ManpowerGroup Inc (MAN) 2023 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Welcome to ManpowerGroup's Third Quarter Earnings Results Conference Call. (Operator Instructions). This call is being recorded. If you care to drop off now, please do so.

歡迎參加萬寶盛華第三季獲利結果電話會議。 （操作員說明）。此通話正在錄音。如果您現在想下車，請這樣做。

I would now like to turn the call over to ManpowerGroup's Chairman and CEO, Mr. Jonas Prising. Sir, you may begin.

我現在想將電話轉給萬寶盛華集團董事長兼執行長喬納斯·普里辛先生。先生，您可以開始了。

Welcome to the third quarter conference call for 2023. Our Chief Financial Officer, Jack McGinnis, is with me today. For your convenience, we have included our prepared remarks within the Investor Relations section of our website at manpowergroup.com.

歡迎參加 2023 年第三季電話會議。我們的財務長 Jack McGinnis 今天和我在一起。為了您的方便，我們已將準備好的評論納入我們網站 manpowergroup.com 的投資者關係部分。

I will start by going through some of the highlights of the quarter, then Jack will go through the third quarter results and guidance for the fourth quarter of 2023. I will then share some concluding thoughts before we start our Q&A session. Jack will now cover the Safe Harbor language.

我將首先介紹本季的一些亮點，然後 Jack 將介紹第三季的業績和 2023 年第四季的指導。然後，在我們開始問答環節之前，我將分享一些結論性的想法。傑克現在將介紹安全港語言。

Good morning, everyone. This conference call includes forward-looking statements, including statements concerning economic and geopolitical uncertainty, which are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties. These statements are based on management's current expectations or beliefs. Actual results might differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. We assume no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements.

大家，早安。本次電話會議包含前瞻性陳述，包括有關經濟和地緣政治不確定性的陳述，這些陳述受到已知和未知的風險和不確定性的影響。這些陳述是基於管理層目前的期望或信念。實際結果可能與前瞻性陳述中的預測有重大差異。我們不承擔更新或修改任何前瞻性陳述的義務。

Slide 2 of our earnings release presentation further identifies forward-looking statements made in this call and factors that may cause our actual results to differ materially and information regarding reconciliation of non-GAAP measures.

我們的收益發布簡報的投影片 2 進一步確定了本次電話會議中所做的前瞻性陳述以及可能導致我們的實際結果出現重大差異的因素以及有關非公認會計準則措施調節的資訊。

Thanks, Jack. I'd like to open by sharing our sadness at the devastating terrorist attacks on Israel and the unfolding conflict. ManpowerGroup has operated in Israel for over 60 years. I've just spoken with our Israeli colleagues this morning to express our heartfelt support and thanked them for working tirelessly to help those impacted and still run the day-to-day operations.

謝謝，傑克。首先，我想表達我們對以色列遭受的毀滅性恐怖攻擊和正在展開的衝突的悲傷。萬寶盛華集團在以色列經營超過 60 年。今天早上我剛剛與我們的以色列同事通了話，表達了我們衷心的支持，並感謝他們不知疲倦地工作，幫助那些受影響的人，並仍在進行日常運作。

Amid the suffering that is ongoing, I am in all of their resilience and dedication to take care of each other, their families, our clients and associates during these extremely challenging times.

在持續的痛苦中，我以他們的韌性和奉獻精神在這個極具挑戰性的時期照顧彼此、他們的家人、我們的客戶和同事。

Turning to the broader environment. In recent weeks, I've spent time with our teams and clients in Europe and North America. The topic at the forefront of my discussions with clients and business leaders is the global economic outlook. How things are looking now, how they may evolve and how this is impacting labor markets and other hiring plans. Many echo a sentiment of manageable headwinds in the short term, yet confirm their limited visibility on how this will evolve. This is resulting in an increase in cost reduction initiatives, hiring slowdowns and project start postponements.

轉向更廣闊的環境。最近幾週，我與歐洲和北美的團隊和客戶一起度過了時光。我與客戶和商界領袖討論的首要議題是全球經濟前景。現在情況如何，它們可能如何發展，以及這如何影響勞動力市場和其他招聘計劃。許多人都認為短期內的逆風是可控的，但也證實他們對這種情況將如何發展的了解有限。這導致成本削減措施增加、招聘放緩和專案啟動推遲。

This sentiment tracks with the trends and data we see as well. Last quarter, we shared that broader economic pressures we're building, particularly in North America and Europe. Over the last few months, we have seen these pressures increase with declining outputs in global manufacturing, slowing activity in services, and subdued hiring across some industries as companies paused new hiring and spending following a period of bullish hiring and investment post pandemic.

這種情緒也與我們看到的趨勢和數據一致。上個季度，我們分享了我們正在造成的更廣泛的經濟壓力，特別是在北美和歐洲。在過去的幾個月裡，我們看到這些壓力隨著全球製造業產出下降、服務業活動放緩以及一些行業的招聘減少而增加，因為企業在大流行後經歷了一段看漲的招聘和投資期間後暫停了新的招募和支出。

Just last week, I joined many global CEOs across every sector for the Conference Board business council meeting in Denver, where most reported reduced optimism compared to 3 months ago, and the general consensus was that economic slowing will continue in the short term. If there are bright spots, business environment in Latin America and Asia Pac remain solid. And even in the regions most impacted by economic slowing, North America and Europe, consumer spending is holding, employment rates are strong, and workers continue to earn more and move up and core inflation is easing, albeit slowly.

就在上週，我與各行業的許多全球執行長一起參加了在丹佛舉行的世界大型企業聯合會商業理事會會議，大多數人表示與三個月前相比，樂觀情緒有所下降，普遍的共識是經濟放緩將在短期內持續。如果說有亮點的話，那就是拉丁美洲和亞太地區的商業環境依然穩固。即使在北美和歐洲等受經濟放緩影響最嚴重的地區，消費者支出也保持穩定，就業率強勁，工人收入持續增加並上升，核心通膨也在放緩，儘管速度緩慢。

In this uneven uncertain environment, we saw organizations act the way they have done in past periods of increased uncertainty and economic headwinds, holding on to their existing permanent workforce and pulling back on staffing and permanent recruitment services in North America and Europe.

在這種不平衡的不確定環境中，我們看到各組織的行為方式與過去不確定性增加和經濟逆風時期的做法相同，保留現有的長期勞動力，並減少北美和歐洲的人員配置和長期招募服務。

Moving on to our financial results. In the third quarter, revenue was $4.7 billion, down 5% year-over-year in constant currency. Our reported EBITDA for the quarter was $78 million. Adjusted for restructuring, Argentina hyperinflationary foreign exchange charges and a small loss on sale EBITDA was $117 million, representing a 36% decrease in constant currency year-over-year.

接下來是我們的財務表現。第三季營收為 47 億美元，以固定匯率計算年減 5%。我們報告的本季 EBITDA 為 7800 萬美元。經重組調整後，阿根廷惡性通貨膨脹外匯費用和小額銷售 EBITDA 虧損為 1.17 億美元，以固定匯率計算年減 36%。

Reported EBITDA margin was 1.7% and adjusted EBITDA margin was 2.5%. Earnings per diluted share was $0.60 on a reported basis and $1.38 on an adjusted basis. Adjusted earnings per share were down 39% year-over-year in constant currency. Although the timing of a recovery is always hard to predict, decades of experience tells us that we must adjust to the existing reality while being ready to pivot quickly when the situation improves.

報告的 EBITDA 利潤率為 1.7%，調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率為 2.5%。報告基礎上稀釋後每股收益為 0.60 美元，調整後每股收益為 1.38 美元。以固定匯率計算，調整後每股盈餘較去年同期下降 39%。儘管復甦的時間總是難以預測，但數十年的經驗告訴我們，我們必須適應現有的現實，同時做好在情況好轉時迅速轉向的準備。

Our industry is at the leading edge. And by this, we mean it is often the first to feel the impact going into an economic downturn, and the first to benefit from improving outlooks on the other side.

我們的產業處於領先地位。我們的意思是，它往往是第一個感受到經濟衰退的影響的國家，也是第一個從經濟衰退的前景改善中受益的國家。

Though today, we are clearly in a slowing environment. Labor markets overall are holding steady, and transformation agendas continue, though at a more moderate pace.

儘管今天，我們顯然處於放緩的環境。勞動市場整體保持穩定，轉型議程仍在繼續，但步伐較為溫和。

Companies are reluctant to reduce their workforce or pause on initiatives to upskill and develop their people and we see this evidenced in the demand for Experis Academy and Manpower MyPath offerings, which help people learn in-demand skills at scale and speed. In uncertain times, people and companies need trusted partners to show them a path to navigate the uncertainty.

公司不願意減少勞動力或暫停提高員工技能和發展的舉措，我們看到對 Experis Academy 和 Manpower MyPath 產品的需求證明了這一點，這些產品幫助人們大規模、快速地學習所需的技能。在不確定的時期，個人和公司需要值得信賴的合作夥伴來為他們指明應對不確定性的道路。

Our value proposition to clients in candidate has never been more relevant. And our business model helps them absorb some of the pressures they are feeling today and prepared to accelerate out of the downturn once the economic recovery begins again.

我們對候選人客戶的價值主張從未如此重要。我們的商業模式幫助他們緩解了當前感受到的一些壓力，並準備好在經濟再次開始復甦時加速走出低迷。

Employers value the insight and data-led guidance on developing and executing an agile workforce strategy. We remain confident that our clear plan to profitably grow the business by diversifying, digitizing and innovating is how we help our clients and candidates prepare for the future and be competitive for the long term while managing the headwinds today.

雇主重視制定和執行敏捷勞動力策略的洞察力和以數據為主導的指導。我們仍然相信，我們透過多元化、數位化和創新來實現業務盈利增長的明確計劃是我們幫助客戶和候選人為未來做好準備並在應對當今不利因素的同時保持長期競爭力的方式。

With that, over to Jack to take you through the financials.

接下來，傑克將帶您了解財務狀況。

Thanks, Jonas. Revenues in the third quarter came in at the midpoint of our constant currency guidance range. Gross profit margin came in above our guidance range. As adjusted, EBITA was $117 million, representing a 36% decrease in constant currency compared to the prior year period. As adjusted, EBITA margin was 2.5% and came in at the midpoint of our guidance range, representing 120 basis points of decline year-over-year.

謝謝，喬納斯。第三季的營收處於我們固定匯率指引範圍的中點。毛利率高於我們的指導範圍。調整後的 EBITA 為 1.17 億美元，以固定匯率計算，較上年同期下降 36%。調整後，EBITA 利潤率為 2.5%，處於我們指導範圍的中點，較去年同期下降 120 個基點。

During the quarter, year-over-year foreign currency movements had an impact on our results. Foreign currency translation drove about a 3% favorable impact to the U.S. dollar reported revenue trend compared to the constant currency decrease of 5%. Organic days adjusted revenue decreased 4% in the quarter.

本季度，年比外匯變動對我們的業績產生了影響。與固定匯率下降 5% 相比，外幣換算對美元報告的收入趨勢產生了約 3% 的有利影響。本季有機天數調整後營收下降 4%。

Turning to the EPS bridge. Reported earnings per share was $0.60 and included $0.78 of charges related to restructuring a noncash foreign currency loss related to the translation of our hyperinflationary Argentina business and a small loss on sale of our Philippines business. Argentina is required to be treated as a hyperinflationary economy and the noncash currency translation losses reflect the devaluation of the Argentine peso during the quarter. This is a noncash accounting charge as our Argentina business operates in their local currency.

轉向 EPS 橋。報告的每股收益為 0.60 美元，其中包括 0.78 美元的重組費用，該費用與我們惡性通貨膨脹的阿根廷業務折算相關的非現金外幣損失以及出售菲律賓業務的小額損失有關。阿根廷被要求被視為惡性通膨經濟體，非現金貨幣換算損失反映了本季度阿根廷比索的貶值。這是一項非現金會計費用，因為我們的阿根廷業務以當地貨幣運作。

Excluding these charges, adjusted EPS was $1.38. Walking from our guidance midpoint, our results included a slightly better operational performance of $0.01, a lower weighted average share count due to repurchases in the quarter, which had a positive impact of $0.01, a lower effective tax rate, which had a positive impact of $0.02, a foreign currency impact that was $0.04 worse than our guidance due to the weakening of the euro and the pound during the second half of the quarter and interest and other expenses, which had a positive $0.01 impact.

排除這些費用，調整後每股收益為 1.38 美元。從我們的指導中點開始，我們的結果包括略好一點的營運業績0.01 美元，由於本季回購而導致加權平均股票數減少，這產生了0.01 美元的正面影響，較低的有效稅率，這產生了正面影響0.02 美元，由於本季下半年歐元和英鎊走弱，以及利息和其他費用的疲軟，外幣影響比我們的指導低了 0.04 美元，這產生了 0.01 美元的正面影響。

Next, let's review our revenue by business line. Year-over-year, on an organic constant currency basis, the Manpower brand reported a revenue decline of 3%, the Experis brand declined by 10% and Talent Solutions brand declined by 14%. The Experis decline represented lower activity from both enterprise and convenience customer segments.

接下來，我們按業務線回顧我們的收入。與去年同期相比，在有機固定貨幣基礎上，Manpower 品牌的營收下降了 3%，Experis 品牌下降了 10%，Talent Solutions 品牌下降了 14%。 Experis 的下降表明企業和便利客戶群的活動減少。

Demand from enterprise technology clients continue to be weak. Within Talent Solutions, we saw a significant year-over-year revenue decline in RPO as well as an expected sequential softening of activity from the second quarter. Our MSP business saw revenue declines in the quarter as we reduced certain lower margin activity while Right Management experienced significant year-over-year revenue growth on higher outplacement volumes in the quarter, with revenue levels fairly steady from the second quarter.

企業技術客戶的需求持續疲軟。在 Talent Solutions 中，我們看到 RPO 收入同比大幅下降，預計第二季的活動將連續疲軟。由於我們減少了某些利潤率較低的活動，我們的MSP 業務在本季度出現收入下降，而Right Management 由於本季度就業量增加，收入同比顯著增長，收入水平與第二季度相比相當穩定。

Looking at our gross profit margin in detail. Our gross margin came in at 17.6%. Staffing margin contributed to a 10 basis point reduction due to mix shifts as pricing remains strong. Permanent recruitment, including Talent Solutions RPO, contributed a 70 basis point GP margin reduction as permanent hiring demand continued to soften. Right Management career transition within Talent Solutions contributed 30 basis points of improvement as outplacement activity reflected strong year-over-year growth with gross profit steady from the second quarter level. Other items resulted in a 20 basis point margin decrease.

詳細看看我們的毛利率。我們的毛利率為 17.6%。由於定價依然強勁，人員結構調整導致人員配置利潤率下降 10 個基點。由於永久招募需求持續疲軟，包括人才解決方案 RPO 在內的永久招募導致 GP 利潤率下降 70 個基點。 Talent Solutions 內的 Right Management 職業轉型貢獻了 30 個基點的改進，因為再就業活動反映出強勁的同比增長，毛利較第二季度水平穩定。其他項目導致利潤率下降 20 個基點。

Moving on to the gross profit by business line. During the quarter, Manpower brand comprised 59% of gross profit. Our Experis professional business comprised 25% and Talent Solutions comprised 16%. During the quarter, our consolidated gross profit decreased 9% on an organic constant currency basis year-over-year. Our Manpower brand reported an organic gross profit decrease of 5% in constant currency year-over-year.

接下來是按業務線劃分的毛利。本季度，萬寶盛華品牌佔毛利的 59%。我們的 Experis 專業業務佔 25%，人才解決方案業務佔 16%。本季度，我們的綜合毛利以有機固定匯率計算年減 9%。我們的 Manpower 品牌報告稱，以固定匯率計算，有機毛利潤年減 5%。

Organic gross profit in our Experis brand decreased 14% in constant currency year-over-year. Permanent recruitment and other services within Experis drove the higher rate of overall GP decrease for the brand. Organic gross profit in Talent Solutions decreased 15% in constant currency year-over-year. This was mainly driven by declines in RPO as permanent recruitment continued to weaken during the quarter. This was partially offset by Right Management on increased outplacement activity.

以固定匯率計算，Experis 品牌的有機毛利年減 14%。 Experis 內的永久招募和其他服務推動了品牌整體 GP 下降速度的加快。以固定匯率計算，Talent Solutions 的有機毛利年減 15%。這主要是由於本季永久招募持續疲軟，導致復原點目標 (RPO) 下降。這部分被 Right Management 增加的再就業活動所抵消。

MSP experienced a very slight decrease in gross profit in the quarter. Reported SG&A expense in the quarter was $752 million. Excluding restructuring costs, SG&A decreased 2.2% year-over-year on an organic constant currency basis representing a sequential decrease from the flat level in the second quarter on the same basis. This reflects significant cost actions during the quarter, resulting in a quarterly headcount reduction of 4% sequentially and a reduction of 7% year-over-year, which will result in further cost reductions into the fourth quarter.

MSP 本季毛利略有下降。本季報告的 SG&A 費用為 7.52 億美元。不包括重組成本，以有機固定匯率計算，SG&A 年減 2.2%，較第二季持平水準較上季下降。這反映了本季採取的重大成本行動，導致季度員工人數較上季減少 4%，年減 7%，這將導致第四季成本進一步削減。

At the same time, we continue to invest in transformation programs included in corporate expense. These are strategic investments expected to drive medium- and long-term productivity and efficiency enhancements across our technology and finance functions worldwide.

同時，我們繼續投資於企業費用中的轉型計畫。這些策略投資預計將推動我們全球技術和財務部門中長期生產力和效率的提高。

The underlying SG&A decreases largely consisted of operational costs of $16 million, offset by currency changes of $19 million. Adjusted SG&A expenses as a percentage of revenue represented 15.3% in constant currency in the third quarter, reflecting lowered operational leverage on the revenue decline. Restructuring costs totaled $38 million.

基本 SG&A 減少主要由 1,600 萬美元的營運成本組成，被 1,900 萬美元的貨幣變動所抵銷。以固定匯率計算，第三季調整後的 SG&A 費用佔營收的百分比為 15.3%，反映出營收下降導致營運槓桿下降。重組成本總計 3800 萬美元。

The Americas segment comprised 24% of consolidated revenue. Revenue in the quarter was $1.1 billion, representing a decrease of 7% compared to the prior year period on a constant currency basis. Reported OUP was $38 million and includes $6 million of restructuring costs. As adjusted, OUP was $44 million and OUP margin was 4%.

美洲業務佔合併收入的 24%。該季度營收為 11 億美元，以固定匯率計算比去年同期下降 7%。報告的 OUP 為 3800 萬美元，其中包括 600 萬美元的重組成本。調整後，OUP 為 4,400 萬美元，OUP 利潤率為 4%。

The majority of the restructuring costs related to North America with the balance reported in Latin America. The U.S. is the largest country in the Americas segment, comprising 68% of segment revenues. Revenue in the U.S. was $753 million during the quarter, representing a 14% days adjusted decrease compared to the prior year. As adjusted to exclude restructuring costs, OUP for our U.S. business was $29 million in the quarter, representing a decrease of 52% from the prior year.

大部分重組成本與北美有關，其餘則與拉丁美洲有關。美國是美洲細分市場中最大的國家，佔該細分市場收入的 68%。該季度美國營收為 7.53 億美元，調整後天數比前一年減少 14%。排除重組成本後，本季我們美國業務的 OUP 為 2,900 萬美元，比上年下降 52%。

As adjusted, OUP margin was 3.8%. Within the U.S., the Manpower brand comprised 25% of gross profit during the quarter. Revenue for the Manpower brand in the U.S. decreased 16% on a days adjusted basis during the quarter representing an improvement from the 19% decrease in the second quarter.

調整後，OUP 利潤率為 3.8%。在美國，萬寶盛華品牌佔本季毛利的 25%。美國萬寶盛華品牌的營收在本季按天數調整後下降了 16%，較第二季 19% 的降幅有所改善。

The Experis brand in the U.S. comprised 46% of gross profit in the quarter. Within Experis in the U.S., IT skills comprise approximately 90% of revenues. On a days adjusted basis, Experis U.S. revenue decreased 15% as we anniversaried significant 2022 organic growth of 16%.

美國的 Experis 品牌佔本季毛利的 46%。在美國的 Experis 中，IT 技能約佔收入的 90%。按天數調整後，Experis 美國收入下降了 15%，因為我們迎來了 2022 年有機成長 16% 的周年紀念日。

As referenced earlier, the year-ago period reflected significant growth from enterprise clients who have had weak demand in the current year. Talent Solutions in the U.S. contributed 29% to gross profit and experienced revenue decline of 18% in the quarter. This was driven by a decrease in RPO revenues in the U.S. as permanent hiring programs continued at lower levels in the third quarter. The U.S. MSP business saw revenue decline as we reduced some lower margin activity while outpacing activity within our Right Management business drove strong revenue increases.

如前所述，去年同期反映了今年需求疲軟的企業客戶的顯著成長。美國的 Talent Solutions 本季貢獻了 29% 的毛利，但營收下降了 18%。這是由於第三季長期招聘計劃繼續保持較低水平，導緻美國 RPO 收入下降。美國 MSP 業務的收入有所下降，因為我們減少了一些利潤率較低的活動，同時超過了我們的右管理業務中的活動推動了收入的強勁增長。

In the U.S., RPO, MSP and Right Management all experienced relatively steady revenue levels from the second quarter. In the fourth quarter of 2023 for our U.S. businesses overall, we expect a slightly improved rate of year-over-year decline in revenues as compared to the third quarter.

在美國，RPO、MSP 和 Right Management 從第二季開始都經歷了相對穩定的收入水準。就我們美國業務整體而言，2023 年第四季度，我們預期營收年減幅度較第三季略有改善。

Southern Europe revenue comprised 45% of consolidated revenue in the quarter. Revenue in Southern Europe came in at $2.1 billion, representing a 3% decrease in organic constant currency. Reported OUP was $84 million and includes $4 million of restructuring costs. As adjusted, OUP was $88 million and OUP margin was 4.2%. The majority of the restructuring charges related to reductions in the Southern Europe regional head office team.

南歐收入佔本季合併收入的 45%。南歐的收入為 21 億美元，以有機固定貨幣計算下降了 3%。報告的 OUP 為 8,400 萬美元，其中包括 400 萬美元的重組成本。調整後，OUP 為 8,800 萬美元，OUP 利潤率為 4.2%。大部分重組費用與南歐地區總部團隊的裁減有關。

France revenue comprised 57% of the Southern Europe segment and revenue equaled $1.2 billion in the quarter, down 2% on a days adjusted constant currency basis. After adjusting for modest restructuring charges, adjusted OUP for our France business was $49 million in the quarter representing a decrease of 20% in constant currency. Adjusted OUP margin was 4%.

法國營收佔南歐市場的 57%，本季營收為 12 億美元，以天數調整後的固定匯率計算下降 2%。在對適度的重組費用進行調整後，本季法國業務調整後的 OUP 為 4,900 萬美元，以固定匯率計算下降了 20%。調整後的 OUP 利潤率為 4%。

We are estimating the year-over-year constant currency revenue trend in the fourth quarter for France to represent a modest further decline from the third quarter trend based on October activity to date.

根據 10 月迄今為止的活動，我們估計法國第四季的同比恆定貨幣收入趨勢將比第三季趨勢進一步小幅下降。

Revenue in Italy equaled $414 million in the quarter and was down 2% on a days adjusted constant currency basis. OUP equaled $27 million and OUP margin was 6.5%. We expect a similar rate of constant currency revenue decline in the fourth quarter compared to the third quarter.

本季義大利的營收為 4.14 億美元，以天數調整後的固定匯率計算下降 2%。 OUP 相當於 2,700 萬美元，OUP 利潤率為 6.5%。我們預期第四季的恆定貨幣收入下降速度與第三季類似。

Our Northern Europe segment comprised 19% of consolidated revenue in the quarter. Revenue of $914 million represented a 10% decline in constant currency. After excluding restructuring costs of $28 million, adjusted OUP was negative $3 million, OUP margin was negative 0.4%. The restructuring charges represented $15 million in Germany largely related to head office rightsizing and related activities in view of the ongoing Proservia wind down, $7 million in the Nordics, mainly related to workforce optimization within the businesses and modest additional charges in the U.K., the Netherlands and Belgium.

我們的北歐業務佔本季合併收入的 19%。以固定匯率計算，營收為 9.14 億美元，下降 10%。扣除 2,800 萬美元的重組成本後，調整後的 OUP 為負 300 萬美元，OUP 利潤率為負 0.4%。德國的重組費用為1,500 萬美元，主要與總部規模調整及因Proservia 持續關閉而進行的相關活動有關；北歐的重組費用為700 萬美元，主要與企業內部的勞動力優化以及英國、荷蘭的適度額外費用有關和比利時。

Our largest market in Northern Europe segment is the U.K., which represented 35% of segment revenues in the quarter. During the quarter, U.K. revenues decreased 15% on a days adjusted constant currency basis. This reflects an additional decline from the 12% decrease in the second quarter on the same basis. We expect a similar rate of constant currency revenue decline in the fourth quarter compared to the third quarter.

我們在北歐細分市場的最大市場是英國，佔本季細分市場收入的 35%。本季度，英國營收以日調整固定匯率計算下降 15%。這比第二季度 12% 的同基下降有所增加。我們預期第四季的恆定貨幣收入下降速度與第三季類似。

In Germany, revenues increased 4% in days adjusted constant currency in the quarter representing 3 consecutive quarters of growth, driven by our Manpower business, particularly due to the strength in the automotive sector.

在德國，在我們的人力業務的推動下，特別是由於汽車行業的強勁表現，本季度收入按固定匯率調整天數增長了 4%，連續三個季度實現增長。

The previously announced wind down of our Proservia managed service business in Germany is advancing with significant progress with the workers councils and impacted clients during in the quarter. We are tracking to conclude our wind-down related actions by the end of the year with some remaining transition activity concluding through the first half of 2024, which we will carve out separately.

先前宣布的德國 Proservia 託管服務業務的縮減正在推進，本季與工人委員會和受影響的客戶取得了重大進展。我們正在努力在今年年底前完成與逐步結束相關的行動，並在 2024 年上半年完成一些剩餘的過渡活動，我們將單獨進行這些活動。

We anticipate additional restructuring charges related to the wind down in the fourth quarter and will provide a further update when we announce our fourth quarter earnings. Proservia business has been a significant drag in our Germany operations and the completion of the wind-down activity will improve profitability going forward.

我們預計與第四季度的縮減相關的額外重組費用，並將在我們宣布第四季度收益時提供進一步的更新。 Proservia 業務一直是我們德國業務的重大拖累，結束活動的完成將提高未來的獲利能力。

Overall, in the fourth quarter, we are expecting a slightly lower rate of constant currency revenue growth compared to the third quarter trend. In the Netherlands, revenue decreased 5% on a days adjusted constant currency basis and this represented a slightly improved rate of decline from the second quarter on the same basis.

總體而言，我們預計第四季度的恆定貨幣收入成長率將略低於第三季的趨勢。在荷蘭，以天數調整後的固定匯率計算，營收下降了 5%，與第二季相同基礎上的下降幅度相比略有改善。

The Asia Pacific Middle East segment comprises 12% of total company revenue. In the quarter, revenue was down 2% in constant currency to $565 million. After excluding modest restructuring costs related to our Australia business, adjusted OUP was $25 million and OUP margin was 4.4%.

亞太中東業務占公司總收入的 12%。以固定匯率計算，本季營收下降 2% 至 5.65 億美元。排除與澳洲業務相關的適度重組成本後，調整後的 OUP 為 2,500 萬美元，OUP 利潤率為 4.4%。

The largest market in the APME segment is Japan, which represented 49% of segment revenues in the quarter. Revenue in Japan grew 10% in days adjusted constant currency. We remain very pleased with the consistent performance of our Japan business, and we expect continued strong revenue growth in the fourth quarter. We also completed the sale of our Philippines business during the quarter, which transitions into a manpower franchises going forward. I'll now turn to cash flow and balance sheet. In the third quarter, free cash flow represented $245 million compared to $254 million in the prior year.

APME 細分市場最大的市場是日本，佔本季細分市場收入的 49%。以天數調整後的固定匯率計算，日本的營收成長了 10%。我們對日本業務的持續表現感到非常滿意，我們預計第四季度的營收將繼續強勁成長。我們也在本季完成了菲律賓業務的出售，該業務未來將轉變為人力特許經營權。我現在轉向現金流和資產負債表。第三季自由現金流為 2.45 億美元，去年同期為 2.54 億美元。

At the end of the third quarter, days sales outstanding were flat at 59 days. During the third quarter, capital expenditures represented $21 million. During the third quarter, we repurchased 636,000 shares of stock for $50 million. As of September 30, we have 293,000 shares remaining for repurchase under the share program approved in August of 2021 and an additional 5 million shares remaining for repurchase under the share program approved in August of 2023.

第三季末，應收帳款天數持平於 59 天。第三季資本支出為 2,100 萬美元。第三季度，我們以 5,000 萬美元回購了 636,000 股股票。截至9月30日，根據2021年8月批准的股票計劃，我們還有293,000股可供回購，根據2023年8月批准的股票計劃，還有500萬股可供回購。

Our balance sheet ended the quarter with cash of $571 million and total debt of $962 million. Net debt equaled $391 million at quarter end. Our debt ratios at quarter end reflect total adjusted gross debt to trailing 12 months adjusted EBITDA of 1.41 and total debt to total capitalization at 29%. Our debt and credit facilities remained unchanged during the quarter.

截至本季末，我們的資產負債表中現金為 5.71 億美元，債務總額為 9.62 億美元。季末淨債務為 3.91 億美元。我們季末的負債比率反映了調整後總負債與過去 12 個月調整後 EBITDA 比率為 1.41，總負債與總資本比率為 29%。本季我們的債務和信貸安排保持不變。

Next, I'll review our outlook for the fourth quarter of 2023. Based on trends in the third quarter and October activity to date, our forecast is cautious and anticipates that the fourth quarter will continue to be challenging with further declines in our Manpower businesses in Europe. Our forecast also anticipates a significant reduction in activity in our Israel business due to the current conflict.

接下來，我將回顧我們對2023 年第四季的展望。根據第三季和10 月迄今為止的活動趨勢，我們的預測是謹慎的，並預計第四季度將繼續面臨挑戰，因為我們的人力業務進一步下滑在歐洲。我們的預測也預計，由於當前的衝突，我們以色列業務的活動將大幅減少。

Our forecast also anticipates ongoing slowing of permanent recruitment activity and further offset by cost actions being taken. We are forecasting underlying earnings per share for the fourth quarter to be in the range of $1.17 to $1.27, which includes an unfavorable foreign currency impact of $0.01 per share.

我們的預測也預計長期招募活動將持續放緩，並被採取的成本行動進一步抵消。我們預計第四季度每股基本收益將在 1.17 美元至 1.27 美元之間，其中包括每股 0.01 美元的不利外匯影響。

We have disclosed our foreign currency translation rate estimates at the bottom of the guidance slide.

我們在指導幻燈片的底部披露了我們的外幣換算率估計。

Our constant currency revenue guidance range is between a decrease of 4% and 8%, and at the midpoint represents a 6% decrease. The impact of net dispositions and less working days contributes to an organic days adjusted constant currency revenue trend of about a 5.5% decrease at the midpoint. This represents an additional 1% decrease from the third quarter trend, ignoring rounding on the same basis.

我們的固定貨幣收入指引範圍為下降 4% 至 8%，中間值表示下降 6%。淨處置和工作日減少的影響導致有機天數調整後的固定貨幣收入趨勢中位數下降約 5.5%。忽略相同基礎上的四捨五入，這意味著比第三季趨勢額外下降 1%。

We expect our EBITDA margin during the fourth quarter to be down 110 basis points at the midpoint compared to the prior year. We estimate that the effective tax rate for the fourth quarter will be 32.5%, which reflects the mix effect of lower earnings from lower tax geographies in the current environment with minimal expected offsetting tax items.

我們預計第四季的 EBITDA 利潤率將比去年同期下降 110 個基點。我們估計第四季的有效稅率將為32.5%，這反映了當前環境下低稅收地區獲利下降與預期抵銷稅項最少的混合效應。

Compared to our previous estimate of a 30% tax rate before the worsening conditions, this update represents a 5% reduction in our fourth quarter EPS. When business in our lower rate geographies begin to improve, the tax rate will begin to return to the lower rates.

與我們之前在情況惡化之前估計的 30% 稅率相比，此次更新意味著我們第四季度每股收益減少了 5%。當我們較低稅率地區的業務開始改善時，稅率將開始恢復到較低水準。

As we consider other tax-related matters for 2024, I wanted to provide a brief update on the reduction of the French business tax, known as CVAE, based on recent developments. Previously, the French government had announced their intention to fully abolish the remaining component of the French business tax in 2024.

在我們考慮 2024 年其他稅務相關事項時，我想根據最近的進展提供有關法國營業稅（CVAE）減免的簡要更新資訊。此前，法國政府曾宣布打算在2024年全面廢除法國營業稅的剩餘部分。

The preliminary French budget was publicized in late September and instead announced that the remaining component of the French business tax would now be abolished on a pro rata basis over the next 4 years. As a result, additional 1.5% improvement in our global effective tax rate from the abolishment of the CVAE will be spread over the next 4 years with an anticipated reduction of about 35 basis points in 2024.

法國初步預算於9月下旬公佈，並宣布法國營業稅的剩餘部分將在未來4年內按比例取消。因此，由於廢除 CVAE，我們的全球有效稅率將在未來 4 年內額外提高 1.5%，預計到 2024 年將降低約 35 個基點。

We will continue to monitor any developments on the France budget as is reviewed by the parliament through year-end. As usual, our guidance does not incorporate restructuring charges or additional share repurchases, and we estimate our weighted average shares to be $49.9 million. As I mentioned, we do expect to have additional restructuring charges associated with the wind-down of our Proservia managed service business in Germany, and we will disclose those and any additional restructuring charges separately when we report our fourth quarter earnings.

我們將繼續關注議會在年底之前審查的法國預算的任何進展。與往常一樣，我們的指導不包括重組費用或額外的股票回購，我們估計我們的加權平均股票為 4,990 萬美元。正如我所提到的，我們確實預計會因德國 Proservia 託管服務業務的結束而產生額外的重組費用，我們將在報告第四季度收益時單獨披露這些費用和任何額外的重組費用。

Our guidance also does not include the impact of the noncash currency translation adjustment for our hyperinflationary Argentina business, and we will also report that separately. I will now turn it back to Jonas.

我們的指導也不包括非現金貨幣換算調整對我們惡性通貨膨脹的阿根廷業務的影響，我們也將單獨報告。我現在將其轉回給喬納斯。

Thanks, Jack. On our last call, I shared that we're adapting to the current market environment and will not shy away from taking decisive actions that deliver on our strategy to simplify our operations and maximize return on our investments.

謝謝，傑克。在上次電話會議上，我表示，我們正在適應當前的市場環境，並且不會迴避採取果斷行動，以實現我們的策略，以簡化營運並最大限度地提高投資回報。

In the third quarter, we continued to execute against this plan. Our experienced leadership team is using a fine point pen versus a broad brush to manage costs and invest for growth and we're confident that our actions will preserve margin in the current environment, ready for the rebound when it occurs and be more efficient in the long term.

第三季度，我們繼續執行這個計畫。我們經驗豐富的領導團隊正在使用細筆而不是粗略的方式來管理成本和投資成長，我們相信我們的行動將在當前環境下保持利潤，為反彈做好準備，並在經濟成長中更加高效。長期。

We have been executing a transformation agenda in support of our diversification, digitization and innovation strategy for several years. We're not doubling down on centralized systems and global standardized processes to drive economic benefit across our finance and global technology functions. By leveraging leading global platforms and driving their adoption, we will enable country teams to focus on strategic and operational decision-making so we can execute in the market at speed and increased market share.

多年來，我們一直在執行轉型議程，以支持我們的多元化、數位化和創新策略。我們不會在集中式系統和全球標準化流程上加倍努力，以推動我們的財務和全球技術職能部門的經濟效益。透過利用領先的全球平台並推動其採用，我們將使國家團隊能夠專注於策略和營運決策，以便我們能夠在市場上快速執行並增加市場份額。

We're excited about the opportunity to leverage our global IT and finance infrastructure to automate non-value-added tasks, to drive recruiter productivity and generate valuable client and candidate insights. Our diversification plan is how we accelerate growth of higher-margin business across all our brands.

我們很高興有機會利用我們的全球 IT 和財務基礎設施來自動化非增值任務，提高招募人員的工作效率並產生有價值的客戶和候選人見解。我們的多元化計劃是我們如何加速所有品牌的高利潤業務的成長。

For Manpower, this means building loyalty with skilled candidates, so we can deliver best-in-class talent in both permanent and temporary staffing in labor markets, we believe, will structurally be more constrained due to demographics and shifting skills needs. Our own research and data tells us that people want to work for companies they trust and believe in and who will guide them to move up and earn more.

對於萬寶盛華來說，這意味著建立熟練候選人的忠誠度，這樣我們就可以在勞動力市場的長期和臨時員工中提供一流的人才，我們相信，由於人口統計和不斷變化的技能需求，勞動力市場在結構上將受到更多限制。我們自己的研究和數據告訴我們，人們希望為他們信任和相信的公司工作，這些公司會指導他們晉升並賺取更多收入。

I am delighted that our new Manpower campaign, huManpower, launches in many of our key markets this week, strengthening our positioning for candidates as an employer of choice with the data, expertise and talent and teams to guide them to achieve their potential as they progress their career journey.

我很高興我們的新萬寶盛華活動「huManpower」本週在我們的許多主要市場推出，透過數據、專業知識、人才和團隊來加強我們對候選人作為首選雇主的定位，引導他們在進步的過程中發揮自己的潛力他們的職業生涯。

Our message to workers is clear. Manpower values you, we are committed to your development and we are buyer side to build your skills and offer great career opportunities. This campaign is just one example of our role in preparing people for future work and one that is also more green and more digital.

我們向工人傳達的訊息是明確的。萬寶盛華重視您，我們致力於您的發展，我們作為買方培養您的技能並提供良好的職業機會。這項活動只是我們在幫助人們為未來工作做好準備方面所發揮的作用的一個例子，而且也是一個更綠色和數位化的活動。

Global green energy transition creates demand for millions of skilled workers to fill new roles in renewable energy, electrification, battery technology, hydrogen and more. We are committed to preparing people for these new opportunities and recently announced our partnership with InnoEnergy and the European Battery Alliance to upskill as many as 800,000 workers for jobs in the green battery value chain by 2025.

全球綠色能源轉型創造了對數百萬技術工人的需求，以填補再生能源、電氣化、電池技術、氫能等領域的新角色。我們致力於讓人們為這些新機會做好準備，並於最近宣布與 InnoEnergy 和歐洲電池聯盟合作，到 2025 年為多達 80 萬名工人提供綠色電池價值鏈工作的技能培訓。

Our reputation, our strategic partners to guide companies to transformation is recognized by industry analysts too. Experis has been named a leader and star performer in Everest Group's peak matrix assessment of U.S. contingent staffing services scoring highly for its AI-enabled capabilities in IT staffing, project solutions and managed services.

我們的聲譽、引導企業轉型的策略夥伴也得到了產業分析師的認可。在 Everest Group 對美國特遣隊人員配置服務的尖峰矩陣評估中，Experis 因其在 IT 人員配置、專案解決方案和託管服務方面的人工智慧支援能力而被評為領導者和明星表現者。

And our Manpower brand has been recognized in the U.K. as a leader in contingent talent and strategic solutions scoring highly for its strong emphasis on associate experience and investment in upskilling and reskilling services, including our MyPath program, associated academies and candidate-facing mobile app.

我們的Manpower 品牌在英國被公認為臨時人才和策略解決方案領域的領導者，因其高度重視員工經驗以及對技能提升和再培訓服務的投資而獲得高度評價，其中包括我們的MyPath 計劃、相關學院和候選人導向的行動應用程式。

Employers now understand that there is no path to growth with our people and the ability to hire, train and develop human capital is critical to the success on every time horizon. I'd like to close by thanking our teams around the world for their engagement and contributions, which is how we're able to consistently deliver to our clients, our people, our partners and our communities.

雇主現在明白，我們的員工沒有成長之路，僱用、培訓和發展人力資本的能力對於每個時期的成功至關重要。最後，我要感謝我們世界各地的團隊的參與和貢獻，這就是我們能夠始終如一地為我們的客戶、我們的員工、我們的合作夥伴和我們的社區提供服務的方式。

I'd now like to open the line for Q&A. Operator?

我現在想開通問答熱線。操作員？

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from Mark Marcon with Baird.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自貝爾德 (Baird) 的馬克馬爾孔 (Mark Marcon)。

A couple of really quick number questions and then one philosophical question. With regards to the exit rates in the U.S. France and Italy, can you give us an update in terms of where the exit rates were for each of those 3 major markets as we exited the quarter?

幾個非常快速的數字問題，然後是一個哲學問題。關於美國、法國和義大利的退出率，您能否向我們介紹本季退出時這 3 個主要市場的退出率的最新情況？

Sure, Mark. I'd be happy to start with that. So as we look at the U.S. and we exited the quarter. I'd say it was slightly better than the full quarter rate on an overall basis on a days adjusted basis. So when you look at the total for the quarter overall for the U.S. at the [minus], 14 days adjusted, I'd say slightly better in September. And as we guided to the fourth quarter, we did expect stable to slightly better, and that's kind of what we're seeing into the fourth quarter.

當然，馬克。我很樂意以此開始。因此，當我們看看美國時，我們退出了本季。我想說，在調整天數的基礎上，整體而言，這比整個季度的利率略好。因此，當您查看美國本季整體調整後 14 天的[負]總數時，我會說 9 月會稍微好一些。正如我們對第四季度的指導那樣，我們確實預計穩定會略有好轉，這就是我們在第四季度看到的情況。

I think the other thing that I remember is there was a significant drop off from the third quarter to the fourth quarter in the year ago period. So that's part of the consideration. If I move to France, I would say we ended the quarter at about minus 3% in the month on a days adjusted basis in the month of September. And you can see that comparing to the minus 2% for the quarter overall.

我認為我記得的另一件事是去年同期第三季到第四季出現了大幅下降。所以這是考慮的一部分。如果我搬到法國，我想說，以 9 月調整後的天數計算，本季末當月的成長率約為負 3%。您可以看到，與整個季度的負 2% 相比。

I think the PRISM data certainly came out during -- for the industry data. And I'd say that showed that August was a bit steeper in terms of the decrease, and that improved slightly into September. But I guess more relevant to our guidance for Q4, we did indicate that we did see some additional softening into October. And that's why our guide at about minus 5% at the midpoint is showing some additional decreases into the fourth quarter for France.

我認為 PRISM 數據肯定是在行業數據期間發布的。我想說，這表明 8 月的下降幅度更大一些，並且到 9 月略有改善。但我想與我們第四季度的指導更相關的是，我們確實表明我們確實看到十月份出現了一些額外的疲軟。這就是為什麼我們的指南顯示法國在第四季度出現了一些額外的下降，中間值約為-5%。

And I'd say Italy came in at the end of the quarter, pretty similar to where they were trending. The quarter overall on a days adjusted basis was about minus 2% and I'd say they ended the quarter at about that same minus 2% rate. And as we look at the guide for the fourth quarter for Italy, we see a similar level of days adjusted revenue trend into the fourth quarter. So that's a little color on the large -- on the 3 largest businesses, Mark.

我想說義大利在本季末出現，與他們的趨勢非常相似。按天數調整後，本季整體成長率約為負 2%，我想說他們在本季結束時的成長率約為負 2%。當我們查看義大利第四季的指南時，我們看到第四季的天數調整後營收趨勢水準相似。所以，馬克，這對最大的 3 家企業來說是一個小小的色彩。

Great. And then, Jack, you always wonder if I'm going to ask this question, so I'll ask it this time. Perm as a percentage of GP, how is that sitting right now?

偉大的。然後，傑克，你總是想知道我是否會問這個問題，所以這次我會問。燙髮佔全科醫生的百分比，現在情況如何？

Yes. So we did talk about the fact that we expected perm to continue to come off into the third quarter. That was the big development during the second quarter where we saw perm step down quite a bit. And as we said, it came in as we expected, pretty much spot on with our expectations that it would step down further. That takes perm to about 16.5% of total GP and not too far away of where we were, you'll remember, Mark, pre-pandemic, we were in that 16.2% range. So perm as a mix of GP is -- has normalized quite a bit.

是的。所以我們確實談到了這樣一個事實，即我們預計燙髮將繼續下降到第三季。這是第二季的重大發展，我們看到 perm 下降了很多。正如我們所說，它的出現符合我們的預期，幾乎符合我們對它會進一步下降的預期。這使得 GP 佔總 GP 的 16.5% 左右，與我們的水平相差不遠，馬克，你會記得，在大流行前，我們處於 16.2% 的範圍內。所以燙髮作為 GP 的混合體——已經標準化了很多。

Great. And then a philosophical question. Wondering Jonas, Jack, how -- and obviously, it varies by country and you're doing restructuring across the organization, but I'm wondering at present levels, how much excess capacity do you have at this point?

偉大的。然後是一個哲學問題。想知道喬納斯、傑克，顯然，情況因國家/地區而異，而且您正在整個組織內進行重組，但我想知道在目前的水平上，您目前有多少過剩產能？

And then how do you think about like the trends that we're seeing in the U.S. relative to, say, the Atlanta Fed's GDP now projecting like a 5% GDP increase here in the third quarter. Just kind of interesting just in terms of thinking about overall, a lot of discussion around the soft landing and yet staffing has clearly been in a recessionary environment. And I'm just wondering how you think about that.

然後，你如何看待我們在美國看到的趨勢，例如亞特蘭大聯邦儲備銀行目前預測第三季 GDP 將成長 5%。就總體而言，圍繞軟著陸進行了大量討論，但人員配置顯然處於衰退環境中，這有點有趣。我只是想知道你對此有何看法。

Well, Mark, thank you. Yes, I'm really happy. I'm not an economist that has to sort of predict and explain how we could have a 5% GDP growth in the third quarter, but let me tell you about our business and what we're seeing and how we're thinking about this. As you correctly point out, [notwithstanding] GDP growth numbers both in Europe as well as in the U.S., which are still positive, our industry is operating under recessionary-like conditions. So we're negative here in the U.S., in Canada, across most of the European countries as well.

嗯，馬克，謝謝你。是的，我真的很高興。我不是經濟學家，不需要預測和解釋我們如何在第三季度實現 5% 的 GDP 成長，但讓我告訴您有關我們的業務以及我們所看到的以及我們如何考慮這一點的資訊。正如您正確指出的那樣，[儘管]歐洲和美國的 GDP 成長數字仍然為正值，但我們的行業卻在類似衰退的條件下運作。因此，我們在美國、加拿大以及大多數歐洲國家都持負面態度。

So the way we think about managing the business at this time is, as we've mentioned in our prepared remarks, really using a fine-point pen as opposed to a broad brush. We are maintaining our sales strength, driving for market share growth, seeing our pipeline increase in all of our brands, but seeing time to conclusion and value realization extend.

因此，正如我們在準備好的發言中提到的那樣，我們此時考慮管理業務的方式是真正使用細筆而不是粗筆。我們正在保持我們的銷售實力，推動市場份額成長，我們所有品牌的管道都在增加，但完成結論和價值實現的時間也在延長。

We are managing to the slowing demand through our delivery capabilities, and that's what you see us adjusting in terms of how we're bringing cost down overall. Clearly, we're postponing projects that we don't think have a short-term return. So this is a pausing activity, not an elimination activity and doubling down on transformation projects, like the one we spoke about in our prepared remarks around centralizing finance and technology to drive greater productivity and efficiency for the organization as a whole as well as recruiters with our global technology platforms.

我們正在透過我們的交付能力來應對需求放緩的問題，這就是我們在如何降低整體成本方面所做的調整。顯然，我們正在推遲那些我們認為不會產生短期回報的項目。因此，這是一項暫停活動，而不是消除活動，而是加倍實施轉型項目，就像我們在準備好的評論中談到的那樣，圍繞著集中財務和技術，以提高整個組織以及招募人員的生產力和效率。我們的全球技術平台。

So that's how we're managing through it. And at this stage, clearly, there is still slack and we plan it as such so that we have time to bring in the people when we start to see the business stabilize and we start to see the upturn coming on the other side, so that we have time to bring in new recruiters and meet the increased demand at that point in time.

這就是我們處理這個問題的方式。在這個階段，顯然仍然存在閒置現象，我們這樣計劃，以便當我們開始看到業務穩定並且開始看到另一邊出現好轉時，我們有時間引進人員，這樣我們有時間引進新的招聘人員並滿足當時增加的需求。

Our next question comes from Jeff Silber with BMO Capital Markets.

我們的下一個問題來自 BMO 資本市場的 Jeff Silber。

You mentioned the cost actions. I was just get a little bit more color where they were. And what do you need to see before saying that's enough cost actions or we need to do more?

您提到了成本行動。我只是在它們所在的地方多了一點顏色。在說成本行動已經足夠或我們需要做更多之前，您需要看到什麼？

Thanks, Jeff. Yes, I'm happy to talk to that question. So as we've said, we did take significant cost actions in the third quarter, and we teed that up when we released the second quarter results that we would be leaning more heavily into that. As -- it's a bit of a continuation of the previous discussion we were just having.

謝謝，傑夫。是的，我很高興談論這個問題。正如我們所說，我們確實在第三季採取了重大成本行動，當我們發布第二季業績時，我們將更加傾向於這一點。這是我們之前討論的延續。

So as you look at where our businesses are seeing the most pressure, you should expect that that's where we've made some of the biggest adjustments, right? So -- and to Jonas' point, we're doing that in a very careful way. We're preserving sales. We want to be well prepared on the sales activity and the opportunity to take market share when we start to see improving trends. We're being extremely careful on the sales side. But we are otherwise adjusting producers based on the existing demand.

因此，當您看到我們的業務面臨最大壓力的地方時，您應該預料到這就是我們做出了一些最大調整的地方，對吧？因此，就喬納斯的觀點而言，我們正在以非常謹慎的方式做到這一點。我們正在保持銷售。當我們開始看到趨勢改善時，我們希望為銷售活動做好充分準備，並有機會佔領市場。我們在銷售方面非常謹慎。但我們正在根據現有需求調整生產商。

So where would that be? The U.S. is one of the biggest areas where we've made some pretty significant adjustments. We talked about being down year-over-year, 7% in our headcount. The U.S. is definitely well above that in terms of decreases. I would say another key market we talked about Germany and some of the rightsizing we're doing there.

那麼那會是哪裡呢？美國是我們做出一些相當重大調整的最大地區之一。我們談到了員工人數年減 7%。就下降幅度而言，美國肯定遠高於此。我想說的是我們談論的另一個關鍵市場德國以及我們正在那裡進行的一些規模調整。

We'll have more to say about Proservia in the fourth quarter. But as a result of that, we're making changes to our head office structure in Germany to adapt to the business going forward, which will be largely a manpower business. And we made some big adjustments in the U.K. as well, and you can see the more significant decreases in that market from the enterprise clients.

我們將在第四季度對 Proservia 進行更多討論。但因此，我們正在對德國總部的結構進行調整，以適應未來的業務，這將主要是人力資源業務。我們在英國也做了一些重大調整，你可以看到企業客戶在該市場的下降更為顯著。

Other markets where we've made some big adjustments. The Nordics, you saw in our trends, the Nordics came down quite a bit from Q2 to Q3. So we've made some pretty significant reductions in Norway and Sweden as part of that. I'd say those are the bigger ones. We continue to make adjustments in France as well, but I'd say, in terms of the numbers that we're driving the bigger decreases, those would be the markets that I would highlight.

我們對其他市場進行了一些重大調整。北歐，你在我們的趨勢中看到，北歐從第二季到第三季下降了很多。因此，作為其中的一部分，我們在挪威和瑞典進行了一些相當大的削減。我想說的是那些更大的。我們也在法國繼續進行調整，但我想說，就我們推動的更大下降的數字而言，這些將是我要強調的市場。

Okay. That's really helpful. Maybe we can shift gears to the pricing environment. If we can talk about how both pay rates and bill rates are going? And are you seeing any pushback either from clients or maybe more competitive pressure?

好的。這真的很有幫助。也許我們可以改變定價環境。我們能否談談工資率和帳單費率的進展？您是否看到來自客戶的任何阻力或更多的競爭壓力？

Well, just the pricing environment remains competitive but rational. And I would say, based on the strength of the labor markets broadly, the pricing environment remains solid. And you can see that in our staffing margins, the decline that we saw of 10 basis points was really all driven by mix between various countries, not by pricing concessions.

好吧，只是定價環境仍然具有競爭力但理性。我想說，基於勞動市場的整體實力，定價環境仍然穩固。你可以看到，在我們的員工利潤率中，我們看到的 10 個基點的下降實際上都是由不同國家之間的混合驅動的，而不是由價格優惠驅動的。

We remain very disciplined in our pricing. And the constraints on the labor markets means that the demand we have for the talent is seen as extremely valuable by our client companies, and we make sure that we are positioned in the right way with the skill sets that we provide so that we can maintain that pricing discipline.

我們在定價方面仍然非常嚴格。勞動市場的限制意味著我們對人才的需求被我們的客戶公司視為極其有價值，我們確保我們以正確的方式利用我們提供的技能組合進行定位，以便我們能夠維持定價紀律。

So overall, it is rational. It is, of course, competitive but it is still a solid and positive pricing environment for us.

所以整體來說還是有理性的。當然，它具有競爭力，但對我們來說仍然是一個堅實且積極的定價環境。

Our next question comes from Josh Chan with UBS.

我們的下一個問題來自瑞銀集團的 Josh Chan。

I was wondering if you could comment on the U.S. trend. I guess your macro-oriented commentary seems, I guess, relatively subdued. But I guess the U.S. business saw a relatively improving trend in Q3 and you're forecasting another improvement into Q4. So I'm just wondering how you're thinking about the trajectory of that business and how you feel about the U.S. business from a trend perspective?

我想知道你是否可以評論美國的趨勢。我想你的宏觀評論似乎相對溫和。但我猜美國業務在第三季出現了相對改善的趨勢，您預計第四季還會出現改善。所以我只是想知道您如何看待該業務的發展軌跡以及從趨勢角度對美國業務有何看法？

Yes. Thanks. It's a great question. And I'll start maybe and then Jack can give a little bit more specificity. So stepping back from what we're seeing into the fourth quarter, really the change that we are observing is softening in Europe, primarily at the Manpower brand primarily in France and some other countries to a lesser degree, Italy. So that's the change as you look at the outlook.

是的。謝謝。這是一個很好的問題。也許我會開始，然後傑克可以提供更多具體資訊。因此，從我們第四季所看到的情況來看，我們觀察到的歐洲變化確實正在減弱，主要是在法國和其他一些國家（程度較小的義大利）的萬寶盛華品牌。這就是你觀察前景時所發生的變化。

So from a geo perspective, as you've noted, we see sequential stability in the third quarter heading into the fourth quarter for the U.S. And largely, that is true for all 3 brands. And if you step out and you look at this from a global perspective, Talent Solutions and Experis globally are sequentially stable going into the fourth quarter, and the weakness comes in Manpower. And as I just mentioned, that weakness primarily relates to weakness in Europe.

因此，從地理角度來看，正如您所指出的，我們看到美國從第三季到第四季的連續穩定，並且在很大程度上，這對於所有 3 個品牌都是如此。如果你走出去，從全球角度來看這一點，全球的 Talent Solutions 和 Experis 進入第四季度都保持穩定，而弱點來自於 Manpower。正如我剛才提到的，這種疲軟主要與歐洲的疲軟有關。

Maybe, Jack, you could give a little bit more specificity on some of the U.S. business trends.

傑克，也許你可以更具體地介紹美國的一些商業趨勢。

Sure. I'd be happy to. So Josh, I would say on the U.S. and the Manpower side, we did see slight improvement. So talking days adjusted, I think let's remember the days adjusted decrease for Manpower in Q2 was minus 19%. So quite a significant drop at that point, and that improved to minus 16% in Q3. And we expect that to see some slight improvement in that trend.

當然。我很樂意。所以喬希，我想說在美國和萬寶盛華方面，我們確實看到了輕微的改善。因此，談到調整後的天數，我想我們應該記住，第二季人力調整後的天數減少了-19%。因此，當時的下降幅度相當大，第三季下降至-16%。我們預計這一趨勢會略有改善。

So that being said, still a pretty difficult operating environment, right? And then on Experis, very, very similar. So in Q2 days adjusted, we talked about being down minus 17%. That improved slightly to the minus 15% days adjusted into Q3. And our outlook there is slight improvement into Q4.

話雖這麼說，操作環境仍然相當困難，對吧？然後在 Experis 上，非常非常相似。因此，在調整後的第二季度，我們談到了下降-17%。第三季調整後的天數略有改善，為負 15%。我們對第四季的展望略有改善。

And similar to what Jonas said, what that really means is when you consider the year ago period, we're seeing kind of stable levels of activity going into the fourth quarter. So I would say still cautious. We are a bit cautious that the traditional ramp that you typically see in October and November may not materialize this year just based on continuation of the sluggish trends we've seen in the enterprise sector earlier in the year. But with that being said, as we anniversary the prior period, I think the rate will show some slight improvement on a year-over-year basis.

與喬納斯所說的類似，這實際上意味著當你考慮到去年同期時，我們看到第四季度的活動水平保持穩定。所以我想說還是謹慎。我們有點謹慎地認為，由於我們今年稍早在企業領域看到的低迷趨勢的延續，通常在 10 月和 11 月看到的傳統成長今年可能不會實現。但話雖如此，隨著我們上一時期的周年紀念，我認為該比率將比去年同期略有改善。

And as Jonas said, I think on the Talent Solutions side, which is the biggest -- Talent Solutions has the biggest impact globally in the U.S. We saw stability in our RPO MSP and Right Management in the U.S. from Q2 to Q3. I talked about a bit of the normalization of perm. We do expect perm to continue to come off a bit, but it won't come off at the same degree that it came off more significantly in the previous quarters. So we see the kind of stability in that at those lower levels into the fourth quarter.

正如喬納斯所說，我認為在人才解決方案方面，人才解決方案在美國具有全球最大的影響力。從第二季度到第三季度，我們看到美國的 RPO MSP 和 Right Management 保持穩定。我談到了燙髮的標準化。我們確實預計燙髮會繼續下降，但不會像前幾季那樣明顯下降。因此，我們看到第四季度較低水平的穩定性。

That's really good color. And kind of piggybacking on your last comment, Jack, on the perm coming off. I guess obviously, that's impacting your gross margin now, but it does sound like that there could be some sequential stability. So I guess, how are you thinking about perm going forward? And then specifically, does that 70 basis points of gross margin headwind become kind of a peak impact or a maximum impact, if you will, going forward? How are you thinking about that?

這顏色確實不錯啊傑克，有點依賴你最後關於燙髮脫落的評論。我想顯然，這現在正在影響你的毛利率，但聽起來確實可能會有一些連續的穩定性。所以我想，你對燙髮的未來有何看法？然後具體來說，70 個基點的毛利率逆風是否會成為一種峰值影響或最大影響（如果你願意）？你覺得怎麼樣？

Yes. I'd say it's a fair question. It really is hard to say whether that 70 is going to be kind of the peak. I will tell you sequentially Q3 to Q4 we're looking at GP margin going from 17.6% to 17.4% at the midpoint. So fairly close we are starting to anniversary some of the drop in perm that we saw in the second half of last year.

是的。我想說這是一個公平的問題。確實很難說 70 是否會達到峰值。我會依序告訴您，第三季到第四季度，我們的毛利率將從 17.6% 升至 17.4%。如此接近，我們即將開始慶祝去年下半年燙髮量下降的周年紀念日。

So I'd say it will be -- you should expect that it will likely be a lower impact on the year-over-year change as we start to anniversary those lower levels and we'll just have to see how that continues. But I would say it does feel like we've normalized quite a bit recently and we're anticipating that into the fourth quarter guide with GP margins still holding up fairly good sequentially.

所以我想說，隨著我們開始紀念這些較低水平，你應該預期它對同比變化的影響可能會較小，我們只需要看看這種情況如何持續下去。但我想說，感覺我們最近已經正常化了很多，我們預計第四季的毛利率仍將保持相當不錯的連續性。

And our next question comes from George Tong with Goldman Sachs.

我們的下一個問題來自高盛的喬治唐。

You noted demand from enterprise technology clients continued to be subdued in the quarter. Can you elaborate on where you're seeing the weakness in tech and how tech staffing trends performed over the course of the quarter and in October to date?

您指出，本季企業技術客戶的需求持續低迷。您能否詳細說明您認為科技領域的弱點在哪裡，以及本季和 10 月迄今為止科技人員配置趨勢的表現如何？

Overall, George, I'd say that the demand continued to be quite weak, both in the U.S. and in Europe. And I think it's -- in terms of industry verticals that are big, especially for Experis globally and also here in the U.S. It was the tech and the communications industries that they were the telcos. They are the ones that have seen the biggest drops, I would say, as you heard from our prior remarks here, we think things have stabilized sequentially, but at a low level and they seem to be holding steady at least for now.

喬治，我想說，總的來說，美國和歐洲的需求仍然相當疲軟。我認為，就垂直產業而言，尤其是對於全球和美國的 Experis 來說，他們是電信公司，他們是科技和通訊產業。我想說的是，它們是跌幅最大的，正如您從我們之前的言論中聽到的那樣，我們認為情況已經穩定下來，但處於較低水平，而且至少目前看來保持穩定。

And so that's what we're seeing. And we have the strength in other verticals, but they are the ones that are driving the significant declines for all of our brands, but in particular for Experis at a global and at a U.S. level.

這就是我們所看到的。我們在其他垂直領域也有實力，但它們是導致我們所有品牌大幅下滑的原因，尤其是 Experis 在全球和美國的品牌。

George, I guess I would just add, I know you like to know about a little color on some of the other verticals and some of the others on the call as well. So maybe this is a good time to maybe talk a little bit about that. So to Jonas' point, enterprise tech has been some of the more significant -- the sector, probably with the most significant pressure during the year on an overall basis. I would say other areas on the weaker side, we've talked about logistics being soft. Most of the year, that continues.

喬治，我想我只想補充一點，我知道您想了解一些其他垂直領域以及電話會議中的其他一些領域的一些資訊。所以也許現在是談論這個問題的好時機。因此，在喬納斯看來，企業科技是一些較重要的產業，從整體來看，該產業可能是今年面臨最大壓力的產業。我想說的是其他領域的弱勢，我們已經討論過物流疲軟。一年中的大部分時間，這種情況仍在繼續。

I'd say on the manufacturing side, outside of auto and food manufacturing continues to be very sluggish. You can see that. We talked about that in terms of manufacturing PMIs in our prepared remarks.

我想說，在製造業方面，汽車和食品製造業以外的製造業仍然非常低迷。你可以看到這一點。我們在準備好的演講中談到了製造業採購經理人指數 (PMI) 的問題。

And then I'd say construction, which is really more relevant to our European business in Norway and France has been weaker as well. And I would say, more recently, we've seen banking. So banking was strong, was relatively flattish, and I'm talking more of the U.S. market now in the first half of the year. And we're starting to see banks pull back a bit more now as we end the third quarter. So we see banks kind of reacting to the current environment currently.

然後我想說的是，與我們在挪威和法國的歐洲業務更相關的建築業也較弱。我想說，最近我們看到了銀行業。因此，銀行業表現強勁，但相對平淡，我現在談論的更多是今年上半年的美國市場。隨著第三季末的到來，我們開始看到銀行的收縮力道增加。因此，我們看到銀行目前對當前環境做出了某種反應。

I'd say on the flip side, Auto continues to be strong. You certainly see that in our Germany numbers. That is an area of strength that continues in France and Sweden as well. I mentioned Food and I would say the public sector has generally been more resilient on an overall basis, although that has softened a little bit in the U.K. in the third quarter. So a little more color in terms of what we're seeing in terms of the industry verticals on an overall basis.

我想說，另一方面，汽車仍然強勁。您肯定會在我們德國的數據中看到這一點。這也是法國和瑞典持續保持的優勢領域。我提到了食品，我想說公共部門總體上更具彈性，儘管英國第三季的彈性減弱。因此，就我們在整個行業垂直領域所看到的情況而言，有更多的色彩。

That's very helpful. And then to follow up, every cycle, as you know, has its own unique characteristics in terms of the way down and the way up. How do you expect the current macro slowdown and subsequent recovery to compare with prior cycles in terms of depth and also in terms of duration.

這非常有幫助。接下來，大家知道，每個週期在下降和上升方面都有其獨特的特徵。您預計當前的宏觀經濟放緩和隨後的復甦與先前的周期相比，在深度和持續時間方面如何？

Well, George, I think if I knew the depth, then it'd be easy, but we don't. So we manage through the uncertainty like everybody else. But I would say largely, this -- the way this economic slowdown is playing out in our industry is roughly what we have seen in prior economic cycles with the difference being some delays and some sequencing, we talked about the step down of perm in the second quarter coming into the third quarter, where that is normally something we would see a little bit earlier.

好吧，喬治，我想如果我知道深度，那就很容易了，但我們不知道。因此，我們像其他人一樣應對不確定性。但我主要想說的是，這種經濟放緩在我們行業中的表現大致與我們在之前的經濟週期中所看到的一樣，區別在於一些延遲和一些排序，我們談到了燙髮的逐步減少第第二季度將進入第三季度，這通常是我們提前看到的情況。

We would see maybe commercial staffing start to decline a little bit earlier and that IT staffing and professional staffing would hold on a little bit longer due to the length of the projects and the higher skill sets. And that's been a little bit reversed. But a lot of these differences and timings, we think, can be largely explained by pandemic and post-pandemic anomalies, frankly, that are as we go through this economic cycle seem to be coming back towards trend.

我們可能會看到，商業人員配置可能會提前開始減少，而 IT 人員配置和專業人員配置將由於專案的長度和更高的技能而保持更長的時間。現在情況有點相反了。但我們認為，許多這些差異和時機在很大程度上可以用疫情和疫情後的異常現象來解釋，坦白說，當我們經歷這個經濟週期時，這些異常似乎正在回歸趨勢。

So overall, we would expect this to play out in a recovery in the same way that we've seen in the past. Companies will get some confidence into the future, but not enough to really start their permanent hiring in a significant way. That means we'll see commercial staffing start to pick up, IT projects and others for Experis pick up. RPO and perm start to pick up because a lot of the talent acquisition activities have been changed in the client companies, and then we would see it start like that.

因此，總的來說，我們預計這會以與我們過去看到的相同的方式在復甦中發揮作用。公司將對未來有一些信心，但不足以真正開始大規模招募。這意味著我們將看到商業人員配備開始增加，IT 專案和其他 Experis 專案也開始增加。 RPO 和 Perm 開始回升，因為客戶公司的許多人才招募活動都發生了變化，然後我們會看到它像這樣開始。

The one thing, George, that I think we will have to get used to, which in our terms is a positive effect in terms of demand is more structurally constrained labor markets overall in many, many skill sets and not just the highest skill sets, but also broadly due to the changing demographics and the aging population, we think access to human capital is going to become more difficult, which means customers and companies will rely more on us and all of our brands to attract and retain the talent both on a contingent as well as on a permanent basis.

喬治，我認為我們必須習慣的一件事是，從我們的角度來看，這對需求產生了積極影響，即勞動力市場在許多技能方面受到更多結構性限制，而不僅僅是最高技能方面，但總的來說，由於人口結構的變化和人口老化，我們認為獲得人力資本將變得更加困難，這意味著客戶和公司將更加依賴我們和我們所有的品牌來吸引和留住人才既可以是偶然的，也可以是永久的。

And we look at our staffing margins that we have today across the board and how well they're holding up and that is different from what we've seen in other cycles, and we would hope that based on the structural trends that we're seeing demographically, and the demand for new skill sets driven by technological changes at all skill levels, frankly, but that will give us further support for some good margin evolution, staffing margin and total margin as a whole.

我們著眼於今天全面的人員配置利潤率以及它們的保持情況，這與我們在其他週期中看到的不同，我們希望根據我們正在採取的結構性趨勢坦率地說，從人口角度來看，以及所有技能水平的技術變革驅動的對新技能組合的需求，但這將為我們提供進一步支持，以實現一些良好的利潤率演變、人員配置利潤率和整體利潤率。

Our next question comes from Kartik Mehta with Northcoast Research.

我們的下一個問題來自 Northcoast Research 的 Kartik Mehta。

You are on mute Kartik Mehta.

你正在使用靜音卡蒂克·梅塔。

Maybe we'll come back to Kartik. He might be having difficulty.

也許我們會回到卡提克。他可能有困難。

Our next question comes from Manav Patnaik with Barclays.

我們的下一個問題來自巴克萊銀行的馬納夫帕特奈克。

This is Princy Thomas on for Manav. Last quarter, you mentioned some mix-related changes around rebalancing your client mix, specifically in India and Australia and that you were seeing good profitability levels in those markets? Can you give us an update and expand on your progress there? And how this impacts your exposures and revenue margin impact from these mix changes?

我是馬納夫的普林西·托馬斯。上個季度，您提到了有關重新平衡客戶組合的一些與組合相關的變化，特別是在印度和澳大利亞，您在這些市場看到了良好的盈利水平？您能給我們介紹一下最新情況並詳細介紹一下您在那裡的進展嗎？這些組合變化對您的風險敞口和收入利潤率有何影響？

Sure, Princy. I think the main takeaway is there wasn't really a lot of dramatic changes in Q3. I think you're right. That's been an ongoing adjustment we've been making in certain key markets. India certainly is a very important market for us, but it's a tough margin market. So as a result of that, we want to make sure we're taking on the right business that's accretive to the organization overall.

當然，普林西。我認為主要的結論是第三季並沒有發生太多巨大的變化。我想你是對的。這是我們在某些​​關鍵市場不斷進行的調整。印度對我們來說當然是一個非常重要的市場，但這是一個利潤率很高的市場。因此，我們希望確保我們從事的業務是對整個組織有利的。

And we're making really good progress in that regard. So the business has been doing a really nice job repositioning the business this year, and we feel good about that. And I'd say that continued on in Q3 as expected.

我們在這方面正在取得非常好的進展。因此，今年該公司在重新定位業務方面做得非常好，我們對此感到滿意。我想說，這種情況在第三季繼續如預期。

I'd say the other country that we've talked a lot about in the past has been the U.K. and another tough margin market on an overall basis. We have a lot of tremendous experience operating in that market, and we've done a really nice job repositioning the margin profile of that business as well.

我想說的是，我們過去經常談論的另一個國家是英國，也是另一個整體上利潤率較高的市場。我們在該市場擁有豐富的營運經驗，並且在重新定位該業務的利潤狀況方面也做得非常出色。

So despite the very difficult conditions and you saw the trends for the U.K. So definitely on the higher side of pressure that we've seen. They're actually operating quite well in that environment and doing a really nice job preserving operating unit profit margin.

因此，儘管條件非常困難，但你也看到了英國的趨勢，所以壓力肯定比我們看到的更大。實際上，他們在這種環境下運作得很好，並且在保持營運部門利潤率方面做得非常好。

So I'd say those are 2 examples that we probably have talked a little bit more about and I'd say, continued on good progress into the third quarter on both of those.

所以我想說，這兩個例子我們可能已經討論過更多了，我想說的是，這兩個例子在第三季度繼續取得良好進展。

Got it. And as my follow-up, you mentioned in your prepared remarks that you expect significant reduction of activity in your Israel business. Can you quantify your Israel exposure for us?

知道了。作為我的後續行動，您在準備好的發言中提到，您預計以色列業務的活動將大幅減少。您能為我們量化您在以色列的風險嗎？

Yes. Thank you for that question. And as I mentioned in my prepared remarks just this morning, I've spoken to our Israeli colleagues and the Israel business is a business that has been in the -- is the market leader, and we've been in Israel for over 60 years. We have about -- we have more than 10,000 employees and associates in Israel, and it's roughly a $400 million operation.

是的。謝謝你提出這個問題。正如我在今天早上準備好的演講中提到的，我已經與我們的以色列同事交談過，以色列企業一直是市場領導者，我們在以色列已有 60 多年的歷史。我們在以色列擁有約 1 萬多名員工和同事，營運規模約 4 億美元。

And as you can imagine, in this war time in Israel, many of our employees are being called off to serve. Unfortunately, we have had families -- members missing has also impacted fatally. So it is a tough time for our operation in Israel.

正如您所想的那樣，在以色列的戰爭時期，我們的許多員工都被徵召去服役。不幸的是，我們有家人——成員失蹤也造成了致命的影響。因此，對於我們在以色列的業務來說，現在是一個艱難的時期。

We are providing them all the support we can, of course, as ManpowerGroup and I am in awe at their resilience and their ability to manage a very uncertain and volatile and difficult environment, both professionally and personally and still support our thousands and thousands of associates as well as client companies in Israel.

當然，我們正在為他們提供我們所能提供的一切支持，因為萬寶盛華集團和我對他們的韌性以及他們在專業和個人方面管理非常不確定、不穩定和困難的環境的能力感到敬畏，並且仍然支持我們成千上萬的員工以及以色列的客戶公司。

So I am very impressed and I'm sad by the terrorist attacks and all the resulting difficulties in the region, but it is going to be tough to estimate the impact medium term for Israel, but from what we can tell, at least in the short term, this is having a significant operational impact to us in Israel.

因此，我對恐怖攻擊以及該地區由此產生的所有困難印象深刻，也感到悲傷，但很難估計以色列的中期影響，但從我們所知，至少在短期來看，這對我們在以色列的運營產生了重大影響。

Our next question comes from Tobey Sommer with Truist Securities.

我們的下一個問題來自 Truist Securities 的 Tobey Sommer。

This is Jasper Bibb on for Tobey. Just wanted to follow up on the restructuring actions and what that might mean for your branch network -- like I know total branches have come down quite a bit over the past decade, but curious how you see the future of the branch footprint with the recent portfolio changes.

我是托比的賈斯柏‧比伯。只是想跟進重組行動以及這對您的分支機構網絡可能意味著什麼 - 就像我知道過去十年中分支機構總數已經下降了很多，但很好奇您如何看待最近的分支機構足蹟的未來投資組合的變化。

We've been very cautious. We -- as you pointed out, we've really leveraged our digital platforms to bring down our physical branch footprint very significantly over the last decade, which, of course, helps us because it becomes less fixed cost, more variable, but at this point, I think, at least for now, we are going to remain relatively stable in our branch network.

我們一直非常謹慎。正如您所指出的，我們確實利用了我們的數位平台，在過去的十年中顯著地減少了我們的實體分支機構足跡，這當然對我們有幫助，因為它變得更少的固定成本，更多的可變性，但在這個我認為，至少目前，我們的分支機構網絡將保持相對穩定。

We had some slight adjustments sequentially here, but nothing strategic and not really in reaction to the slowdowns that we're seeing. So we largely intend to keep our physical footprint exactly where it is today in all of our brands and manage the demand, the decline through other ways, centralizing delivery in low-cost areas and things like that so that we have more flexibility.

我們在此順序進行了一些細微的調整，但沒有任何策略性的調整，也不是對我們所看到的放緩的真正反應。因此，我們主要打算將我們所有品牌的實際足跡保持在目前的水平，並透過其他方式管理需求和下降，將交付集中在低成本地區等，以便我們擁有更大的靈活性。

And that's really the evolution that we've had between the last mile delivery capability that we have in our countries also augmenting that centralized delivery capabilities in all geos, be that from Latin America, in India, and in the U.S. and in Europe, making sure that we have excess delivery capabilities centrally so that we can flex those first and be able to adjust to the demand in a very dynamic way, which, of course, also helps us as we ramp up for a coming rebound when that occurs. So that is sort of how we're thinking about our physical footprint right now.

這確實是我們在我們國家擁有的最後一哩交付能力之間所經歷的演變，同時也增強了所有地區的集中交付能力，無論是拉丁美洲、印度、美國還是歐洲，這使得確保我們集中擁有多餘的交付能力，以便我們可以先靈活調整這些能力，並能夠以非常動態的方式調整需求，這當然也有助於我們在出現反彈時為即將到來的反彈做好準備。這就是我們現在思考我們的物理足跡的方式。

And then just had a quick one on preliminary expectations for the tax rate in '24. I guess the fourth quarter is going to be a bit higher at 32.5%, but you also mentioned some CVAE benefit next year. So on a blended basis, would that imply about 32% for '24? Or would that be too high?

然後就快速了解了 24 年稅率的初步預期。我猜第四季會更高一些，達到 32.5%，但您也提到了明年的一些 CVAE 收益。那麼，在混合基礎上，這是否意味著 24 年約為 32%？或者說會不會太高了？

Yes. No, Jasper. I think it's a fair question. It's a little hard to say at this time for the full year of '24 because it's going to be heavily driven by the mix of earnings from the countries. But what I would say is you're absolutely right, the CVAE will be an improvement in all things being considered equal, will be an improvement in a reduction in the rate somewhere, as we said, to the tune of about 35 basis points.

是的。不，賈斯柏。我認為這是一個公平的問題。現在很難說 24 年全年的情況，因為它將在很大程度上受到各國收入組合的推動。但我想說的是，你絕對是對的，CVAE 將在所有被認為相同的情況下取得進步，將在某個地方降低利率，正如我們所說，大約降低 35 個基點。

We guided to the 32.5% in the fourth quarter. For now, if you wanted to apply that to that 32.5% and say it's going to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 32%, as of right now, I think that's a reasonable estimate.

我們第四季的指導值為 32.5%。現在，如果你想將其應用於 32.5%，並說它會在 32% 附近，那麼截至目前，我認為這是一個合理的估計。

I'll certainly give an update on that at year-end. I'll give our updated view on whether that should change for estimate purposes. But I think for now, using the fourth quarter rate reduced somewhat is reasonable.

我肯定會在年底提供最新情況。我將就是否應該出於估計目的而改變這一點給出我們的最​​新觀點。但我認為目前來看，採用第四季利率有所降低是合理的。

Our next question comes from Stephanie Moore with Jefferies.

我們的下一個問題來自傑弗里斯的史蒂芬妮摩爾。

I wanted to touch on a little bit. I'm just kind of parse through everything that was said in the Q&A in particular. And I think apart from France, you are calling for a bit of stability in the fourth quarter, particularly in the U.S. called U.K. a little bit. given you've been, I guess, seeing the slowdown for almost a year, I guess, 4Q to 4Q, are you hearing through any of your clients that think maybe the worst is behind us or are they kind of talking about the potential that there could be another step down? Or could you start to see trends improve from here?

我想談一點。我只是對問答中所說的所有內容進行解析。我認為除了法國之外，你們還呼籲第四季保持一定的穩定，特別是在被稱為「英國」的美國。鑑於您已經看到經濟放緩近一年了，我想，從第四季度到第四季度，您是否從任何客戶那裡聽到過，他們認為最糟糕的情況可能已經過去，或者他們是否在談論我們的潛力還能再降一步嗎？或者您可以從這裡開始看到趨勢有所改善嗎？

I'm just trying to triangulate what now our year-over-year comp seasonality, which I guess it sounds like you're not really seeing 3Q to 4Q and then just the underlying macro trends. So any help about help you're hearing from clients in terms of kind of when we should start to see any change, maybe 4Q, first quarter or anything like that.

我只是想對我們現在的逐年比較季節性進行三角測量，我想聽起來你並沒有真正看到第三季度到第四季度，然後只是潛在的宏觀趨勢。因此，您從客戶那裡聽到的有關我們何時應該開始看到任何變化的幫助，可能是第四季度、第一季或類似的情況。

The level of the declines that we've seen, Stephanie, and in our conversations with clients really goes to answer it in the way that they don't know. And they don't know how long this will take, and they are uncertain, and that's why I think they're maintaining their own workforces, but they're really flexing this fluctuation and slowing demand through our industry.

史蒂芬妮，我們在與客戶的對話中看到的下降程度確實以他們不知道的方式回答了這個問題。他們不知道這需要多長時間，他們也不確定，這就是為什麼我認為他們正在維持自己的勞動力，但他們確實透過我們的行業來應對這種波動和需求放緩。

So just along the prepared remarks that we mentioned on our -- the sentiment that we hear when we speak with our clients, they still say, look, this is still manageable. Thank you for helping us navigate through this environment.

因此，就我們在與客戶交談時聽到的情緒而言，他們仍然說，看，這仍然是可以控制的。感謝您幫助我們度過這個環境。

We see some slowing demand, which we're adjusting to and primarily with your help, but as to the outlook, we have great plans. We need to drive transformation forward. We have a lot of energy transition-related activities in manufacturing and other industries. We have transformation projects related to technology.

我們看到需求有所放緩，我們正在調整，主要是在您的幫助下，但就前景而言，我們有很好的計劃。我們需要推動轉型。我們在製造業和其他產業開展了大量與能源轉型相關的活動。我們有與技術相關的轉型項目。

All of those things are still things we need to do, but right now, we're going to slow them down or pause them and that is really the sentiment that we get from our clients right now, which is not unusual when you think about where we are and everything that you read about.

所有這些事情仍然是我們需要做的事情，但現在，我們將放慢速度或暫停它們，這確實是我們現在從客戶那裡得到的情緒，當你想到這一點時，這並不罕見我們在哪里以及您讀到的所有內容。

So it is still for them a manageable environment than you can tell by seeing what they're doing with their own workforce. They're holding on to their own workforce by and large, and they're flexing up and down with our workforce. And you can see the sequential stability that we talked about both from the U.S. and in some areas also in Europe as a positive sign, just as Jack said, some of that is, of course, maybe missing the seasonal uptick that we're getting.

因此，對他們來說，這仍然是一個易於管理的環境，你可以透過查看他們對自己的員工所做的事情來判斷。他們基本上保留了自己的勞動力，並且與我們的勞動力一起上下浮動。你可以看到我們在美國和歐洲某些地區談到的連續穩定性是一個積極的跡象，正如傑克所說，當然，其中一些可能錯過了我們正在得到的季節性上升。

But on the whole, they remain optimistic but uncertain on when they would need to accelerate their acquisition of talent to a larger degree. And for now, they're a little bit in a waiting pattern to get some further clarity. That's how I describe this, if that is of any help.

但總體而言，他們仍然樂觀，但不確定何時需要更大程度地加速人才引進。目前，他們正在等待進一步澄清。我就是這麼描述的，如果有幫助的話。

No. Actually, that's super helpful. And I really appreciate the color. Maybe just -- not a follow-up my second. Can you talk a little bit about the color you're seeing in Asia Pacific and the Middle East or at least Asia Pacific, you called out, continues to be relatively resilient go. If you could just provide a bit more there, that would be helpful.

不，事實上，這非常有幫助。我真的很欣賞這種顏色。也許只是──不是我的第二個後續行動。您能否談談您在亞太地區和中東看到的顏色，或至少亞太地區，您指出，仍然相對有彈性。如果您能在那裡提供更多信息，那將會很有幫助。

Yes, Steph. Both of the regions, Asia Pac and Latin America are seeing very good trends. And especially in Asia Pac, we've talked about Japan being a very strong operation. This will be our 35th consecutive quarter of growth. We're performing very well in Japan. And many of the other countries in the regions are also performing well.

是的，史蒂芬。亞太地區和拉丁美洲這兩個地區都呈現出非常好的趨勢。特別是在亞太地區，我們談到日本是一個非常強大的業務。這將是我們連續第 35 個季度實現成長。我們在日本的表現非常好。該地區的許多其他國家也表現良好。

So they are still holding up, and it really speaks to the strength of our geographic diversification. So not only a brand diversification, but also geo diversification in times like this can be very helpful because we see that business continuing to move forward.

所以他們仍然堅持下去，這確實說明了我們地理多元化的實力。因此，在這樣的時期，不僅是品牌多元化，而且地理多元化都非常有幫助，因為我們看到業務繼續向前發展。

And they are clearly benefiting still from the overall impact of growing demographics still being very instrumental in the global supply chain. And that for now, at least, that is what we're seeing, and that's what we're hearing from those 2 regions. So it's very -- it's good for us to see that progression.

顯然，他們仍然受益於人口成長的整體影響，這在全球供應鏈中仍然發揮著重要作用。至少目前，這就是我們所看到的，也是我們從這兩個地區聽到的。所以，看到這種進展對我們來說非常好。

Our next question comes from Andrew Steinerman with JPMorgan.

我們的下一個問題來自摩根大通的安德魯·斯坦納曼。

This is Stephanie stepping in for Andrew. I heard your comment on how you're centralizing the finance and technology systems. Can you give us an update on where you stand in rolling out your front office PowerSuite system?

這是史蒂芬妮代替安德魯。我聽到了您對如何集中財務和技術系統的評論。您能否向我們介紹您在推出前台 PowerSuite 系統的最新進展？

Sure, Stephanie. I'd say as Jonas said, on the front office in terms of PowerSuite, we're in very, very good shape. That's been a multiyear journey where we're towards the end of that with 75% of our businesses being on the new front office through the end of this year. So we're very pleased about that and doing a lot of work as we speak to your point, on the back office, which is global technology and finance platforms and making very good progress.

當然，史蒂芬妮。我想說，正如 Jonas 所說，在 PowerSuite 方面，我們的前台工作狀況非常非常好。這是一個多年的旅程，我們即將結束這趟旅程，到今年年底，我們 75% 的業務將在新的前台辦公。因此，我們對此感到非常高興，並且在我們談到您的觀點時，我們在後台（全球技術和金融平台）做了很多工作，並取得了非常好的進展。

So we have a cloud-enabled industry-leading back office platform. We're live in 5 countries. We're in flight and many more. Through the second half of 2024, I believe we'll have over 50% of our revenues on the new cloud-enabled back office and that's quite significant for us because what we're also doing at the same time is now we have the infrastructure to do more and more standardization and centralization.

因此，我們擁有一個支援雲端的業界領先的後台平台。我們生活在 5 個國家。我們正在飛行中，還有更多。到 2024 年下半年，我相信我們將有超過 50% 的收入來自新的支援雲的後台，這對我們來說非常重要，因為我們同時也在做的是現在我們擁有基礎設施做到越來越標準化、集中化。

And we're progressing that as we speak in Europe, and that's a lot of significant work that we're undertaking. And that's what I referred to when I mentioned that we are taking SG&A down significantly, but one area where we're continuing to invest is in this transformation. You can see that in our corporate expenses, and you'll see that in a more significant way into the fourth quarter. as well. So that is where we're making some very significant progress. We're very excited about that.

當我們在歐洲發言時，我們正在取得進展，這是我們正在進行的許多重要工作。這就是我在提到我們正在大幅削減 SG&A 時所提到的內容，但我們繼續投資的一個領域就是這項轉型。您可以在我們的公司支出中看到這一點，並且在第四季度您會以更重要的方式看到這一點。以及。這就是我們正在取得一些非常重大進展的地方。我們對此感到非常興奮。

And I think, Jonas, do you want to comment on that as well?

我想，喬納斯，你也想對此發表評論嗎？

Yes. I think Stephanie. For us, this is a huge strategic move, and we think it's a big differentiator for us to have common global front and back office technology platforms. And as you can imagine, the first phase, of course, is all about driving commonality and process alignment and generating productivity, but the add-ons that we can already see some progress on, but think yield great opportunities into the future applying AI to the data and the insights that we can generate and then replicate very quickly across all of our operations and all of our functions as well.

是的。我認為史蒂芬妮.對我們來說，這是一個巨大的策略舉措，我們認為擁有通用的全球前台和後台技術平台對我們來說是一個很大的差異化因素。正如你可以想像的那樣，第一階段當然是關於推動通用性和流程協調並提高生產力，但是我們已經可以看到一些附加組件取得了一些進展，但我們認為這為未來應用人工智慧帶來了巨大的機會我們可以產生數據和見解，然後在我們的所有營運和所有職能中快速複製。

So it is a very heavy and labor-intensive and resource-intensive journey that we have been on now for the better part of 3.5 years, but we think this has the promise of really generating a lot of value for our clients, our candidates and for the company looking into the future.

因此，這是一個非常繁重、勞動密集和資源密集的旅程，我們已經進行了3.5 年的大部分時間，但我們認為這有望真正為我們的客戶、我們的候選人和我們的客戶創造大量價值。為公司展望未來。

Okay. I really appreciate the color. Thank you, I'll just leave it at that.

好的。我真的很欣賞這種顏色。謝謝，我就這樣吧。

Thank you, Stephanie and thanks, everyone. Thank you. I think that brings us to the end of our earnings call for the third quarter. Thanks, everyone, for listening in and for your questions. We look forward to speaking with all of you again in our fourth and full year earnings call in January. Thanks so much.

謝謝你，斯蒂芬妮，謝謝大家。謝謝。我認為第三季的財報電話會議到此結束。謝謝大家的傾聽與提問。我們期待在一月份的第四次全年財報電話會議上再次與大家交談。非常感謝。

Thank you for your participation. This concludes the program. You may now disconnect. Everyone, have a great day.

感謝您的參與。程式到此結束。您現在可以斷開連線。大家，祝你有美好的一天。