatives or changes you have in place. Maybe dovetails into the new segment reporting to drive that 29% of referred sales to a higher level. Is there an accompanying sort of change in incentive comps in addition to reporting structure? What levers are you trying to pull?

我想問一下你們目前有哪些措施或變革。也許可以和新的分部揭露（segment reporting）相呼應，用來把目前29%的轉介銷售占比推到更高。除了揭露架構之外，是否也同步調整了獎酬激勵（incentive comps）？你們想拉動哪些槓桿？

Hey, Tobey, it's Bob. Yeah, one of the things I've noticed, again, if you go back and you look at the program that we've had in place to drive that way back in 2018 or 2019, it was 14%, and we put the program in place, and every year we continue to open it up for more people and make it a little bit richer, and we saw success up to a point, right? And we kind of got stuck at 25%, and we were there for whatever it was, four or five quarters in a row.

嗨，Tobey，我是Bob。是的，我注意到的一點是，如果你回頭看我們在2018或2019年為了推動這件事所建立的計畫，當時占比是14%，我們把計畫上線後，每一年都持續對更多人開放，並讓方案更有吸引力，我們也確實在某個階段看到成效，對吧？然後我們有點卡在25%，而且連續四、五個季度都維持在那裡。

And then to use Gary's phrase in one of his earlier responses, it really is about changing mindset now. And what we're doing literally, we get together, we get those emails every day, we get together every other Monday, we go through the opportunities that arose over the prior two weeks.

接著借用Gary在先前回答中的一句話，現在關鍵真的在於改變心態。我們實際在做的是：我們每天都會收到那些電子郵件，我們每隔一個星期一就會聚在一起，檢視前兩週出現的機會。

We go through all of our, what we call must-wins, those are engagements over threshold. We go through all of our Marquee and Diamond accounts, and it's every two weeks. And the collaboration that we're getting and the mindset change that we're getting from our folks, I think, is actually what's influenced us to go from the 25% to 27%, because I made the program richer again, we broadened it out, and we were kind of stuck.

我們會檢視所有我們所謂的「必勝案」（must-wins），也就是超過門檻的案子。我們會檢視所有的Marquee與Diamond客戶，而且每兩週一次。我認為，我們的人所展現出的協作程度與心態轉變，才是真正影響我們從25%提升到27%的原因，因為我又把計畫做得更有吸引力、也擴大適用範圍，但我們之前仍然有點卡住。

I think this next level of achievement is really driven by the behaviors and practices that we're putting in place at the organization.

我認為下一個層級的達成，真正是由我們在組織內推動的行為與作法所驅動。

In Consulting, can you talk about the degree to which some of your services, because I know it's a broad array of things that you're doing, are priced on a value basis as opposed to time and materials and the average bill rates and hours billed to the client or whether you see it transforming at all?

在顧問（Consulting）方面，你能談談你們部分服務——我知道你們做的範圍很廣——有多大程度是採「價值定價」而不是按工時與材料（time and materials），以及你們目前揭露的平均計費率與對客戶計費的工時，或你是否看到這方面會有任何轉變？

Yeah, I do, I actually do. I think even there's a number of solutions that could actually transform, including Search. It's pretty -- it's kind of archaic how the industry does that. I think there's now an opportunity once you get to a scale that you can actually change the paradigm. So could Search be sold as a service, could you sign up as a retainer?

是的，我認為會，我其實認為會。我覺得甚至有不少解決方案都可能轉型，包括獵才（Search）。這個產業目前的做法相當——有點過時。我認為當你達到一定規模後，現在有機會改變整個典範。所以獵才能不能以服務方式銷售？能不能用顧問費（retainer）訂閱？

I do believe that there is the opportunity, and we're pushing the team, particularly on the Consulting side, to look at value, because up to this point, it's been pretty much the old method. I mean, not totally, but that's probably truer than not. And I'm pretty convinced of the value that we bring.

我確實相信存在這樣的機會，我們也在推動團隊——特別是顧問端——去看「價值」這件事，因為到目前為止，基本上仍是舊方法。我的意思是，不是完全如此，但大致上更接近是而不是否。而我對我們帶來的價值非常有信心。

You have to align strategy with an organization, with people, with compensation, how you develop people. I just know out of all my years as CEO it's about people, it's about talent. Players win games, coaches lose games. So we're challenging the team.

你必須把策略與組織、人才、薪酬，以及你如何培育人才對齊。以我多年擔任CEO的經驗，我很清楚關鍵在於人、在於人才。球員贏得比賽，教練輸掉比賽。所以我們正在挑戰團隊。

I can't say that we have an answer today, but I would expect that to change quite a bit actually over the next three years. I wouldn't be a bit surprised by that.

我不能說我們今天就有答案，但我預期在接下來三年其實會有相當大的改變。我一點也不會意外。

The bill rates in Consulting that you report currently, are they an imputed bill rate or is that literally the average rate that clients are seeing on invoices?

你們目前揭露的顧問業務計費率（bill rates），那是推估（imputed）的計費率，還是客戶在發票上實際看到的平均費率？

Well, I'm not going to say what they see on the invoices, but that's a real rate. I mean, that's a real economic rate per hour, for sure.

嗯，我不會說他們在發票上看到的是什麼，但那是一個真實的費率。我的意思是，那確實是每小時的真實經濟費率。

Yeah, Tobey, you basically take our fee revenues and divide the hours worked into it to come up what the average billing rate would be.

是的，Tobey，你基本上就是把我們的費用收入（fee revenues）除以投入的工時，來算出平均計費率會是多少。

But again, just to be clear, so that I answer the question correctly, we may not engage with a client in that way. We will say for a project, phase 1 is this, phase 2 is that. So we don't sit there and charge like a law firm would by the hour. That's not -- so I don't want to give you the wrong impression. But I do believe, in terms of the spirit of your question around value, I think there's something there.

但再說一次，為了講清楚、也確保我正確回答你的問題，我們未必是用那種方式與客戶合作。我們會說某個專案第一階段是這樣、第二階段是那樣。所以我們不會像律師事務所那樣按小時計費。那不是——所以我不想給你錯誤印象。但我確實相信，就你問到的「價值」精神而言，我覺得那裡面有一些空間。

And if I sneak one last one in, with respect to the Executive Search business and AI, private companies say that they can do some of the intermediate steps in deliveries along a search process more efficiently, but customers just ask for more, want to see more candidates, et cetera. So they're kind of neither experiencing margin expansion from efficiencies nor faster trying to completion or price erosion. What's your experience in that realm?

如果我再偷問最後一題，關於高階主管獵才（Executive Search）業務與AI：一些私營公司表示，他們可以在獵才流程中的某些中間交付步驟做得更有效率，但客戶反而只是要求更多、想看更多候選人等等。所以他們既沒有因效率提升而出現利潤率擴張，也沒有更快完成，或出現價格下滑。你們在這方面的經驗是什麼？

We have 17 work streams, 5 are anchored around Search, and what we're concerned about there, clearly what the efforts are showing us is we can be way more efficient. No doubt about it. That's now been proven over the last year on these five work streams out of the 17, no doubt about it. But what we're very mindful of where we operate is that we have tremendous IP, and we use that IP when assessing candidates.

我們有17個工作流（work streams），其中5個是以獵才（Search）為核心；我們在那裡關注的是，很明顯，這些努力所顯示的是我們可以變得更有效率。毫無疑問。在這17個中的5個工作流上，過去一年已經證明了這一點，毫無疑問。但我們非常留意我們所處的領域：我們擁有大量的智慧財產（IP），而我們在評估候選人時會使用這些IP。

When we do it in our Consulting solution, we use the same IP throughout the entire firm. We use it in our RPO solution as well. What we are very protective of is we don't want that proprietary data to get outside. And so as we go down this path, for me, anybody can generate a name.

在我們的顧問解決方案中，我們在整個公司都使用同一套IP。在我們的RPO解決方案中也同樣使用。我們非常保護的一點是：我們不希望那些專有資料外流。因此當我們沿著這條路走下去，對我而言，任何人都可以產生一個名字。

And it's not what they've done, it's who they are. And when you're talking about the outliers of achievement here, I'm still going to put a very strong argument forward that it's around culture fit. And we're not human doings, we're human beings. AI is not going to disintermediate humanity.

而且重點不在於他們做了什麼，而在於他們是什麼樣的人。當你在談這裡那些成就的離群值時，我仍然會提出一個非常有力的論點：關鍵在於文化契合度。我們不是「做事的人」，我們是「成為的人」。AI 不會取代人性在其中的角色。

Will technology make us more efficient? Yes. Will it solve the supply and demand imbalance of labor, absent immigration? Yes. Will it make our firm more efficient? For sure, that's what the 17 work streams are showing. But at the same time, we want to make sure that we protect our IP, particularly that we're operating in 70 countries, 100 countries around the world with different privacy laws.

科技會讓我們更有效率嗎？會。在沒有移民的情況下，它會解決勞動力供需失衡嗎？會。它會讓我們公司更有效率嗎？當然，這正是那 17 個工作流程所顯示的。但同時，我們也要確保保護我們的智慧財產權（IP），尤其是我們在全球約 70 個國家、100 個國家營運，各地隱私法規不同。

We are very, very careful about letting that out. We're in the trust business, and so I'm not that focused on the efficiency gain for the Search process that we're going to get from AI. Are we doing it? Yes, we're absolutely doing it, but I'm focused on the customer experience.

我們對於把那些東西放出去非常、非常謹慎。我們做的是信任的生意，因此我並不那麼聚焦於 AI 將為我們的搜尋（Search）流程帶來的效率提升。我們有在做嗎？有，我們絕對在做，但我更關注的是客戶體驗。

And so we have a lot of things in motion there, but I'm telling you, I'm going to be very conservative around who people are, what they tell us, what their assessments show. We've done 113 million assessments of executives. We have to guard that data, and that is a big differentiator for us. So yes, we're definitely using it.

因此我們在那方面有很多事情正在推進，但我告訴你，我會在「人是誰」、他們告訴我們什麼、以及他們的評估結果顯示什麼這些方面採取非常保守的態度。我們已經對高階主管做了 1.13 億次評估。我們必須守護這些資料，而這對我們而言是一個很大的差異化優勢。所以是的，我們確實在使用它。

We're using it in the Learning and Development solution in terms of coaching, using agents. And we can all have different views on that. But clearly, we're headed in a direction where technology is going to have to fill the gap between supply and demand imbalance of labor.

我們在學習與發展（Learning and Development）解決方案中使用它，用於教練輔導（coaching），並使用代理（agents）。對此我們每個人都可能有不同看法。但很明顯，我們正朝著一個方向前進：科技將不得不填補勞動力供需失衡之間的缺口。

Josh Chan, UBS.

Josh Chan，瑞銀（UBS）。

Hi, this is Karan Singhania on for Josh. I want to ask on the North America Executive Search business. It looks like margins in the business have been pretty strong at -- it looks like 21% this quarter. So just wondering how should we think about margins for the segments for this year?

嗨，我是 Karan Singhania，代 Josh 提問。我想問一下北美高階主管獵才（Executive Search）業務。看起來該業務的利潤率一直相當強勁——本季看起來是 21%。所以想請教，我們今年應該如何看待各分部的利潤率？

I would say that the margin profile again, I wouldn't focus necessarily on Search in North America because it's a pretty big company and we've got a lot of levers to pull. I would just keep you focused on the range that we've talked about from an overall Korn Ferry perspective in the 16% to 18%.

我會說，利潤率輪廓（margin profile）方面，我不會特別只聚焦北美的 Search，因為我們是一家規模相當大的公司，而且我們有很多槓桿可以運用。我會請你把焦點放在我們從 Korn Ferry 整體角度所談到的區間，也就是 16% 到 18%。

We guided to Q1 right smack in the middle of that at 17%, and that's how we're managing the business. So we don't -- to Gary's point earlier, when you think about the mindset change, we can't look at clients and go to market one way and then manage internally a different way. So as Gary said, we're one, we've got five offerings, but we're managing the firm as one firm, so I'd suggest that you just focus on the 16% to 18%.

我們對第一季（Q1）的指引正好落在該區間的中間值 17%，而這就是我們管理業務的方式。所以我們不會——呼應 Gary 先前的觀點，當你談到心態的改變時，我們不能對客戶與市場採用一種方式，卻在內部用另一種方式管理。因此如 Gary 所說，我們是一體的，我們有五項服務，但我們是以一家公司的方式來管理整個公司，所以我建議你就聚焦在 16% 到 18%。

Okay. Got it. And as my follow-up, how should we think about the capital allocation priorities for this year? Would you continue to lean more heavily towards buybacks, and also in CapEx, do you expect it to come back to more normalized levels this year?

好的。了解。那我的追問是，今年的資本配置優先順序應該如何看待？你們是否會繼續更偏向股票回購？另外在資本支出（CapEx）方面，你們預期今年會回到較正常化的水準嗎？

So typically over time, we've deployed a pretty balanced approach, systematic approach to capital deployment. Clearly, in this last quarter, as we said we were going to do on the last call and as Bob mentioned earlier, we did what we said. Clearly, when you look at the firm over the last 10, 15 years, 20 years, 60% of our growth has been organic and 40% has been inorganic.

所以通常長期來看，我們在資本部署上採取相當均衡、系統性的做法。很明顯，在上一季，正如我們在上一次電話會議所說會做的，以及 Bob 先前提到的，我們做到了我們說要做的事。同樣很明顯的是，當你回顧公司過去 10 年、15 年、20 年，我們 60% 的成長來自有機成長，40% 來自非有機成長。

And the last investment that we made was in the Interim solution, which was an organization in the UK and Ireland, and it's been an absolute home run for us, and that was almost two years ago. So there's been periods of time where we've leaned more into stock buybacks. We've been consistently raising our dividend for, I don't know, six or seven years, and there's times when we lean more into inorganic growth.

而我們最近一次的投資是在臨時（Interim）解決方案上，那是一家位於英國與愛爾蘭的組織，對我們而言是一次非常成功的投資，而那已經是將近兩年前的事了。所以在某些時期，我們會更偏向股票回購。我們已經連續提高股利，我不確定，大概六、七年了，而也有一些時候我們會更偏向非有機成長。

There are no further questions, Mr. Burnison.

Burnison 先生，沒有其他問題了。

Okay, Sarah, thank you for hosting. Thank you for everybody for joining us, and we'll talk to you soon. Thanks, everybody.

好的，Sarah，謝謝你主持。也謝謝各位加入我們，我們很快再聊。謝謝大家。

Ladies and gentlemen, this conference call will be available for replay for one week starting today, running through the day June 30, 2026, ending at midnight. You may access the Echo replay service by dialing 800-770-2030 and entering the access code 4218957 followed by the pound key. Additionally, the replay will be available for playback at the company's website www.kornferry.com in the Investor Relations section.

各位女士先生，本次電話會議的重播將自今日起提供一週，至 2026 年 6 月 30 日當天為止，並於午夜結束。您可撥打 800-770-2030 並輸入存取碼 4218957，然後按井字鍵，以使用 Echo 重播服務。此外，重播也將在公司網站 www.kornferry.com 的投資人關係（Investor Relations）專區提供播放。

Thank you for joining. You may now disconnect.

感謝您的參與。您現在可以掛線。