ManpowerGroup Inc (MAN) 2025 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 can drop off now, please do so. I would now like to turn the call over to ManpowerGroup's Chair and CEO, Mr. Jonas Prising. Sir, you may begin.

歡迎參加萬寶盛華集團第三季​​財報電話會議。（操作員指示）本次通話正在錄音。如果你現在可以送來，請盡快送來。現在我將把電話交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, and thank you for joining us for our third quarter 2025 conference call. 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. 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 2025. I will then share some concluding thoughts before we start our Q&A session.

歡迎各位參加我們2025年第三季電話會議，感謝您的參與。我們的財務長傑克麥金尼斯今天和我在一起。為方便各位查閱，我們已將準備好的發言稿發佈在公司網站 manpowergroup.com 的「投資者關係」欄位中。我將首先概述本季的一些亮點，然後 Jack 將介紹第三季業績以及 2025 年第四季的展望。接下來，在開始問答環節之前，我將分享一些總結性的想法。

Jack will now cover the Safe Harbor language.

接下來，Jack 將講解安全港條款。

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.

各位早安。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風險及不確定性的影響。這些說法是基於管理階層目前的預期或信念。實際結果可能與前瞻性聲明中預測的結果有重大差異。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.

我們的獲利發布簡報第 2 頁進一步列出了本次電話會議中作出的前瞻性陳述，以及可能導致我們的實際結果與預期結果有重大差異的因素，並提供了有關非 GAAP 指標調整的資訊。

When we last reported earnings in July, we characterized the environment as one of continued uncertainty yet growing resilience. With employers hiring very cautiously and labor markets holding steady against the backdrop of geopolitical complexity and economic softening. Since then, these dynamics have largely persisted Geopolitical tensions remain elevated, the race to invest in AI continues at pace and employers are adapting to the fluctuating policy environment and cautious consumer sentiment in Europe and North America.

我們在7月發布上一份獲利報告時，將當時的市場環境描述為持續的不確定性，但韌性正在增強。在地緣政治複雜和經濟疲軟的背景下，雇主招聘非常謹慎，勞動市場保持穩定。此後，這些動態在很大程度上持續存在。地緣政治緊張局勢依然高漲，對人工智慧的投資競賽仍在快速進行，雇主們正在適應歐洲和北美不斷變化的政策環境和謹慎的消費者情緒。

Globally, conditions remain mixed. Strong momentum across Latin America and APME, offset by softer trends in Europe and North America where activity levels remain well below historical peaks yet stable over recent quarters. While hiring remains cautious, we continue to see gradual broad-based signs of stabilization. Our most recent ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey covering over 40,000 employers across 42 countries reinforces this view. Hiring outlooks remained relatively steady year-over-year with ongoing stabilization and 45% of employers planning to maintain current workforce levels, the highest since early 2022, as organizations balance capturing growth opportunities with mitigating economic uncertainty.

全球情勢依然喜憂參半。拉丁美洲和亞太、中東地區的強勁成長勢頭被歐洲和北美地區的疲軟趨勢所抵消，儘管這些地區的經濟活動水平仍遠低於歷史峰值，但近幾個季度以來保持穩定。儘管招聘仍保持謹慎，但我們持續看到逐步趨於穩定的廣泛跡象。我們最新的 ManpowerGroup 就業前景調查涵蓋了 42 個國家的 40,000 多家雇主，進一步證實了這一觀點。招聘前景與去年同期相比保持相對穩定，持續趨於穩定，45% 的雇主計劃維持目前的員工人數，這是自 2022 年初以來的最高水平，因為各組織正在努力平衡抓住成長機會和減輕經濟不確定性。

Turning to our results, after 11 consecutive quarters of organic constant currency revenue declines we crossed back over to growth during the third quarter. The stabilization of demand in recent quarters in North America and Europe, despite ongoing tariff uncertainty has been a key factor in the revenue trend improvements. We're encouraged by this progress as well as a continuation of revenue growth in our largest brand, manpower, with strength in North America, Latin America, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Poland and APME to name a few. Within Experis, we're beginning to see early signs of stabilization in professional and IT hiring. Win rates have improved modestly, and we have secured new enterprise programs in sectors such as financial services and life sciences.

再來看我們的業績，在連續 11 個季度有機固定匯率收入下降之後，我們在第三季度重新實現了成長。儘管關稅方面仍存在不確定性，但近幾季北美和歐洲的需求趨於穩定，這是收入趨勢改善的關鍵因素。我們對這項進展以及旗下最大品牌 manpower 持續成長的收入感到鼓舞，該品牌在北美、拉丁美洲、義大利、西班牙、比利時、波蘭和亞太、中東及非洲地區（僅舉幾例）都擁有強大的實力。在Experis內部，我們開始看到專業人才和IT招募出現趨於穩定的早期跡象。勝率略有提高，我們在金融服務和生命科學等領域獲得了新的企業專案。

Our ongoing modernization of the Experis offering, including enhanced consultant development and tighter integration of our PowerSuite AI tools is supporting margin improvement and future growth as client demand recovers. The trends in talent solutions are also improving for our managed service provider offering, where win rates and demand stabilization is driving strong revenue growth, helping offset some weakness in recruitment process outsourcing and right management as labor markets remain somewhat frozen in terms of hiring and workforce reductions.

我們不斷對 Experis 產品進行現代化改造，包括加強顧問培養和更緊密地整合 PowerSuite AI 工具，隨著客戶需求的恢復，這有助於提高利潤率並促進未來的成長。人才解決方案的趨勢也隨著我們託管服務提供者產品的推出而改善，成功率和需求穩定推動了強勁的收入成長，這有助於抵消招聘流程外包和正確管理方面的一些疲軟，因為勞動力市場在招聘和裁員方面仍然有些停滯不前。

Overall, for the quarter, reported revenue was $4.6 billion, down 2% year-over-year in constant currency. System-wide revenue, which includes our expanding franchise revenue base was $4.9 billion. Our reported EBITDA for the quarter was $74 million. Adjusting for restructuring costs, EBITDA was $96 million, representing a decrease of 22% in constant currency year-over-year. Reported EBITDA margin was 1.6%, and adjusted EBITDA margin was 2.1%. Earnings per diluted share was $0.38 on a reported basis, while earnings per diluted share was $0.83 on an adjusted basis.

總體而言，本季報告營收為 46 億美元，以固定匯率計算年減 2%。包括不斷擴大的特許經營收入在內的系統總收入為 49 億美元。本季公佈的 EBITDA 為 7,400 萬美元。扣除重組成本後，EBITDA 為 9,600 萬美元，以固定匯率計算年減 22%。報告的 EBITDA 利潤率為 1.6%，調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率為 2.1%。以報告基準計算，每股攤薄收益為 0.38 美元；以調整基準計算，每股稀釋收益為 0.83 美元。

Adjusted earnings per share decreased 39% year-over-year in constant currency. As we look to the fourth quarter, we're closely monitoring several leading indicators of demand, including activity among our largest enterprise clients, new assignment starts and priority verticals such as logistics and manufacturing and year-end seasonal patterns. These metrics are helping us assess the depth and breadth of stabilization across our markets and inform our expectations as we plan for 2026.

以固定匯率計算，調整後每股盈餘較去年同期下降 39%。展望第四季度，我們將密切關注幾個領先的需求指標，包括我們最大的企業客戶的活動、新專案的啟動以及物流和製造業等重點垂直行業和年末季節性模式。這些指標有助於我們評估各市場穩定的深度和廣度，並為我們制定 2026 年計畫提供參考。

Looking closely at these indicators, we believe our demand in Europe and North America is holding steady and are confident that we're well positioned for future growth. Our AI-enabled data insights are increasingly instrumental in tracking, anticipating and predicting client demand. This real-time intelligence enables our teams to pivot quickly to sectors and regions where growth opportunities are emerging. Our enterprise pipeline continues to expand with most of the demand in this environment concentrated among global enterprise clients. Although decision time lines across major markets remain extended.

仔細觀察這些指標，我們認為我們在歐洲和北美的需求保持穩定，我們有信心我們為未來的成長做好了充分準備。我們的人工智慧數據洞察在追蹤、預測和預估客戶需求方面發揮著越來越重要的作用。這種即時情報使我們的團隊能夠迅速轉向正在湧現成長機會的行業和地區。我們的企業客戶管道持續擴大，目前大部分需求集中在全球企業客戶。儘管各大市場的決策時間線仍延長。

As a leadership team, we remain laser-focused on managing the current environment while positioning our business for future growth. We continue to take decisive actions to contain costs drive efficiencies at scale and simplify our organization while accelerating the strategic initiatives that will strengthen our capabilities, expand our margins and deliver long-term shareholder value.

作為領導團隊，我們始終專注於應對當前環境，同時為公司未來的發展做好準備。我們將繼續採取果斷措施，控製成本，大規模提高效率，簡化組織結構，同時加快推進策略舉措，以增強我們的能力，擴大利潤率，並為股東創造長期價值。

I'll now hand it over to Jack for more details on the quarter's financial results.

現在我將把發言權交給傑克，讓他詳細介紹本季的財務表現。

Thanks, Jonas. US dollar reported revenues in the third quarter were impacted by foreign currency translation. And after adjusting for currency impacts, came in at the midpoint of our constant currency guidance range. Our revenue trends demonstrate the continuation of largely stable activity levels across North America and Europe. Our revenue from franchise offices are significant and are included within system-wide revenues, which equaled $4.9 billion for the quarter.

謝謝你，喬納斯。第三季以美元計價的收入受到外幣折算的影響。經匯率調整後，結果位於我們以固定匯率計算的預期範圍的中點。我們的收入趨勢表明，北美和歐洲的業務活動水平基本上保持穩定。我們從加盟店獲得的收入相當可觀，並已計入系統整體收入中，該季度系統整體收入達到 49 億美元。

Gross profit margin came in below our guidance range, driven by shifts within staffing, reflecting an increased mix of enterprise accounts, lower permanent recruitment and lower outplacement. As adjusted, EBITDA was $96 million, representing a 22% decrease in constant currency compared to the prior year period. As adjusted, EBITDA margin was 2.1% and and came in at the midpoint of our guidance range, representing a 50 basis points decline year-over-year.

受人員配置變化的影響，毛利率低於我們的預期範圍，反映出企業客戶比例增加、永久性招聘減少和離職安置減少。經調整後，EBITDA 為 9,600 萬美元，以固定匯率計算，較去年同期下降 22%。經調整後，EBITDA 利潤率為 2.1%，處於我們預期範圍的中點，較去年同期下降 50 個基點。

Foreign currency translation drove a favorable impact to the 2% US dollar reported revenue increase from the constant currency decrease of 2%. Organic days adjusted constant currency revenue increased 0.5% in the quarter, which was slightly favorable to the midpoint guidance of flat.

外幣折算對以美元計價的收入產生了有利影響，使收入增長了 2%，而以固定匯率計算的收入下降了 2%。本季經調整後的有機成長日固定匯率營收成長了 0.5%，略好於先前預期持平的中位數。

Turning to the EPS bridge. Reported earnings per share was $0.38. Adjusted EPS was $0.83 and came in $0.01 above our guidance midpoint. Walking from our guidance midpoint of $0.82. Our results included improved operational performance, representing a positive impact of $0.02 and a slightly higher tax rate, which had a negative impact of $0.01. The Restructuring costs and other represented $0.45 bringing reported earnings per share to $0.38.

轉向EPS橋。報告顯示，每股收益為 0.38 美元。調整後每股收益為 0.83 美元，比我們預期中位數高出 0.01 美元。實際每股收益略低於我們先前預測的0.82美元中位數。業績變化包括營運績效改善（帶來0.02美元的正面影響）和稅率略微上升（帶來0.01美元的負面影響）。重組成本和其他費用為0.45美元，最終每股收益為0.38美元。

Next, let's review our revenue by business line. Year-over-year, on an organic constant currency basis, the Manpower brand had growth of 3% in the quarter. The Experis brand declined by 7% and the Talent Solutions brand declined by 8%, within Town Solutions, our RPO business experienced lower demand in select ongoing client programs year-over-year. Our MSP business continued the strong revenue growth performance while Right Management experienced declining year-over-year revenues as outplacement activity continued to slow.

接下來，我們以業務線回顧一下收入狀況。以自然成長率和固定匯率計算，Manpower 品牌在本季實現了 3% 的成長。在 Town Solutions 旗下，Experis 品牌下降了 7%，Talent Solutions 品牌下降了 8%，我們的 RPO 業務在某些持續客戶專案中的需求較去年同期下降。我們的 MSP 業務持續保持強勁的營收成長勢頭，而 Right Management 的營收則是年減，因為職業安置活動持續放緩。

Looking at our gross profit margin in detail. Our gross margin came in at 16.6% for the quarter. Staffing margin contributed a 40 basis point reduction due to mix shifts towards enterprise accounts. Permanent recruitment activity was softer than expected, and the lower contribution resulted in a 20 basis point decline. Lower career transition outplacement activity within Right Management resulted in a 10 basis point margin decrease.

詳細分析我們的毛利率。本季我們的毛利率為16.6%。由於業務結構向企業客戶傾斜，人員配備成本導致利潤率下降了 40 個基點。永久性招聘活動不如預期，貢獻值降低導致利率下降 20 個基點。Right Management 內部職業轉型安置活動的減少導致利潤率下降了 10 個基點。

Moving on to our gross profit by business line. During the quarter, the Manpower brand comprised 63% of gross profit, our Experis Professional business comprised 21%, and Town Solutions comprised 16%. During the quarter, our consolidated gross profit decreased by 4% on an organic constant currency basis year-over-year. representing a slight improvement from the 5% decline in the second quarter.

接下來我們來看按業務線劃分的毛利。本季度，Manpower 品牌佔毛利的 63%，Experis Professional 業務佔 21%，Town Solutions 佔 16%。本季度，我們的綜合毛利以有機成長和固定匯率計算年減了4%，較第二季5%的降幅略有改善。

Our Manpower brand reported flat organic constant currency gross profit year-over-year, equal to the second quarter year-over-year trend. Gross profit in our Experis brand decreased 10% in organic constant currency year-over-year, an improvement from the 14% decrease in the second quarter.

我們的 Manpower 品牌以固定匯率計算的有機毛利潤較去年同期持平，與第二季同比趨勢相同。我們Experis品牌的毛利以有機固定匯率計算年減了10%，較第二季14%的降幅有所改善。

Gross profit in Talent Solutions declined 13% in organic constant currency year-over-year, a decline from the flat result in the second quarter. MSP and RPO experienced similar activity levels from the second quarter, but RPO declined year-over-year as they anniversaried large growth in the third quarter a year ago in select client programs. Right Management gross profit decreased on lower outplacement activity.

人才解決方案業務的毛利以有機固定匯率計算年減 13%，較第二季持平的業績下降。MSP 和 RPO 從第二季度開始業務活動水平相似，但 RPO 同比下降，因為去年第三季度他們在特定客戶專案中實現了大幅增長。由於職業介紹業務減少，Right Management的毛利下降。

Reported SG&A expense in the quarter was $702 million. SG&A as adjusted, was down 2% on a constant currency basis and 1% on an organic constant currency basis. The year-over-year organic constant currency SG&A decreases largely consisted of reductions in operational costs of $5 million, partly driven by previous restructuring actions Corporate costs continue to include our back-office transformation spend, and these programs are progressing well with expected medium-term efficiencies.

本季報告的銷售、管理及行政費用為7.02億美元。經調整後，以固定匯率計算下降 2%，以有機成長固定匯率計算下降 1%。年比有機固定匯率銷售、一般及行政費用下降主要包括營運成本減少 500 萬美元，部分原因是先前的重組措施。公司成本繼續包括我們的後台轉型支出，這些計劃進展順利，預計中期效率將有所提高。

Dispositions represented a decrease of $8 million while currency changes contributed to a $20 million increase. Adjusted SG&A expenses as a percentage of revenue represented 14.8% in constant currency in the third quarter. Adjustments represented restructuring of $21 million. balancing gross profit trends with strong cost actions to enhance EBITDA margin is one of our highest priorities, and we continue to analyze all aspects of our cost base for additional ongoing efficiency improvements.

資產處置額減少了 800 萬美元，而匯率變動導致資產增加 2,000 萬美元。第三季度，經調整的銷售、一般及行政費用佔收入的百分比（以固定匯率計算）為 14.8%。調整涉及 2100 萬美元的重組。平衡毛利趨勢與強有力的成本控制措施以提高 EBITDA 利潤率是我們最重要的優先事項之一，我們將繼續分析成本基礎的各個方面，以進一步提高效率。

The Americas segment comprised 24% of consolidated revenue. Revenue in the quarter was $1.1 billion, representing an increase of 6% year-over-year on a constant currency basis. As adjusted, OUP was $43 million, and OUP margin was 3.9%. Restructuring charges of $5 million primarily represented actions in the US. The US is the largest country in the Americas segment, comprising 63% of segment revenues.

美洲業務類股佔合併收入的 24%。本季營收為 11 億美元，以固定匯率計算年增 6%。經調整後，OUP 的營收為 4,300 萬美元，OUP 的利潤率為 3.9%。500萬美元的重組費用主要涉及美國境內的訴訟。美國是美洲地區最大的國家，佔該地區收入的 63%。

Revenue in the US was $691 million during the quarter, representing a 1% days adjusted decrease compared to the prior year. This represents an improvement from the 3% decrease in the second quarter. OUP as adjusted for our US business was $24 million in the quarter. OUP margin as adjusted was 3.5%.

本季美國營收為 6.91 億美元，與去年同期相比，經調整後下降了 1%。這比第二季3%的降幅有所改善。本季度牛津大學出版社（OUP）的收入（按美國業務調整後）為 2400 萬美元。經調整後，OUP利潤率為3.5%。

Within the US, the Manpower brand comprised 28% of gross profit during the quarter. Revenue for Empower brand in the US increased 8% on a days adjusted basis during the quarter, which represented strong market performance and a slight decrease from the 9% increase in the second quarter. The Experis brand in the US comprised 39% of gross profit in the quarter.

在美國，Manpower品牌在本季貢獻了28%的毛利。本季度，美國 Empower 品牌的營收按天數調整後成長了 8%，這代表了強勁的市場表現，但略低於第二季 9% 的增幅。在美國，Experis品牌在本季貢獻了39%的毛利。

Within Experis in the US, IT skills comprise approximately 90% of revenues. Experis US revenue decreased 9% on a days adjusted basis during the quarter, an improvement from the 14% decline in the second quarter. Talent Solutions in the US contributed 33% of gross profit and saw a flat revenue trend year-over-year in the quarter, a decrease from the 13% increase in the second quarter driven by lower RPO activity from select ongoing client programs and lower right management outplacement activity.

在美國，Experis 的 IT 技能約佔營收的 90%。Experis 美國營收按天數調整後本季下降了 9%，較第二季 14% 的降幅有所改善。美國的人才解決方案業務貢獻了 33% 的毛利，本季營收同比持平，較第二季的 13% 增幅有所下降，原因是部分持續客戶專案的 RPO 活動減少以及合適的管理人員離職安置活動減少。

The MSP business executed well during the quarter, again, posting strong double-digit revenue increases year-over-year. In the fourth quarter of 2025, we expect the overall US business to have a similar to slightly further revenue decline compared to the third quarter, largely due to higher seasonal Experis health care projects in the prior year period. Southern Europe revenue comprised 47% of consolidated revenue in the quarter. Revenue in Southern Europe was $2.2 billion, representing a 1% decrease in organic constant currency.

MSP 業務在本季度表現良好，再次實現了強勁的兩位數年增長。預計 2025 年第四季度，美國整體業務的收入將與第三季度相比出現類似或略微進一步的下降，這主要是由於去年同期 Experis 醫療保健項目的季節性收入較高所致。南歐地區的收入佔該季度合併收入的 47%。南歐地區的營收為 22 億美元，以固定匯率計算下降了 1%。

As adjusted, OUP for our Southern Europe business was $70 million in the quarter, and OUP margin was 3.2%. Restructuring charges of $4 million represented actions in Spain and France. France revenue equaled $1.2 billion and comprised 53% of the Southern Europe segment in the quarter and decreased 5% on a days adjusted constant currency basis. As adjusted, OUP for our France business was $31 million in the quarter.

經過調整後，本季我們在南歐的業務 OUP 為 7,000 萬美元，OUP 利潤率為 3.2%。400萬美元的重組費用涉及在西班牙和法國的訴訟。法國的營收為 12 億美元，佔該季度南歐業務的 53%，以天數調整後的固定匯率計算下降了 5%。經過調整後，本季我們在法國的業務 OUP 收入為 3,100 萬美元。

Adjusted OUP margin was 2.7%. France revenue trends improved slightly during the course of the third quarter despite the government uncertainty in September, and we expect a slightly improved rate of revenue decline into the fourth quarter, reflecting the third quarter exit rate. Revenue in Italy equaled $463 million in the third quarter reflecting an increase of 4% on a days adjusted constant currency basis. OUP as adjusted equaled $27 million and OUP margin was 5.8%.

調整後的 OUP 利潤率為 2.7%。儘管9月政府政策存在不確定性，但法國第三季的營收趨勢略有改善，我們預期第四季的營收下降速度將略有改善，反映出第三季的下降速度。第三季義大利的營收為 4.63 億美元，以固定匯率計算成長了 4%。經調整後，OUP 的營收為 2,700 萬美元，OUP 的利潤率為 5.8%。

Our Italy business is performing well, and we estimate a slightly improved constant currency revenue growth trend in the fourth quarter compared to the third quarter. Our Northern Europe segment comprised 18% of consolidated revenue in the quarter. Revenue of $817 million represented a 6% decline in constant currency. As adjusted, OUP equaled a $1 million loss. This represents an improvement from the $6 million loss in the second quarter and reflects the impact of cost reduction actions. The restructuring charges of $14 million primarily represented actions in Germany and the UK. Our largest market in the Northern Europe segment is the UK which represented 32% of segment revenues in the quarter.

我們在義大利的業務表現良好，我們預計第四季以固定匯率計算的營收成長趨勢將比第三季略有改善。本季度，北歐業務部門佔合併收入的 18%。營收為 8.17 億美元，以固定匯率計算下降了 6%。經過調整後，牛津大學出版社虧損100萬美元。這比第二季虧損 600 萬美元的情況有所改善，反映了成本削減措施的影響。1400萬美元的重組費用主要涉及德國和英國的訴訟。我們在北歐地區最大的市場是英國，該季度佔該地區收入的 32%。

During the quarter, UK revenues decreased 13% on a days adjusted constant currency basis. We expect the rate of revenue decline in the UK to improve into the fourth quarter compared to the third quarter. In Germany, revenues decreased 23% on a days adjusted constant currency basis in the quarter. Germany automotive manufacturing trends continue to be weak. In the fourth quarter, we are expecting a similar year-over-year revenue decline compared to the third quarter trend.

本季度，英國營收以經調整後的固定匯率計算下降了 13%。我們預計英國第四季的營收下降速度將比第三季有所改善。在德國，以天數調整後的固定匯率計算，該季度營收下降了 23%。德國汽車製造業發展趨勢持續疲軟。我們預期第四季營收年減幅度將與第三季的趨勢類似。

The Nordics continue to experience difficult market conditions with revenues decreasing 4% in days adjusted constant currency in the quarter. The Asia Pacific Middle East segment comprises 11% of total company revenue. In the quarter, revenues equaled $521 million, representing an increase of 8% in organic constant currency, OUP was $27 million and OUP margin was 5.1%. Our largest market in the APME segment is Japan, which represented 60% of segment revenues in the quarter.

北歐市場持續面臨嚴峻的市場環境，以固定匯率調整後的營收在本季下降了 4%。亞太中東地區占公司總收入的 11%。本季度，營收達到 5.21 億美元，以有機固定匯率計算成長 8%；OUP 為 2,700 萬美元，OUP 利潤率為 5.1%。我們在亞太、中東和非洲地區最大的市場是日本，該季度佔該地區收入的 60%。

Revenue in Japan grew 6% on a days adjusted constant currency basis. We remain very pleased with the consistent performance of our Japan business, and we expect continued strong revenue growth in the fourth quarter.

日本的營收以天數調整後的固定匯率計算成長了 6%。我們對日本業務的持續表現非常滿意，並預計第四季度營收將繼續保持強勁成長。

I'll now turn to cash flow and balance sheet. In the third quarter, free cash flow was $45 million compared to $67 million in the prior year. Following a trend of declining earnings and large outflows for tax and technology license payments through the first half of the year, free cash flow was positive during the third quarter. Earnings have also been stabilizing in recent quarters, which will improve the trend of free cash flow going forward. The fourth quarter is typically a strong quarter for free cash flow as we look ahead.

接下來我將分析現金流量表和資產負債表。第三季自由現金流為 4,500 萬美元，而上年同期為 6,700 萬美元。由於上半年獲利持續下降，且稅收和技術許可費支出較大，第三季自由現金流轉為正值。近幾季獲利也趨於穩定，這將改善未來自由現金流的趨勢。展望未來，第四季通常是自由現金流強勁的季度。

At quarter end, days sales outstanding increased a day and a half to 59 days as enterprise client mix has increased. During the third quarter, capital expenditures represented $15 million. During the third quarter, we did not repurchase any shares. And at September 30, we have 2 million shares remaining for repurchase under the share program approved in August of 2023.

季度末，由於企業客戶比例增加，應收帳款週轉天數增加了一天半，達到 59 天。第三季資本支出為 1500 萬美元。第三季度，我們沒有回購任何股票。截至 9 月 30 日，根據 2023 年 8 月批准的股票回購計劃，我們還有 200 萬股股票可供回購。

Our balance sheet ended the quarter with cash of $275 million and total debt of $1.2 billion. Net debt equaled $941 million at September 30, reflecting an improvement from June 30. Our debt ratios at quarter end reflect total gross debt to trailing 12 months adjusted EBITDA of $3.16 and a total debt to total capitalization at 38%. Detail of our debt and credit facility arrangements are included in the appendix of the presentation.

本季末，我們的資產負債表顯示現金為 2.75 億美元，總負債為 12 億美元。截至9月30日，淨債務為9.41億美元，較6月30日有所改善。截至季末，我們的負債比率反映出總負債與過去 12 個月調整後 EBITDA 比率為 3.16 美元，總負債與總資本比率為 38%。我們的債務和信貸安排詳情載於簡報的附錄中。

Next, I'll review our outlook for the fourth quarter of 2025. Based on trends in the third quarter and October activity to date, our forecast anticipates ongoing stability in the majority of our markets and a continuation of existing trends. With that said, we are forecasting earnings per share for the fourth quarter to be in the range of $0.78 to $0.88. The guidance range also includes a favorable foreign currency impact of $0.08 per share and our foreign currency translation rate estimates are disclosed at the bottom of the guidance slide. Our constant currency revenue guidance range is between a 2% decrease and a 2% increase and at the midpoint is a flat revenue trend.

接下來，我將回顧我們對 2025 年第四季的展望。根據第三季的趨勢和10月份迄今的活動情況，我們預測大部分市場將保持穩定，現有趨勢將持續保持。綜上所述，我們預測第四季每股收益將在0.78美元至0.88美元之間。此預期範圍還包括每股0.08美元的有利外匯影響，我們的外匯折算匯率估算已在預期投影片的底部揭露。我們以固定匯率計算的營收預期範圍在下降 2% 到成長 2% 之間，中間值表示營收將保持穩定。

Business days are stable year-over-year and considering the impact of dispositions, our organic days adjusted constant currency revenue increase represents slight growth, which rounds down to a flat revenue trend at the midpoint. EBITDA margin for the fourth quarter is projected to be flat at the midpoint compared to the prior year. We estimate that the effective tax rate for the fourth quarter will be 46.5%. In addition, as usual, our guidance does not incorporate restructuring charges or additional share repurchases, and we estimate our weighted average shares to be $47.1 million.

營業天數較去年維持穩定，考慮到資產處置的影響，我們經調整後的有機營業天數按固定匯率計算的收入增長略有增長，向下取整後，收入趨勢趨於平穩。預計第四季 EBITDA 利潤率將與去年同期持平（取中間值）。我們預計第四季的實際稅率將為 46.5%。此外，與往常一樣，我們的指導意見不包括重組費用或額外的股票回購，我們估計加權平均股份為 4,710 萬美元。

I will now turn it back to Jonas.

現在我把麥克風交還給喬納斯。

Thanks, Jack. In parallel with our disciplined cost control, we continue to advance our digitization and standardization agenda across both the back and front office. We are pleased with the strong progress of our global business services initiatives, which are streamlining operations, aligning processes and improving speed and quality while reducing costs. I recently visited our new hub in Porto, Portugal, where our finance and technology team, a standardized and centralized back-office functions across Europe. These advancements are providing a blueprint for how we will continue to evolve our operating model standardizing our processes and leveraging our scale advantage across countries and regions.

謝謝你，傑克。在嚴格控製成本的同時，我們繼續推進後台和前台的數位化和標準化進程。我們對全球業務服務計劃的強勁進展感到滿意，這些計劃正在簡化營運、協調流程、提高速度和質量，同時降低成本。我最近參觀了我們在葡萄牙波爾圖的新中心，我們的財務和技術團隊在那裡為整個歐洲提供標準化和集中化的後台服務。這些進步為我們如何繼續發展我們的營運模式、規範我們的流程以及在各個國家和地區利用我們的規模優勢提供了藍圖。

We're now preparing to apply the same disciplined approach to the front office optimizing recruitment and sales processes on our global Power suite front office platform to identify similar opportunities for client and candidate service excellence, process standardization and productivity gains. By simplifying workflows and integrating technology, we're empowering our teams and building a business that will be leaner, more agile and well positioned for long-term growth.

我們現在正準備將同樣的嚴謹方法應用於前台部門，優化我們全球 Power 套件前台平台上的招募和銷售流程，以尋找類似的提升客戶和候選人服務品質、流程標準化和生產力提高的機會。透過簡化工作流程和整合技術，我們正在賦能我們的團隊，並打造一個更精簡、更敏捷、更有利於長期發展的企業。

We are confident that our combination of operational rigor, strategic investment and disciplined execution will ensure ManpowerGroup continues to strengthen our value to clients and candidates in a fast-changing external environment. This confidence in our value reinforced by the consistent recognition of three strong and distinct brands received for their market leadership and capabilities.

我們相信，憑藉我們嚴謹的營運、策略投資和嚴格的執行力，ManpowerGroup 將確保在快速變化的外部環境中繼續增強我們為客戶和求職者創造的價值。我們三個實力雄厚、風格迥異的品牌憑藉其市場領導地位和實力不斷獲得認可，這進一步增強了我們對自身價值的信心。

Last quarter, Everest Group recognized Manpower, Experis and Talent Solutions as industry leaders across multiple categories, reflecting the strength of our strategy, technology and people. Each recognition highlights SofieAI, our enterprise-wide AI platform we introduced last quarter, where our AI solutions are being developed refined and incorporated into our operational workflows to further enhance our capabilities and help clients make smarter, faster talent decisions.

上個季度，Everest Group 將 Manpower、Experis 和 Talent Solutions 評為多個類別的行業領導者，這反映了我們在策略、技術和人才方面的優勢。每一項榮譽都突顯了 SofieAI，這是我們上個季度推出的企業級人工智慧平台，我們的人工智慧解決方案正在該平台上進行開發、改進，並融入我們的營運工作流程中，以進一步增強我們的能力，並幫助客戶做出更明智、更快速的人才決策。

We are now increasingly moving from AI use cases to scaled commercial impact. In our largest market, SofieAI is now driving measurable gains with approximately 30% of new client revenue derived from AI rated probability. We also see that when prospects are identified as high probability by AI the potential value is notably higher than prospects identified by human insight alone.

我們現在正越來越多地從人工智慧應用案例轉向規模化的商業影響。在我們最大的市場中，SofieAI 目前正帶來可衡量的成長，約 30% 的新客戶收入來自 AI 評級的機率。我們也發現，當人工智慧識別出高機率的潛在客戶時，其潛在價值明顯高於僅靠人類洞察力識別出的潛在客戶。

With this new technology deployed across 14 key markets and scaling further, we expect to see significant value realization across our global footprint. The RPO and MSP, several recent client wins directly cite our AI-powered insights as differentiators in their selection process. These proof points reinforce how our technology investments are enhancing client outcomes.

隨著這項新技術在 14 個主要市場部署並進一步擴展，我們預計在全球範圍內實現顯著價值。RPO 和 MSP 的幾位新客戶在選擇過程中直接指出，我們 AI 驅動的洞察力是其區別於其他服務商的關鍵因素。這些證據進一步證實了我們的技術投資是如何提升客戶體驗的。

And as we look ahead, we do so with cautious optimism. While near-term conditions remain challenging in North America and Europe, our teams continue to execute our current priorities with discipline, serving our clients, supporting millions of associates and meaning for work and building the foundation for future profitable growth.

展望未來，我們懷著謹慎樂觀的態度。儘管北美和歐洲的短期情況仍然充滿挑戰，但我們的團隊將繼續以嚴謹的態度執行當前的優先事項，服務客戶，支持數百萬員工，賦予工作意義，並為未來的盈利增長奠定基礎。

I want to close by thanking our people around the world for their unwavering dedication and commitment to helping our clients win and our associates succeed. Operator, please open the line for our Q&A.

最後，我要感謝世界各地的員工，感謝他們堅定不移的奉獻和承諾，幫助我們的客戶成功，也幫助我們的同事成功。接線員，請開通我們的問答環節。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作說明）

Andrew Steinerman, JPMorgan.

Andrew Steinerman，摩根大通。

My first question is about when business confidence improves. So this is like beyond what you just guided for fourth quarter, $25 million would you expect kind of more of an early cycle pickup in flexible staffing volumes? And then also, Jack, if you could just comment on the gross margins that you talked about in the prepared remarks. Like is it this kind of an odd time where we're seeing softer outplacement and softer perm at the same time?

我的第一個問題是，商業信心何時會改善？所以，除了您剛才對第四季的預測（2500萬美元）之外，您是否預計彈性用工量會在早期週期中出現更大的回升？還有，傑克，你能不能就你在準備好的演講稿中提到的毛利率發表一下看法？現在是不是有點奇怪，我們同時看到了更溫和的離職安置和更溫和的永久職位？

Andrew, and yes, no, it is a bit of a strange time in many labor markets in Europe and North America. As you heard me characterize it in our call, it's like a frozen labor market. There's very little hiring going on, and there's very little workforce reductions going on. And we see that, of course, reflected in both our perm and RPO numbers as well as in the right management business also. But what's been very encouraging to us, though, is that despite this and despite PMI still being below 50 in many of our major markets, we're starting to see a distinct stabilization and growth in manpower, which is what we would hope to see when the markets bottom out.

安德魯，是的，不，目前歐洲和北美許多勞動市場的情況確實有點奇怪。正如我在通話中所描述的那樣，這就像是勞動市場凍結了一樣。目前幾乎沒有招募活動，也沒有多少員工被裁減。當然，這一點也體現在我們的永久職位和招募流程外包 (RPO) 數據以及合適的管理業務中。不過，令我們非常鼓舞的是，儘管如此，儘管我們許多主要市場的採購經理人指數 (PMI) 仍然低於 50，但我們開始看到人力資源出現明顯的穩定和增長，這正是我們希望在市場觸底時看到的。

And to your question, if employer confidence returns, we are hopeful that, that then would mean that we see a return to industry dynamics where we expect to see better manpower growth and the rest of the brands also benefiting from that improved environment.

至於您的問題，如果雇主信心恢復，我們希望這意味著行業動態將恢復到我們預期的水平，屆時人力資源成長將更加強勁，其他品牌也將受益於這種改善的環境。

Kartik Mehta, Northcoast Research.

Kartik Mehta，北海岸研究公司。

Maybe, Jack, if you just talk about the trends you saw in the quarter. And I guess I'm wondering if the quarter was even throughout or if you saw any volatility because of kind of what's happening in the economy.

傑克，或許你可以談談你在本季觀察到的趨勢。我想知道的是，這個季度整體情況是否平穩，還是因為當前的經濟狀況而出現了一些波動。

Sure, Kartik, I'd be happy to talk to that. So I think -- if we look across our major markets, probably starting with the biggest one being France, in line with what I referenced in my prepared remarks, we actually saw improvement in the trend during the course of the third quarter in France, where you see on an overall basis, the revenue at that minus 5%. But as we exit it, it was minus 4%. So we did see it start to improve in the month of September.

當然，卡爾蒂克，我很樂意和他談談。所以我認為——如果我們縱觀我們的主要市場，可能首先從最大的市場法國開始，正如我在準備好的發言稿中提到的，我們實際上在法國第三季度看到了趨勢的改善，從整體上看，收入下降了 5%。但當我們退出時，它變成了 -4%。所以我們看到情況在九月開始好轉。

You actually saw that in some of the industry data that was published as well. and that's a positive sign. And I would say as we look at October data, it continues to hold in that space as well. So a slightly improving trend from where we started the third quarter here into the fourth quarter. And I'd say, similar with Italy as well, I think Italy, we saw an improving trend in the month of September as well as we went through the course of the quarter.

實際上，在一些已發布的行業數據中也看到了這一點，這是一個積極的信號。而且我認為，從10月的數據來看，這個趨勢也依然成立。所以，從第三季初到第四季度，情況略有改善。我認為義大利的情況也類似，我們在9月以及整個季度都看到了改善的趨勢。

And as we look to the fourth quarter, we would expect that rate of revenue growth to improve in Italy as we go forward. And then I'd say in the US, I'd say there was probably a little more stable. I think there's a little bit more volatility in the US just due to some of the year-over-year we had -- as I've talked about previously, we had some very large RPO volumes from select projects from select clients in the year ago period that completed.

展望第四季度，我們預計義大利的營收成長率將隨著時間的推移而提高。然後我覺得在美國，情況可能稍微穩定一點。我認為美國市場波動性稍大一些，主要是因為我們去年同期的一些項目——正如我之前提到的，去年同期我們有一些來自特定客戶的特定項目的RPO業務量非常大，這些項目已經完成了。

So that created a little bit of volatility in the year-over-year. But overall basis, I'd say the US the Manpower business grew very steadily during the entire quarter. And I'd say the Experis business was more stable-ish in terms of activity levels during the quarter. I'd say those big ones that I referred to, and it kind of reflect what we saw on an overall basis in terms of the overall revenue trends.

因此，這造成了同比數據的一些波動。但總體而言，我認為美國人力資源業務在整個季度都保持著非常穩定的成長。而且我認為，就本季的業務活動水準而言，Experis 的業務相對穩定一些。我想說，我提到的那些大項目，某種程度上反映了我們從整體上看到的收入趨勢。

And if we could just go back to the gross margin issue. As you look at the fourth quarter and kind of look at gross margin, are you seeing any price pressure? Or is there any mix issue that is impacting gross profit. And beyond the mix of I realized perm is still kind of in a recessionary standpoint. But just beyond there, is there anything else that you'd say is impacting the gross profit margin.

如果我們能回到毛利率問題上來就好了。從第四季的毛利率來看，您是否感受到任何價格壓力？或是是否存在影響毛利的產品組合問題？而且，除了這些因素之外，我還意識到燙髮仍然在某種程度上受到經濟衰退的影響。但除此之外，您認為還有什麼其他因素會影響毛利率嗎？

No. I'd say, Kartik, when we look at the staffing margin, it's primarily mix shift towards enterprise clients. And in this environment, enterprise clients continue to be the bigger part of the spend and the demand, and that's averaging in. And that's been a trend we've been seeing over the course of the year. So what that means is the larger enterprise mix is putting pressure on the consolidated margin as they continue to average in.

不。卡爾蒂克，我認為，當我們審視人員配置利潤率時，主要原因是客戶結構轉移到企業客戶。在這種環境下，企業客戶仍然是支出和需求的主要部分，平均下來也是如此。而這正是我們今年以來一直觀察到的趨勢。這意味著，隨著企業規模不斷擴大，平均利潤率不斷下降，這將對合併利潤率造成壓力。

We would expect that to start to reverse when convenience comes back and that market starts to come back. But in the current environment, it's the enterprise clients that are spending the most and have the greatest demand. And that's the main driver of what's happening on the staffing side.

我們預計，當便利性恢復，市場開始復甦時，這種情況會開始逆轉。但在當前環境下，企業客戶的支出最多，需求也最大。這就是人員配備方面所發生的變化的主要驅動因素。

Pricing is always competitive, but we have not seen any dramatic changes in pricing on an overall basis. And to your point, in terms of the rest of the GD margin, yes, we did acknowledge that Perm came in a bit softer than we expected that put a little more pressure on the GP margin this quarter. And out placement volumes, as we talked about previously was a bit lower as well, which was the other piece of the of the GP margin bridge year-over-year. But I would say it's primarily driven by mix shift.

價格一直都很有競爭力，但總體而言，我們沒有看到價格有任何劇烈的變化。至於您提到的其他 GD 利潤率，是的，我們確實承認 Perm 的表現比我們預期的要弱一些，這給本季的 GP 利潤率帶來了一些壓力。正如我們之前討論過的，我們的配售數量也略有下降，這是GP利潤同比下降的另一個原因。但我認為這主要是由混音風格的變化所驅動的。

And just one last question, Jonas. As you talk to customers, and I'm not sure how you measure this, but are you sensing any more or less amount of uncertainty? Because it seems like uncertainty has been kind of the word for the whole year. And I'm wondering, as you speak with them if there's any level of difference in your opinion?

喬納斯，最後一個問題。在與客戶交談的過程中，我不知道你是如何衡量這一點的，但你是否感覺到客戶的不確定性增加或減少？因為感覺「不確定性」似乎成了今年的一大流行詞。我想知道，當你和他們交談時，你對他們的看法是否有任何分歧？

I would say that the clients that we speak with are increasingly resilient to the fluctuating policy environment. So they're considering this not to be a bug, but rather a feature. And as they then plan for their businesses to be successful, they are moving their businesses forward and thinking about the investments that they need to make. Now as the year has gone on, even though there are a lot of oscillations, the environment in terms of tariffs appears to be gradually settling down.

我認為，我們接觸的客戶對不斷變化的政策環境的適應能力越來越強。所以他們認為這不是漏洞，而是一項功能。然後，當他們為企業的成功制定計劃時，他們會推動企業向前發展，並考慮需要進行的投資。隨著時間的推移，儘管波動較大，但關稅環境似乎逐漸穩定下來。

And as I say this, I'm sure that, that will change this afternoon. But most -- many of the major countries and regions now have trade agreements that companies can project into 2026. And we would expect that to continue continue towards the end of this year and the beginning of next year. So the operating environment in terms of visibility for many employers should improve coming into 2026.

我相信，就在今天下午，情況就會有所改變。但大多數——許多主要國家和地區現在都簽訂了貿易協定，企業可以將其預測到 2026 年。我們預計這種情況將持續到今年年底和明年年初。因此，到 2026 年，許多雇主的經營環境（包括可見度）應該會有所改善。

I should also note that from an economic perspective, as economists look at 2026, the expectations at this point at least, is for an improved economic environment, both in Europe as well as in North America, with Asia Pacific and our -- in Latin America continuing on the current good path, so there's reasons to be optimistic, but of course, we're managing the business as we see it today and to give guidance into the quarter, but employers are, I think, getting more and more resilient to the noise and are really trying to understand the signal of where this is heading. And as the year goes on, there's more stability in that outlook, I believe.

我還應該指出，從經濟角度來看，經濟學家展望2026年時，至少目前預期歐洲和北美的經濟環境將有所改善，亞太地區和拉丁美洲也將繼續保持目前的良好勢頭，因此我們有理由保持樂觀。當然，我們目前仍會根據實際情況管理業務，並對本季業績做出指引。但我認為，雇主們越來越能抵禦外界幹擾，並且真正努力理解未來的發展方向。隨著時間的推移，我相信這種前景會更加穩定。

Manav Patnaik, Barclays.

馬納夫·帕特奈克，巴克萊銀行。

This is RonanKennedy on for Manav. This was touched on to a certain extent in responses to both Andrew and Kartik's questions. But could I reconfirm the leading indicators of demand that you are seeing that is informing the assessment, the stabilization beyond, I think, largest enterprise clients with the new assignment starts -- anything to note in respective regions and or brands there from those leading indicators.

這裡是 RonanKennedy 為 Manav 報道。在對 Andrew 和 Kartik 的問題的回答中，這一點都得到了一定程度的提及。但我能否再次確認您目前看到的、用於評估的領先需求指標，以及我認為隨著新專案的啟動，最大的企業客戶的需求是否趨於穩定——從這些領先指標來看，各個地區或品牌方面有什麼需要注意的地方嗎？

Well, as we mentioned in our prepared remarks, if you look at APME in Latin America, we continue to see good growth. So the notion of stabilization really mostly applies to some of the markets in Europe as well as the US and Canada. And yes, those are the indicators, amongst others that we look at -- we also look at the trends that we've now seen over a number of quarters with markets firming up. And despite a labor market that in some sense is a bit frozen between permanent hiring and workforce reductions.

正如我們在準備好的演講稿中所提到的，如果你觀察拉丁美洲的亞太、中東和非洲市場，我們會看到其持續良好的成長。因此，穩定化的概念實際上主要適用於歐洲以及美國和加拿大的一些市場。是的，這些是我們關注的指標之一，此外我們也將關注過去幾季以來市場走強的趨勢。儘管勞動力市場在某種程度上處於一種停滯狀態，既有永久性招聘，也有裁員。

What is clear if you look at our performance from a Manpower brand perspective that we're starting to see demand coming through and giving us growth opportunities. And over time, as the market and the demand improves, we would expect to see the same trends play out also in our other brands.

從 Manpower 品牌的角度來看，很明顯，我們開始看到需求出現，並為我們帶來成長機會。隨著時間的推移，隨著市場和需求的改善，我們也預期同樣的趨勢也會在我們的其他品牌中上演。

Appreciate it. And then a follow-up question, Jonas, is on the SofieAI implementation. I think you indicated there are measurable results, 30% new client revenue. deployment across four key markets. Can you just help us think about how -- what the current global coverage is the time line for deployment as I think you move from back office enhancement to front office? And then any other metrics to note or improved KPIs, whether it's producing time, higher revenue, time to fill, etc. and how we should think about implementation and benefits?

謝謝。喬納斯，接下來還有一個問題，是關於 SofieAI 的實作。我認為您已經指出取得了可衡量的成果，新增客戶收入成長了 30%，並在四個關鍵市場進行了部署。您能否幫我們思考一下—目前的全球覆蓋範圍是什麼？部署時間表是什麼？因為我認為你們正在從後台增強轉向前台。此外，還有其他需要注意的指標或需要改進的關鍵績效指標嗎？例如生產時間、更高的收入、填充時間等等，以及我們應該如何考慮實施和收益？

Well, first of all, let me say that we believe that AI could have a really positive impact on our business. And as you know, we've spoken over quite some time now over -- to our significant investment into our digital core. So by the end of this year, 90% of our revenues will be covered by a common global front office platform. 60% of our back-office transactions will be handled by a global platform moving to 80% or 90% towards the end of the year. So all of that says that we now have a global digital core that gives us the opportunity to leverage our scale by standardizing processes, centralizing across countries and regions in completely different ways.

首先，我想說的是，我們相信人工智慧可以對我們的業務產生非常正面的影響。如您所知，我們已經就我們對數位核心的大量投資進行了相當長時間的討論。因此，到今年年底，我們90%的收入將由一個通用的全球前台平台覆蓋。我們60%的後台交易將由全球平台處理，到年底這一比例將達到80%或90%。綜上所述，我們現在擁有一個全球數位核心，使我們能夠以完全不同的方式，透過標準化流程、跨國家和地區集中管理來利用我們的規模優勢。

It also gives us the opportunity, of course, to deploy AI in a scalable way as we have been doing in a number of instances. Like many companies, we've been working with use cases and really trying to understand where the opportunities lie. And I'd say we are still in the early innings of exploring what it can be -- but the example that I cited in our prepared remarks really shows the strength of what can happen when you apply AI into your lead generation and prospecting database.

當然，這也給了我們機會，讓我們能夠以可擴展的方式部署人工智慧，就像我們在許多情況下所做的那樣。和許多公司一樣，我們一直在研究用例，並努力了解機會在哪裡。我認為我們仍處於探索人工智慧潛力的早期階段——但我在準備好的演講稿中引用的例子確實展現了將人工智慧應用於潛在客戶開發和客戶資料庫時所能產生的強大效果。

Now we have the opportunity to really combine human insight with AI-generated insights, and the results that we're seeing in terms of the improvement in win rates as well as in value generation are very, very promising. So whilst I can't give you a time line for a global rollout on AI, I would say that we feel very good about our digital core and being able to deploy AI and more efficient processes enabled by AI across our network and across our global operations.

現在我們有機會真正將人類的洞察力與人工智慧生成的洞察力結合起來，我們在提高勝率和創造價值方面所看到的結果非常非常令人鼓舞。雖然我無法給出人工智慧在全球範圍內推廣的具體時間表，但我可以說，我們對我們的數位化核心以及在我們的網路和全球營運中部署人工智慧和人工智慧帶來的更高效流程的能力感到非常滿意。

Very comprehensive certainly appreciate it. Matt just sneaking a quick follow-up. Can you -- you talked about AI enabling realtime AI intelligence enabling quick pivots to sectors and regions for growth opportunities? Can you highlight some examples of that where you have pivoted or even potentially exited based on that data.

非常全面，非常感謝。馬特只是偷偷地快速跟進。您剛才提到人工智慧可以實現即時智能，從而能夠快速轉向各個行業和地區，抓住成長機會？能否舉例說明一下，您是如何根據這些數據調整策略甚至退出市場的？

I think it's really around the pipeline management that Jonas was referring to, where we've seen significant impact in terms of probability-weighted assessment of our revenue opportunities, Ronan. And so when we look at that, that impacts across all industries. I wouldn't say it's one specific vertical that has benefited from AI. I'd say it's multiple verticals, verticals that we deliver into. And it's been a big benefit to the way we focus our sales teams focus their time on opportunities I think in this environment, we've talked a lot about in the past about delayed decisions by clients.

羅南，我認為喬納斯所指的真正問題在於管道管理，我們已經看到它對我們的收入機會的機率加權評估產生了重大影響。因此，當我們審視這個問題時，會發現它對所有行業都有影響。我不會說只有某一特定垂直領域受益於人工智慧。我認為是多個垂直領域，我們向這些領域提供產品和服務。而且，這對我們銷售團隊集中精力把握商機的方式來說是一個很大的優勢。我認為在這種環境下，我們過去經常談到客戶決策延遲的問題。

So having that type of technology has been a big improvement for us to make sure we're focusing our time on the best opportunities, and that's been working quite well. But I wouldn't say it's a specific industry. It's very broad across all of our industries.

因此，擁有這類技術對我們來說是一項很大的進步，確保我們能夠將時間集中在最好的機會上，而且效果非常好。但我不會說它指的是某個特定的行業。它在我們所有行業中都非常普遍。

And as I mentioned in my prepared remarks, you can see that our Sofie AI platform has really helped us distinguish ourselves in the markets in terms of the accolades and the recognitions we've received. And we're very pleased with that initial recognition, but of course, we're counting on continuing to deploy this and applying commercial scale everywhere where we operate over time.

正如我在準備好的演講稿中提到的，你們可以看到，我們的 Sofie AI 平台確實幫助我們在市場上脫穎而出，獲得了許多讚譽和認可。我們對這項初步認可感到非常高興，當然，我們也希望隨著時間的推移，在我們運營的每個地方繼續部署並應用這項技術的商業規模。

Mark Marcon, Robert W. Baird.

馬克馬爾孔，羅伯特W貝爾德。

Wondering with -- I don't want to harp on the gross margin, but I just want to understand it a little bit better. On the enterprise side within Countries on a like-for-like basis, are the gross margins holding steady? Like if we take a look at your most important markets like France, Italy, UK and the US.

我很好奇——我不想過多糾結於毛利率，但我只是想更好地了解它。在各國企業層面，以同等條件計算，毛利率是否維持穩定？例如，如果我們看一下你們最重要的市場，例如法國、義大利、英國和美國。

Mark, I would say that just as Jack explained, most of the changes that we would see within country are really the same as we see on a consolidated basis -- consolidated basis, which is it's -- on a Country basis is also related to business mix. So enterprise in the markets where that's growing, we can see -- growing more than the convenience side that's where we -- that's where we're seeing the business mix shift. And this is not unusual for us to think -- to see this effect in markets that are challenged. And I would also concur with Jack that pricing is always competitive, but that we're not seeing any major moves in any particular market of scale either.

馬克，我想說，正如傑克解釋的那樣，我們在國內看到的絕大多數變化實際上與我們在合併基礎上看到的相同——合併基礎上的變化，也就是——在國家層面上的變化也與業務組合有關。因此，在那些企業業務成長的市場中，我們可以看到——成長速度超過了便利商店業務，這就是我們看到業務組合轉變的地方。我們認為，在面臨挑戰的市場中出現這種現象並不罕見。我也同意傑克的觀點，價格總是很有競爭力，但我們也沒有看到任何特定規模市場出現重大變化。

So it's really business mix at this point. And as you look at the labor markets and being frozen, what's important to note, though, is that they're solid labor markets, both in Europe and in North America. So unemployment, whilst the markets have been softening a bit here in the US, for instance, unemployment is still at a reasonably and historically low level. And the same is true for Europe.

所以，目前來看，關鍵在於業務組合。但當你審視勞動市場及其凍結狀態時，需要注意的是，無論是歐洲還是北美，它們的勞動市場都很穩健。因此，儘管美國市場有所疲軟，但失業率仍處於相當低的歷史水準。歐洲的情況也是如此。

So finding and accessing talent when companies are looking for talent might be slightly easier today, but it is still a challenge in many areas and for distinct and specialized skill sets. So we've really seen the business mix shift being the main driver of the staffing margin, not any price competition.

因此，如今企業在尋找人才時，找到並接觸到人才可能稍微容易一些，但在許多領域以及對於獨特和專業技能而言，這仍然是一個挑戰。因此，我們已經看到業務組合的變化才是人員配置利潤率的主要驅動因素，而不是價格競爭。

Yes. And I would just add, Mark, it's not broad brush in every market. We improved staffing margin in Japan in the third quarter year-over-year. As we anniversary a very difficult environment in the Nordics from a year ago, we improved staffing margin there as well. We improved staffing margin in Canada.

是的。我還要補充一點，馬克，這種情況並非適用於所有市場。第三季度，我們在日本的員工利潤率較去年同期成長。在北歐地區一年前極其艱難的商業環境週年之際，我們也提高了那裡的員工人數。我們在加拿大提高了人員配置利潤率。

But as Jon has said, in the markets where we have very large enterprise client bases, we have seen a shift on the mix. So as enterprise becomes a bigger part of the pie, that's averaging in and putting pressure on in those other large markets. And of course, that would include France and the US and Italy.

但正如 Jon 所說，在我們擁有非常龐大的企業客戶群的市場中，我們已經看到客戶組合發生了變化。因此，隨著企業市場份額的不斷擴大，這會對其他大型市場造成平均壓力。當然，這其中也包括法國、美國和義大利。

Are there things that you could do to stimulate the convenience side of the market? I mean, like within the US, when we take a look at small business employment relative to large enterprise employment, on a macro scale, it doesn't seem like there's a huge difference, although I imagine that small businesses are a little bit more concerned about managing costs. But I'm wondering, are there things that you can do in order to tilt things a little bit on the convenience side.

有哪些方法可以刺激便利商店市場的發展？我的意思是，就像在美國，當我們從宏觀層面來看小企業就業與大企業就業相比，似乎並沒有太大的區別，儘管我認為小企業可能更注重成本控制。但我很好奇，有沒有辦法能讓事情稍微方便一點？

Well, our efforts around building stronger pipelines enabled by technology, and I mentioned earlier, help getting AI to target prospect lists, both for enterprise as well for convenience clients should help us get some traction, but what's not unusual at times like this is that enterprise demand is just higher because they have greater ability to absorb the uncertainty, and their caution is balanced across multiple geographies and multiple businesses as well.

嗯，我們致力於透過技術手段建立更強大的銷售管道，正如我之前提到的，利用人工智慧來精準定位潛在客戶名單，無論是企業客戶還是個人客戶，都應該能幫助我們取得一些進展。但像現在這樣的時期，企業客戶的需求更高，這並不奇怪，因為他們更有能力應對不確定性，而且他們的謹慎態度也體現在多個地區和多個業務領域。

So we continue to believe that the convenience market is strong. We believe we have great opportunities to continue to improve our positioning and market share also in that market. But what we're seeing right now at this point in the cycle in Europe and in North America, is that enterprise demand is slightly higher than what we're seeing from the convenience. But those things, once employer confidence shifts can change quite quickly. So we expect to see the margin business mix to rebalance the way it has done in the past.

因此，我們仍然認為便利商店市場強勁。我們相信，我們在該市場也有很大的機會繼續提升我們的市場地位和市場份額。但就目前歐洲和北美市場週期的這個階段來看，企業需求略高於便利商店需求。但是，一旦雇主信心轉變，這些情況可能會很快改變。因此，我們預期利潤率業務組合將像過去一樣重新平衡。

And I would just add, Mark, we do have significant convenience initiatives in place in markets like Italy and in France, that's one of the reasons we believe Italy is leading the market. Currently, our business. Our growth is -- yes, there's a lot of enterprise growth, but there's very good convenience growth in our Italy business. And it's a key initiative in US Manpower and Experis as well. But we see significant growth in convenience in markets like Italy. And those initiatives are happening in all of our largest markets. It's just having a much bigger impact at the moment in Italy.

我還要補充一點，馬克，我們在義大利和法國等市場確實實施了許多便利性舉措，這也是我們認為義大利在市場上處於領先地位的原因之一。目前，我們的業務。我們的成長—是的，企業業務成長了很多，但我們在義大利的便利商店業務成長也非常好。這也是美國人力資源公司和Experis公司的關鍵舉措。但我們看到，在義大利等市場，便利商店的需求顯著成長。這些措施正在我們所有最大的市場中實施。目前，它在義大利的影響要大得多。

Great. And then can I just ask about RPO. It sounds like you're starting to see some wins from Sophie. Are those new wins, those new RPO wins enough to offset the frozen market? Or would you expect RPO to continue to primarily be driven by the macro?

偉大的。然後可以問一下關於RPO的問題嗎？聽起來你好像開始看到索菲取得一些勝利了。這些新勝利，這些新的RPO勝利，足以抵銷市場凍結的影響嗎？還是您認為RPO仍將主要受宏觀經濟因素驅動？

I think it can help us drive better win rates, but what's clear is that both the size of the deals in the market today and the extended time of implementation means that we are anticipating RPO to still be feeling the headwinds at least looking towards the near term. The fact that companies are less interested in hiring permanently means that from RPO, which is a recruitment process outsourcing offering, essentially an outsourced perm hiring engine to bring in lots of talent into organizations. The companies are slower to act on those kinds of initiatives. And when they're planning for those initiatives, the time line for implementation tends to be longer and the initial volumes tend to be lower.

我認為它可以幫助我們提高成交率，但顯而易見的是，目前市場上的交易規模以及實施時間的延長意味著，至少在短期內，我們預計 RPO 仍將面臨不利因素。公司對永久招聘興趣降低，這意味著 RPO（招聘流程外包服務）——本質上是一個外包的永久招聘引擎——可以為組織引入大量人才。這些公司在執行這類措施方面行動較為遲緩。當他們計劃實施這些措施時，實施時間往往較長，初始規模往往較低。

So we think the RPO business model as well as the value that it presents for clients remains extremely strong. And especially if you think about the future where we are going to be demographically constrained, taking our RPO operations into any company looking to find talent at scale across geographies and nations is going to be extremely valuable. But right now, what we're seeing is that companies are less focused on that, so that's why we're expecting it to continue to face some headwinds in the near term.

因此，我們認為 RPO 商業模式及其為客戶帶來的價值仍然非常強勁。尤其是考慮到未來人口結構將受到限制，將我們的招募流程外包 (RPO) 業務引入任何希望跨地域和跨國大規模尋找人才的公司都將具有極大的價值。但目前我們看到的是，企業對這一點的關注度較低，因此我們預期它在短期內仍將面臨一些不利因素。

Okay. Can I speak one more in, please. Jonas, I just want to -- you've got a great perspective with regards to what's going on internationally, particularly in Europe. We all see what's going on in France from a political perspective. How is that impacting decision-makers on the ground? Is it -- are businesses feeling any less certain about stability just given the turmoil that we're seeing from a political perspective over there?

好的。我可以再說一句嗎？喬納斯，我只是想說──你對國際情勢，特別是歐洲情勢，有著非常獨到的見解。從政治角度來看，我們都看到了法國正在發生的事情。這會對第一線決策者產生什麼影響？鑑於目前政治局勢的動盪，企業是否對市場穩定感到更不確定？

Yes. Thanks, Mark. I just came back from France last week and spent quite some time with our teams and being in various markets as well. And clearly, the political turmoil in France is not helpful to the sentiment of employers. Having said that though, if you look at the various elements of the polictical factions, no one disagrees that France needs to go through a budget process that helps reduce the deficit. So the degrees of how much that would relate to. So that's where the tensions lie.

是的。謝謝你，馬克。我上週剛從法國回來，花了很多時間和我們的團隊在一起，也參觀了各個市場。顯然，法國的政治動盪不利於雇主的情緒。話雖如此，但如果你仔細審視各個政治派別，沒有人會否認法國需要經歷一個有助於減少赤字的預算過程。所以，這之間的關聯程度又是如何呢？這就是矛盾所在。

As you might have seen this morning, the government has survived two no-confidence votes, and we would expect that to continue. But what's coming next is the discussion around the actual budget, which needs to be concluded before the end of the year. And so there's still a lot of uncertainty in terms of what's going to happen.

正如你今天早上可能看到的，政府已經挺過了兩次不信任投票，我們預計這種情況還會繼續下去。但接下來要討論的是實際預算，需要在年底前完成。因此，未來會發生什麼仍然存在著許多不確定性。

But from a company perspective, what our clients are doing is looking at their business and navigating through this environment, responding to the demand that they're seeing in various markets. And as Jack alluded to and as you've seen from our numbers, French PMI has improved. The outlook for Europe has improved somewhat into 2026 as well. So companies are preparing and that's what we're also seeing in our business that we're navigating this and companies are resilient, and they need to take care of their business first and what's very important to their business is to find the right talent to execute their plans. And in a labor market that is regulated as France, our offerings are extremely attractive to fuel those talent investments in environments like these.

但從公司的角度來看，我們的客戶正在審視他們的業務，並應對這種環境，以回應他們在各個市場中看到的需求。正如傑克所暗示的，也正如你們從我們的數據中看到的，法國採購經理人指數（PMI）有所改善。歐洲2026年的經濟前景也略有改善。所以各公司都在做準備，我們在自己的業務中也看到了這一點，我們正在應對這種情況，各公司都很有韌性，他們首先需要照顧好自己的業務，而對他們的業務來說，最重要的是找到合適的人才來執行他們的計劃。在像法國這樣受到監管的勞動力市場中，我們的產品和服務對於推動此類環境下的人才投資具有極大的吸引力。

So to conclude, the environment in France right now with the political uncertainty is not helpful for sure. But at the same time, most of our clients are very pragmatic and they're responding to the demand that they are seeing. And in turn, that gives us the opportunity to provide talent into their operations and make sure that they are successful.

綜上所述，法國目前的政治不確定性環境肯定不利於局勢發展。但同時，我們的大多數客戶都非常務實，他們正在回應他們所看到的需求。反過來，這又給了我們機會為他們的營運提供人才，並確保他們成功。

Trevor Romeo, William Blair.

特雷弗·羅密歐，威廉·布萊爾。

If I could maybe just follow up very quickly on that last question with France. Just quickly, is there any change to your expectations or your confidence level at this point that the additional business tax from this year won't recur beyond 2025 at this point based on everything that's going on there?

我能否就最後一個問題，快速補充一下關於法國的問題？簡單問一下，根據目前的情況，您對今年新增的商業稅不會在 2025 年後再次出現這項預期或信心是否有所改變？

Trevor, this is Jack. I'd say it's too early to tell. Candidly, at this stage. There were some discussions just this week on that. But we're monitoring the situation. I'll give a better update on that at year-end. As Jonas said, once the budget is presented and passed. I think at this stage, there is -- there has been some discussion within the French budget of perhaps continuing the surcharge, but at a lower level than the current year. into one additional year into 2026.

特雷弗，這是傑克。我覺得現在下結論還太早。坦白說，就目前而言。就在本週，我們也就此進行了一些討論。但我們正在密切關注事態發展。我會在年底提供更詳細的更新資訊。正如喬納斯所說，一旦預算案提交並通過。我認為現階段，法國預算內部已經討論過或許可以繼續徵收附加費，但金額會低於今年的水平，並延長一年至2026年。

But as I said, it's too early to tell. So I think from this perspective, we would expect our effective tax rate to decrease next year. As the surcharge comes down, we'll see where it ends up as the budget continues to be debated and discussed within Parliament. But I'd say at this stage, it's a bit too early to give any firm guidance on that, Trevor.

但正如我所說，現在下結論還為時過早。所以從這個角度來看，我認為我們預計明年的實際稅率將會下降。隨著附加費的降低，我們將拭​​目以待，看看隨著議會繼續辯論和討論預算，最終附加費會是多少。但我覺得，特雷弗，現階段就此給出任何確切的指導意見還為時過早。

Okay. That is helpful. And then I guess maybe kind of a broader question. I think for several quarters now of the Manpower brand outperforming Experis. So from kind of a macro perspective, I guess, what do you think are the drivers of blue collar staffing outperforming white collar staffing is AI playing a role there? Is it kind of more labor hoarding in those white-collar areas and the frozen labor markets you talked about us. Anything you could say on that topic?

好的。那很有幫助。然後，我想問一個更廣泛的問題。我認為在過去的幾個季度裡，Manpower品牌的表現都優於Experis。所以從宏觀角度來看，您認為藍領員工表現優於白領員工的驅動因素是什麼？人工智慧在其中發揮了作用嗎？你說的那些白領領域和凍結的勞動市場是不是有點囤積勞動力的現象？關於這個話題，你有什麼想說的嗎？

Well, we've been very pleased to see how Manpower has rebounded into growth for a number of quarters now and projected to do so again into the fourth quarter. But that evolution, of course, is tied to a number of different things. You've seen PMI start to improve. I talked about the resilience of employers that are getting used to a more fluctuating environment and have to run their business and make the talent investments going forward.

我們很高興地看到，Manpower 已經連續幾個季度恢復成長，並預計第四季將繼續保持成長勢頭。當然，這種演變與許多不同的因素有關。你已經看到採購經理人指數（PMI）開始改善了。我談到了雇主們的韌性，他們正在逐漸適應波動性更大的環境，並且必須繼續經營業務，並在未來進行人才投資。

So I think those are things that we are looking at. And of course, we've also been able to pivot to areas that are growing faster and targeting industry verticals that we feel are going to give us more opportunity for growth. If you think about Experis, clearly, it's unusual from an industry perspective, our own industry perspective to see that there is that disconnect. But really, there's been a lot of things that have been different in this post-pandemic era. And what we believe is happening from our experience perspective is that companies are really focused in investing into the AI boom, and they are really moving much lower on the traditional IT project.

所以我覺得這些都是我們正在關注的問題。當然，我們也能夠轉向成長更快的領域，並瞄準我們認為能夠為我們帶來更多成長機會的行業垂直領域。如果你想想 Experis，很明顯，從產業角度來看，從我們自己的產業角度來看，出現這種脫節是很不尋常的。但實際上，後疫情時代有很多事情都改變了。從我們的經驗來看，我們認為現在的情況是，企業真正專注於投資人工智慧熱潮，而對傳統 IT 專案的投入則大幅減少。

And that's what we think is happening and impacting the demand for many of our big clients. They have shifted their priorities into AI investments, and whilst we are participating in those skill sets as well, the volumes that we have in different areas is really something that is being impacted at this point in time.

我們認為這種情況正在發生，並影響著我們許多大客戶的需求。他們已將重點轉向人工智慧投資，雖然我們也參與了這些技能的培養，但我們在不同領域的投入規模目前確實受到了影響。

Now we believe demand more traditional digital project is going to come back with many of those same clients, but we think it's a moment in time, and that's why you're seeing this difference between white collar staffing. In our case, our Experis business as well as our Manpower business that is moving forward and is doing very well.

現在我們相信，對傳統數位專案的需求將會回歸，而且許多客戶仍然會是那些老客戶，但我們認為這只是暫時的，這就是為什麼你會看到白領員工隊伍出現這種差異的原因。就我們而言，我們的 Experis 業務以及人力資源業務都在穩步發展，並且表現得非常出色。

George Tong, Goldman Sachs.

喬治唐，高盛集團。

Going back to your comments on labor markets being frozen in terms of hiring in more ports reductions, can you parse out which markets are more frozen than others? And in which markets you're starting to see some thawing?

回到您之前關於勞動力市場凍結（例如港口招聘減少）的評論，您能否具體分析哪些市場比其他市場凍結得更厲害？那麼，你認為哪些市場開始出現復甦跡象呢？

I would say the industry verticals, George, that we see are starting to pick up a bit. Are related to financial services in some markets, logistics, some of that is seasonality. That's coming back. There's a lot of activity also in the defense sector, especially in Europe that we feel could be very beneficial to us. On the flip side, we are still seeing sluggishness around auto that we've talked about.

喬治，我認為我們看到的各個行業垂直領域都開始有所改善。在某些市場與金融服務、物流相關，其中一些是季節性的。它會回歸的。國防領域也有很多活動，尤其是在歐洲，我們認為這些活動對我們非常有利。另一方面，我們仍然看到我們之前討論過的汽車行業增長乏力的情況。

Construction is still sluggish in many parts of Europe as well, where we are in that business. So we can see a number of sectors that are more sluggish than others. But I would say that the nature of how employers are holding on to their workforce, we believe is really the memory of the post-pandemic surge in demand for talent that had been dislocated in various countries. And employers are very keen not to relive their experience.

在歐洲許多地區，建築業依然低迷，而我們正是在這些地區從事建築業務。因此我們可以看到一些行業比其他行業更為疲軟。但我認為，雇主之所以能夠留住員工，其實是因為他們還記得疫情後各國人才流失導致人才需求激增的情景。雇主們非常不希望重蹈覆轍。

They believe the workforces they have in place today are largely the workforces they will need going forward, and they're holding on to their workforce to a greater degree today than we have experienced in past economic slowdowns and periods of uncertainty of this kind because we think employers are informed and cautioned by that experience. And as long as they believe in a recovery and they will hold on to their workforces longer.

他們認為，目前現有的員工隊伍基本上就是他們未來所需的員工隊伍，而且與過去經濟放緩和類似不確定時期相比，他們現在更加重視留住現有員工，因為我們認為，雇主們已經從過去的經驗中吸取了教訓，變得更加謹慎。只要他們相信經濟會復甦，他們就會盡可能長時間地留住員工。

And I think that's what we're seeing, especially here in the US. That's what the mindset is. Now the good news on that part is, of course, that once they are seeing tangible signs of an improvement in economic outlook and maybe also greater certainty from a policy perspective, they're ready to move forward bringing talent back on so that they can meet the growing demand. And of course, that's what we are preparing for and working with them on being ready to capture the future growth opportunities as things improve for them.

我認為這正是我們正在看到的，尤其是在美國。這就是他們的心態。當然，這方面的好消息是，一旦他們看到經濟前景改善的實際跡象，以及政策方面更大的確定性，他們就準備著手重新招攬人才，以滿足不斷增長的需求。當然，這正是我們正在準備的，我們正在與他們合作，幫助他們做好準備，以便在情況好轉時抓住未來的成長機會。

Got it. That's helpful. You talked about accelerated initiatives to remove structural costs from the organization. which regions are seeing the most amount of restructuring and head count reductions?

知道了。那很有幫助。您提到要加速推進各項舉措，以削減組織結構性成本。哪些地區的重組和裁員幅度最大？

Yes. Thanks for that question, George. I'd say in the third quarter, we continue to be very focused on Northern Europe. Germany was at the top of the list in terms of the restructuring of $11 million. But also we did some work in Spain, the UK and the US as well. But I would say if you just -- if I just step back and look at 2025 overall, the most impact and most of the actions have been around Northern Europe. And we see that in the improvement in the trend from Q2 to Q3. So that minus $6 million moving to minus $1 million is actually showing the results of a lot of the hard work we've been doing in Northern Europe.

是的。謝謝你的提問，喬治。我認為在第三季度，我們將繼續非常關注北歐市場。德國在重組金額方面位居榜首，重組金額高達 1,100 萬美元。此外，我們也曾在西班牙、英國和美國開展過一些工作。但我想說，如果我退後一步，縱觀 2025 年，就會發現影響最大、行動最多的地區是北歐。我們從第二季到第三季的趨勢改善中可以看到這一點。因此，虧損從 600 萬美元變為 100 萬美元，實際上表明了我們在北歐所做的許多努力的成果。

We have more work to do, to be clear, but we are making progress. As we go forward, I think as we talked about in the prepared remarks, we are looking at structural costs everywhere in the organization. So as Jonas has talked about, we have a lot going on in the back office.

需要明確的是，我們還有更多的工作要做，但我們正在取得進展。隨著工作的推進，我認為正如我們在準備好的演講稿中所談到的那樣，我們將關注組織內各個方面的結構性成本。正如喬納斯所說，我們後台有很多事情要做。

He referred to our global business service center in Europe that is driving reduced cost going forward for us. And we're looking very, very closely at the front office and elements of all of our largest businesses, where there could be other opportunities to do similar things in terms of standardization and centralization. And that continues to be an opportunity for us that you'll hear us talk about in the future.

他指的是我們位於歐洲的全球業務服務中心，該中心正在幫助我們降低未來的成本。我們正在非常仔細地審視我們所有最大業務的前台和各個環節，看看在標準化和集中化方面是否還有其他機會可以做類似的事情。這對我們來說仍然是一個機遇，未來你們還會聽到我們談論它。

Stephanie Moore, Jefferies.

Stephanie Moore，傑富瑞集團。

Just some follow-up question. You talked a lot this morning about just the technology advancements and investments, whether it's AI or others that you've made over really the last several years here. When the underlying environment unfreezes or starts to be a bit more constructive do you believe that your technology advancements will enable you to capture some of that market growth or just that recovery with effectively less people and ultimately kind of seeing greater operating leverage and greater torque to the model than impact upswing.

還有一個後續問題。今天早上您談了很多關於技術進步和投資的話題，無論是人工智慧還是您在過去幾年裡進行的其他投資。當潛在環境解凍或開始變得更有建設性時，您是否認為您的技術進步將使您能夠以更少的人力抓住部分市場增長或復甦，並最終獲得更大的營運槓桿和更大的商業模式扭矩，而不是衝擊上升？

Thanks, Stephanie. Yes. And the investments we are making, first of all, I believe, positions us very uniquely in our industry with our scale, having 90% of our revenues flow through a common global front office platform mobile apps that are being deployed across many of our countries addressing both our associates, so the people that are working for us and are candidates, people that are playing for jobs. And then combining that with our back-office technologies also at a global level, gives us an opportunity to standardize, centralize and reimagine our processes in a completely different way. And clearly, what we're aiming to do is to leverage our scale not only across countries but across regions as well.

謝謝你，斯蒂芬妮。是的。首先，我認為，我們正在進行的投資使我們在行業中擁有非常獨特的地位，憑藉我們的規模，我們 90% 的收入都來自一個通用的全球前台平台移動應用程序，這些應用程序正在我們許多國家/地區部署，面向我們的員工（即為我們工作的人）和求職者（即正在求職的人）。然後，將這些與我們在全球範圍內的後台技術相結合，使我們有機會以完全不同的方式標準化、集中化和重新構想我們的流程。很顯然，我們的目標是利用我們的規模優勢，不僅跨越國家，還要跨越地區。

And when we look at our operations in Latin America, all 15 countries in which we operate and lead the market in across that region are handled from a back office perspective centrally. Our payrolling is handled centrally. And you've seen the progress that we have made across Latin America over time. We're very pleased with that performance.

當我們審視我們在拉丁美洲的業務時，我們在該地區運營並引領市場的 15 個國家/地區的所有業務，都是從後台集中管理的。我們的薪資發放由中央統一負責。你們也看到了我們這些年來在拉丁美洲的進步。我們對這個表現非常滿意。

and the improved productivity that we're seeing there. And we aim to drive similar kinds of effects, both from a growth perspective, being able to deliver faster to our clients at a higher quality, but also working on streamlining our processes in the back office and in the middle office so that we can gain productivity and efficiency there as well. And on top of all of that, of course, the impact of AI and what we can do through further automation, enabled by AI or just automation is, of course, another aspect that we're looking at very, very closely.

以及我們在那裡看到的生產力提升。我們的目標是實現類似的效果，既從成長的角度來看，能夠更快地為客戶提供更高品質的服務，也致力於簡化後台和中台的流程，從而提高這些部門的生產力和效率。當然，除此之外，人工智慧的影響以及我們透過人工智慧或自動化所實現的進一步自動化所能做的事情，當然也是我們正在非常密切關注的另一個面向。

Josh Chan, UBS.

瑞銀集團的 Josh Chan。

Jack, just two quick ones here. So I wanted to ask about SG&A leverage because in Q4, you're guiding to some margin compression on the gross margin line, but not much EBIT margin compression. So that obviously implies improving SG&A leverage. And I was just wondering what's driving that and whether you think you're at a point where SG&A can start potentially leverging positively?

傑克，就問兩個問題。所以我想問一下關於銷售、管理及行政費用槓桿的問題，因為在第四季度，您預計毛利率會有一些下降，但息稅前利潤率不會有太大下降。所以這顯然意味著要提高銷售、管理及行政費用的槓桿。我只是想知道是什麼因素在推動這一點，以及您是否認為銷售、一般及行政費用（SG&A）現在可以開始發揮積極作用了？

Thanks, Josh. No, you're absolutely right. The guy does anticipate that SG&A will be a big part of the equation in terms of falling gross profit dollars down to the EBITDA line. So with that guide, you basically see a relatively stable level of EBITDA from Q3 into Q4. And we talked about crossing over to organic growth.

謝謝你，喬希。不，你說得完全正確。該人士預計，銷售、一般及行政費用 (SG&A) 將是導致毛利下降至 EBITDA 指標的重要因素。因此，根據該指南，您基本上可以看到 EBITDA 從第三季到第四季保持相對穩定的水平。我們也討論瞭如何過渡到有機成長。

Well, that's a big step to hold our margin flat year-over-year. It's been a while since we were able to do that. And with all the actions we've taken, we're starting to bend the curve on SG&A as well, and that's going to have a meaningful impact in the fourth quarter, and you can see that incorporated into the guide. So you're absolutely right that -- that is going to be a bigger impact in the overall equation in terms of holding that EBITDA.

嗯，這是實現利潤率同比持平的一大步。我們已經很久沒有這樣做了。隨著我們採取的所有措施，我們也開始控制銷售、一般及行政費用的成長，這將對第四季度產生重大影響，您可以在該指南中看到這一點。所以你說的完全正確——這將對維持 EBITDA 的整體情況產生更大的影響。

But I would say in terms of the GP, with that guide, it is just a modest change from Q3. So it's really just that effect that we've talked about with perm being a little bit softer, while we have a bit more enterprise in the mix. So just about 10 basis points sequentially as that continues to average in. But that's really the main impact there. But you're right.

但就大獎賽而言，按照這個指導方針，與第三季相比，變化並不大。所以，這其實就是我們之前討論過的那種效果，燙髮的效果比較柔和，而我們的產品則更有個性。所以，隨著平均值的不斷增加，每季大約會下降 10 個基點。但這確實是主要的影響。但你說得對。

On SG&A, that is going to start to have a big impact on the EBITDA line. And that really is a reflection of all the work that we've talked about over the course of the year with the actions we've taken. And I talked about Northern Europe. That's one example of it, but we're seeing it in other markets as well in terms of improvement in bottom line profitability.

銷售、一般及行政費用將會對 EBITDA 產生重大影響。這確實反映了我們在過去一年中討論的所有工作以及我們採取的行動。我談到了北歐。這是一個例子，但我們在其他市場也看到了類似的現象，即利潤率有所提高。

Great. That's good to see. And then I guess, Jack, I wonder if there's a way for you to ballpark for us how good free cash flow could be in Q4? And maybe relatedly, could you talk about sort of the negative free cash flow in the first half and whether -- how unusual that is as we kind of think about what a normal cash flow should be kind of going forward?

偉大的。那真是個好消息。那麼，傑克，我想知道你是否可以幫我們大致估算一下第四季的自由現金流狀況？或許可以就此談談上半年的負自由現金流，以及考慮到未來正常的現金流應該是什麼樣的，這種情況是否不尋常？

Yes. No, sure, Josh. As I talked about last call, we had a big outflow in the first half of the year. And part of that was due to our very large market-leading MSP program. That does create some timing issues. We saw that at the end of last year into the first quarter of this year, where we had some very significant prepayments from some very large MSP clients at the very end of quarter and those payables went out at the very beginning of the following quarter. Usually, it's neutral, but sometimes if there's large prepayments that could create a little bit of volatility from a quarter-over-quarter.

是的。不，當然，喬許。正如我上次提到的，今年上半年我們的資金大量流出。部分原因在於我們規模龐大、市場領先的MSP專案。這確實會造成一些時間安排上的問題。我們看到，從去年年底到今年第一季度，一些大型 MSP 客戶在季度末支付了數額巨大的預付款，而這些應付款項在下一季初就已支付。通常情況下，這種波動是中性的，但有時如果出現大額預付款，可能會導致季度環比出現一些波動。

And we did see that flatter in the fourth quarter. We had a very strong free cash flow in the fourth quarter last year. It was flattered somewhat by that. But even putting that aside, it was still a very, very strong free cash flow for us in the fourth quarter of last year. but that did depress the first quarter outflow.

第四節比賽的情況確實有所改善。去年第四季我們的自由現金流非常強勁。它對此感到有些受寵若驚。但即便撇開這一點不談，去年第四季我們的自由現金流仍然非常強勁。但這確實抑制了第一季的現金流出。

We typically, as I've mentioned, over the last four years, we've had negative outflows in the first half of the year and very strong positive free cash flows in the second half of the year. And we started that here in the third quarter. The fourth quarter typically is a very strong free cash flow, and we would expect that to be the case again this year where the fourth quarter will be a strong free cash flow at this stage. So that's what I would to add a little more color. The other item in the first quarter outside of the MSP program was we did have some very large onetime payments.

正如我之前提到的，過去四年裡，我們通常上半年出現負現金流出，下半年出現非常強勁的正自由現金流。我們在第三季就開始了這項工作。第四季通常是自由現金流非常強勁的時期，我們預計今年第四季現階段的自由現金流也將非常強勁。所以，我這樣做是為了增添一些色彩。第一季除 MSP 計劃外，我們還有一筆非常大的一次性付款。

We had the Tax Act from 2017 that had multiyear transition payments go out. We had the last one of those in the first quarter, which is one of the biggest payments, so that goes away going forward. And as I mentioned, a lot of our technology license costs are all loaded into the first half of the year, and we don't have that in the second half of the year. So that's why typically the second half is much stronger, and that would be the outlook. The last point I'd make is now here we are about three-fourth of stabilized EBITDA, that is going to work into more favorable free cash flow trends as we go forward.

我們有 2017 年的稅收法案，其中包含多年過渡期付款。我們在第一季完成了最後一筆此類款項，這是一筆數額最大的款項之一，因此以後就不會再有這筆款項了。正如我之前提到的，我們的許多技術授權費用都集中在上半年，下半年就沒有這些費用了。所以這就是為什麼通常下半年表現會更好，這也是未來的發展趨勢。最後我想說的是，目前我們已經達到了穩定 EBITDA 的四分之三左右，隨著我們不斷前進，這將轉化為更有利的自由現金流趨勢。

Now that trailing 12 months EBITDA is stabilizing here with the guide for nine months as we finish 2025 and that will be a positive impact because one of the other factors, of course, is trailing 12 months EBITDA had been decreasing with the downturn that we talked about that 11 quarters. And now that's shifting and we stabilized. So that will be a positive factor in terms of free cash flow as we go forward as well.

現在，截至 2025 年底，過去 12 個月的 EBITDA 正在趨於穩定，並給出了未來九個月的指引，這將產生積極影響，因為另一個因素當然是，過去 12 個月的 EBITDA 在我們之前討論過的 11 個季度的經濟低迷時期一直在下降。現在情況正在轉變，我們已經穩定下來了。因此，從長遠來看，這將對自由現金流產生積極影響。

Tobey Summer, Truist.

Tobey Summer，Truist。

I wanted to ask a question about gross margin. If we do see employers sort of become a little bit more forward leaning and optimistic, how would the social costs that typically reinflate gross margin after a period of decline perform in this context where unemployment rates didn't really rise a ton.

我想問一個關於毛利率的問題。如果我們看到雇主們變得更加積極樂觀，那麼在失業率並沒有大幅上升的情況下，通常會在一段下滑期後推高毛利率的社會成本將會如何表現呢？

The changes that we've seen in the gross margin so far, Tobey, are all related to business mix. And to your point, there hasn't been a real decline in employment that's significant. And so whatever social burdens are carried today, and I'm sure that you're referring mostly here to the US we would expect to carry on and be stable into the future because there's no need to re-up those burdens to a level that had been depleted, and that's what we would expect to see. So from that perspective, we don't think that social costs will have a major impact, barring changing legislations, of course, but just from an employment perspective, driving changes in social costs and aside from any pension-related costs in other countries that might go up or not.

托比，我們目前看到的毛利率變化都與業務組合有關。正如你所指出的，就業率並沒有顯著的真正下降。因此，無論今天人們承受著怎樣的社會負擔（我相信你主要指的是美國），我們都希望這些負擔能夠繼續下去，並在未來保持穩定，因為沒有必要將這些負擔重新增加到已經耗盡的水平，而這正是我們所期望看到的。因此從這個角度來看，我們認為社會成本不會產生重大影響，當然，除非立法發生變化，但僅從就業角度來看，社會成本的變化以及其他國家可能上升或不上升的退休金相關成本都不會造成重大影響。

We don't really expect that to be a main factor in driving our gross profit margin differences. But of course, what we are very keenly focused on is when employers feel more confident in the economy that we will see permanent recruitment go up to more normalized levels, and that will have an overall very positive effect on our gross profit overall.

我們並不認為這會成為導致我們毛利率差異的主要因素。當然，我們非常關注的是，當雇主對經濟更有信心時，我們將看到永久性招聘恢復到更正常的水平，這將對我們的整體毛利產生非常積極的影響。

Understood. And from an IT perspective internally within the firm, you've been pushing process improvement, global standardization, etc. Where do you think you sit from a competitive perspective? Because globally for the largest enterprise customers, you compete with a relatively narrow set of firms, are you ahead on par, trailing? Where do you see yourself competitively from that perspective?

明白了。從公司內部的IT角度來看，你們一直在推動流程改善、全球標準化等等。從競爭角度來看，你們認為自己處於什麼位置？因為在全球範圍內，對於最大的企業客戶而言，你與相對較少的公司競爭，你是領先、並駕齊驅，還是落後？從這個角度來看，你認為自己在競爭中處於什麼位置？

Well, of course, it's hard to say, Toby. But I don't know that many of our competitors, national or other or global certainly, have 90% of their revenues flowing through one common office platform. We also have an extensive data lake that captures all of the data of our actions through our various digital channels. So I think we're very, very well positioned from a competitive perspective. But we're also clear that this is a race and that it's all about enabling the company to shift the value to where it matters most, which is the human interactions with our clients, our candidates and our associates and render all the transactional activity as efficient as possible through automation, leveraging AI when appropriate and making our processes as efficient as possible.

當然，這很難說，托比。但我不知道我們的競爭對手，無論是國內的、國外的還是全球性的，有多少人能像我們這樣，90% 的收入都來自同一個辦公室平台。我們還擁有一個龐大的資料湖，用於收集我們透過各種數位管道所進行的所有活動的資料。所以我認為從競爭角度來看，我們處於非常非常有利的地位。但我們也清楚地認識到，這是一場競賽，一切都是為了使公司能夠將價值轉移到最重要的地方，即與客戶、候選人和員工的人際互動，並透過自動化、在適當的時候利用人工智慧以及使我們的流程盡可能高效地完成所有交易活動。

The true value that we create is in the last mile delivery with our clients and our associates, and that's what we're aiming firmly towards making sure that, that moment of truth is where we spend most of our time and that we enable our organization to be as efficient and as productive as we can, leveraging this global platform to the greatest degree possible.

我們創造的真正價值在於與客戶和合作夥伴的最後一公里交付，這也是我們堅定努力的目標，確保我們將大部分時間投入到這個關鍵時刻，並儘可能地利用這個全球平台，使我們的組織盡可能高效、高產。

Thank you. That concludes our earnings call. And I'll hand it over to Jonas to end the call.

謝謝。我們的財報電話會議到此結束。然後我會把電話交給喬納斯，讓他結束通話。

Thank you very much, Michelle, and thanks, everyone, for participating in today's earnings call. We look forward to speaking with you again on our Q4 call in January. Thanks, everyone. Have a great rest of the week.

非常感謝米歇爾，也感謝各位參加今天的財報電話會議。我們期待在1月的第四季財報電話會議上再次與您交流。謝謝大家。祝你本週餘下的日子過得愉快。

Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect. Good day.

感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連線了。再會。