Resources Connection Inc (RGP) 2023 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Resources Connection, Inc. Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference call is being recorded.

女士們，先生們，下午好，歡迎來到 Resources Connection, Inc. 電話會議。 （操作員說明）作為提醒，正在錄製此電話會議。

At this time, I would like to remind everyone that management will be commenting on results for the first quarter ended August 27, 2022. They will also refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures. An explanation and reconciliation of these measures to the most comparable GAAP financial measures are included in the press release issued today. Today's press release can be viewed in the Investor Relations section of RGP's website and also filed today with the SEC.

此時，我想提醒大家，管理層將對截至 2022 年 8 月 27 日的第一季度業績發表評論。他們還將參考某些非 GAAP 財務指標。今天發布的新聞稿中包含對這些措施與最具可比性的 GAAP 財務措施的解釋和調節。今天的新聞稿可在 RGP 網站的投資者關係部分查看，並已於今天提交給美國證券交易委員會。

Also during this call, management may make forward-looking statements regarding plans, initiatives and strategies and the anticipated financial performance of the company. Such statements are predictions and actual events or results may differ materially. Please see the Risk Factors section in RGP's report on Form 10-K for the year ended May 28, 2022 for a discussion of risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the company's business, results of operations and financial conditions to differ materially from what is expressed or implied by forward-looking statements made during this call.

同樣在此次電話會議期間，管理層可能會就公司的計劃、舉措和戰略以及預期的財務業績做出前瞻性陳述。此類陳述是預測，實際事件或結果可能存在重大差異。請參閱 RGP 截至 2022 年 5 月 28 日止年度 10-K 表格報告中的風險因素部分，以討論可能導致公司業務、運營結果和財務狀況與實際情況存在重大差異的風險、不確定性和其他因素由本次電話會議期間所做的前瞻性陳述明示或暗示。

I'll now turn the call over to RGP's CEO, Kate Duchene.

我現在將電話轉給 RGP 的首席執行官 Kate Duchene。

Thank you, operator. Good afternoon, everyone, and thanks for being with us. We're pleased to report sustained, robust performance in Q1. Specifically, Q1 revenue was 17% higher than prior year, excluding the taskforce business, which we divested at the end of May. Gross margin improved 190 basis points over prior year to 40.9%. Gross profit improved almost 17% quarter-over-quarter. Adjusted EBITDA margin improved 280 basis points over prior year to 15%. These results exceeded our guidance as we grew top line, improved pricing and maintained disciplined cost management.

謝謝你，運營商。大家下午好，感謝您與我們在一起。我們很高興地報告第一季度持續強勁的表現。具體而言，第一季度收入比去年同期增長 17%，不包括我們在 5 月底剝離的任務組業務。毛利率比上年提高 190 個基點至 40.9%。毛利潤環比增長近 17%。調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率比上年提高 280 個基點，達到 15%。這些結果超出了我們的指導，因為我們增加了收入，提高了定價並保持了嚴格的成本管理。

During our prior call, we outlined the strategic objectives for fiscal year '23. I will briefly comment on technology and digitalization initiatives as we are progressing on all fronts. We've launched our technology modernization project to support continued top line growth and drive greater operational efficiencies. This project will take approximately 24 months to complete globally.

在我們之前的電話會議中，我們概述了 23 財年的戰略目標。隨著我們在各個方面取得進展，我將簡要評論技術和數字化舉措。我們啟動了技術現代化項目，以支持持續的收入增長並提高運營效率。該項目將需要大約 24 個月的時間在全球範圍內完成。

To remind you, we are replacing our core ERP systems, our core talent acquisition and management system and implementing a contract management product. These technology modernizations will help us automate and provide collaboration tools for the new ways of working.

提醒您，我們正在更換我們的核心 ERP 系統、我們的核心人才招聘和管理系統，並實施合同管理產品。這些技術現代化將幫助我們實現自動化並為新的工作方式提供協作工具。

We believe it will allow us to continue to improve our financial performance as we replace manual process with technology-enabled workflows. During the quarter, we also advanced the development of our digital engagement form, HUGO by RGP. We have expanded our reach into California and are on track with our strategy. The next regional focus for HUGO will be Texas, which we are planning to launch in the second half of this fiscal year. HUGO enables us to attract finance and accounting talent who are earlier in their careers and want to pursue their work life through a state-of-the-art professional staffing platform, which allows talent and clients to match skills and opportunity directly.

我們相信，隨著我們用技術支持的工作流程取代手動流程，這將使我們能夠繼續改善我們的財務業績。在本季度，我們還推進了數字參與表格 HUGO by RGP 的開發。我們已將業務範圍擴大到加利福尼亞，並正在按照我們的戰略進行。 HUGO 的下一個區域重點將是德克薩斯州，我們計劃在本財年下半年推出。 HUGO使我們能夠通過最先進的專業人才招聘平台吸引處於職業生涯早期並希望追求工作生活的財務和會計人才，讓人才和客戶直接匹配技能和機會。

We're pleased with the volume and quality of candidates published on this platform and continue to receive favorable client experience feedback. With respect to our brand development work and as announced during our Investor Day in April, we launched several initiatives to refresh our brand's position, including a new tagline Dare to Work Differently. This tagline speaks to the business model we pioneered in the late '90s when we were first-to-market offering expert diverse professionals the ability to control their own career path. It acknowledges and affirm our consultants' decision to work differently and is a rallying cry, encouraging our clients to embrace more agility in their human capital strategy. Most importantly, it challenges us to own our position of strength in today's world of work as we amplify our brand.

我們對該平台上發布的候選人的數量和質量感到滿意，並繼續收到良好的客戶體驗反饋。關於我們的品牌開發工作，正如我們在 4 月份的投資者日期間宣布的那樣，我們推出了幾項舉措來刷新我們品牌的地位，包括新的標語“敢於不同地工作”。這句標語說明了我們在 90 年代後期開創的商業模式，當時我們率先將產品推向市場，為多元化專業人士提供控制自己職業道路的能力。它承認並肯定我們的顧問決定以不同的方式工作，是一種戰斗口號，鼓勵我們的客戶在其人力資本戰略中採用更大的靈活性。最重要的是，隨著我們擴大我們的品牌，它挑戰我們在當今的工作世界中佔據優勢地位。

What you can expect to see in the coming months is a refreshed website as well as thought leadership based on RGP-led market research, offering perspectives on how organizations are managing their most mission-critical projects, particularly in the face of challenging economic times, talent shortages in a hybrid working world. We have also continued to expand our PR program, garnering earned media coverage in Bloomberg market, Yahoo! Finance, Chief Executive, NewsNation and other major outlets as appearances on prominent business podcasts.

在接下來的幾個月中，您可以期待看到一個煥然一新的網站以及基於 RGP 主導的市場研究的思想領導力，提供有關組織如何管理其最關鍵任務項目的觀點，尤其是在面臨充滿挑戰的經濟時代時，混合工作世界中的人才短缺。我們還繼續擴大我們的公關計劃，在彭博市場、雅虎獲得媒體報導。 Finance、CEO、NewsNation 和其他主要媒體出現在著名的商業播客中。

We will continue our efforts throughout the year to build brand recognition through learning opportunities for our clients and consultants. Our brand work has not come at a better time to align to the prevailing trends in the contingent workforce marketplace.

我們將在全年繼續努力，通過為我們的客戶和顧問提供學習機會來建立品牌知名度。我們的品牌工作來得正是時候，以適應臨時勞動力市場的主流趨勢。

Pandemics reorder society. This one is no different and has radically transformed how work gets done. We have been in this pandemic for over 900 days. There is no doubt new habits have formed. Talent is mobile and empowered with career control like never before and immigration policy and retirement trends warrant that professional talent shortages aren't going to resolve time soon. According to a staffing industry analyst July 22 report, there are 6.7 million more openings in the job market than unemployed individuals available for full-time work.

大流行病使社會重新秩序。這個沒有什麼不同，並且從根本上改變了工作的完成方式。我們已經在這場大流行中度過了 900 多天。毫無疑問，新的習慣已經形成。人才是流動的，並且擁有前所未有的職業控制權，移民政策和退休趨勢保證專業人才短缺不會很快得到解決。根據人力資源行業分析師 7 月 22 日的報告，就業市場上的職位空缺比可供全職工作的失業人員多 670 萬。

While the jobs report just yesterday from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, indicated a 5% drop in job openings August-over-August, these numbers confirm that there remains a wide gap in talent need and talent supply. Therefore, it's no wonder employers are actively rethinking their talent strategies to compete in this new environment. In fact, many companies recognizing these trends as foundational and generational shifts are embracing a more hybrid talent strategy, whereby they allocate an increasing number of positions and roles to contingent rather than traditional permanent workers.

雖然勞工統計局昨天發布的就業報告顯示 8 月份的職位空缺比 8 月份減少了 5%，但這些數字證實人才需求和人才供應仍然存在巨大差距。因此，難怪雇主們正在積極重新考慮他們的人才戰略以在這個新環境中競爭。事實上，許多公司將這些趨勢視為基礎和代際轉變，正在採用一種更加混合的人才戰略，他們將越來越多的職位和角色分配給臨時工，而不是傳統的長期員工。

According to a recent SIA research report, buyers expect that 22% of their workforce will be contingent by 2024. This is up from 12% in 2009. The trend toward embracing the shift in workforce model is still pronounced, SIA has finally given the movement a name, total talent strategy. According to SIA, because of critical talent shortages, many large organizations are actively accelerating workforce plan and innovation. While we remain mindful of current macroeconomic conditions and uncertainty, the trends I've just touched upon presents continued opportunity for RGP.

根據新航最近的一份研究報告，買家預計到 2024 年他們的勞動力中將有 22% 是臨時工。這比 2009 年的 12% 有所上升。擁抱勞動力模式轉變的趨勢仍然很明顯，新航終於給出了這一運動一個名字，總人才戰略。據新航稱，由於嚴重的人才短缺，許多大型組織正在積極加快勞動力規劃和創新。雖然我們仍然關注當前的宏觀經濟狀況和不確定性，但我剛才提到的趨勢為 RGP 提供了持續的機會。

Our business model, which prizes mobility, flexibility and choice aligns strongly to today's reordered world of work. We empower expert, diverse professionals with ultimate career control and work with clients every day to deliver support for mission-critical work and transformation initiatives that continue to progress even in the face of recessionary pressures. While we read and hear every day that high inflation, increased interest rates and growing recessionary pressures, we still see capital improvement and other business information work moving forward. These kinds of projects were delayed in COVID and are not being decommissioned even given market uncertainty.

我們的商業模式重視流動性、靈活性和選擇，非常適合當今重新排序的工作世界。我們賦予專家、多元化的專業人士最終的職業控制權，並每天與客戶合作，為關鍵任務工作和轉型計劃提供支持，這些工作和轉型計劃即使在經濟衰退的壓力下也能繼續取得進展。雖然我們每天都讀到和聽到高通脹、利率上升和衰退壓力增加的消息，但我們仍然看到資本改善和其他商業信息工作向前發展。這些類型的項目在 COVID 中被推遲，即使在市場不確定的情況下也沒有退役。

We believe this supports our point of view that the migration to agile talent models is real and will be increasingly important solutions in the evolving world of work. I'll close by highlighting an example of culture and innovation at RGP. In the face of 2 recent disasters, a serious earthquake in Mexico and the devastating Hurricane Ian in Florida, a creative and caring group of cross-functional employees came together to design and implement a new global disaster protocol.

我們相信這支持了我們的觀點，即向敏捷人才模型的遷移是真實的，並將成為不斷變化的工作世界中越來越重要的解決方案。最後，我將重點介紹 RGP 的文化和創新示例。面對最近發生的 2 次災難，即墨西哥的嚴重地震和佛羅里達州的毀滅性颶風伊恩，一群富有創造力和愛心的跨職能員工齊聚一堂，設計並實施了一項新的全球災難協議。

The driving force for the work was to ensure we could connect with our people quickly to offer the right level of response and personal support. Using a survey tool in Workday, this group launched an automated, standardized new process that enables us to check on the safety of our people as quickly as possible and deploy support as needed. The protocol has been incredibly well received by our employees and highlights the power of human at work at RGP. I want to recognize and thank this group of self-starters who exemplified the best of RGP, bringing empathy, creativity and drive to make an impact for each other and the world at large. I'll now turn the call over to Tim for an update on operations.

這項工作的推動力是確保我們能夠快速與我們的員工聯繫，以提供適當水平的響應和個人支持。使用 Workday 中的調查工具，該小組啟動了一個自動化、標準化的新流程，使我們能夠盡快檢查我們人員的安全並根據需要部署支持。該協議受到了我們員工的熱烈歡迎，並凸顯了 RGP 工作中人的力量。我要表彰並感謝這群積極主動的人，他們體現了 RGP 的精華，帶來同理心、創造力和動力，從而對彼此和整個世界產生影響。我現在將電話轉給蒂姆，以了解最新的運營情況。

Thank you, Kate, and good afternoon, everyone. During the first quarter, we saw strong revenue growth, operational metrics and margin performance. Pipeline bill and closed deals were also robust, and the momentum we had noted at the end of the fourth quarter continued in Q1 and through September despite the return of traditional impacts related to summer vacation. When excluding taskforce, revenue increased by 17% over the prior year quarter on a same-day constant currency basis, and the demand profile for our services demonstrated strength throughout the quarter.

謝謝你，凱特，大家下午好。在第一季度，我們看到了強勁的收入增長、運營指標和利潤率表現。管道賬單和已完成的交易也很強勁，我們在第四季度末注意到的勢頭在第一季度和整個九月持續，儘管與暑假相關的傳統影響又回來了。如果不包括 taskforce，按同日固定匯率計算，收入比去年同期增長 17%，我們服務的需求狀況在整個季度都表現強勁。

Geographic performance in the quarter was solid across our core business with strategic accounts, Asia Pacific, North America, Healthcare, Countsy and Veracity are all performing well. Along with some turbulence related to the macro environment, Europe experienced significant vacation impact as anticipated. While we have performed well in the current economic environment and our operational indicators remain strong, we are cognizant of recessionary trends that could impact our customer base. Further, as we are setting the path, as companies continue to shift their focus to co-delivery of important initiatives, we have become more embedded in the fabric of our enterprise workforce plan.

本季度我們核心業務的地理表現穩健，戰略客戶、亞太地區、北美、醫療保健、Countsy 和 Veracity 都表現良好。伴隨著一些與宏觀環境相關的動盪，歐洲如期經歷了重大的假期影響。雖然我們在當前的經濟環境中表現良好並且我們的運營指標依然強勁，但我們認識到可能影響我們客戶群的衰退趨勢。此外，在我們設定道路時，隨著公司繼續將重點轉移到共同交付重要計劃，我們已經更加深入地融入企業勞動力計劃的結構中。

Also, as we have learned from the pandemic, the pace of change in our client base is not abating. We remain cautiously optimistic that despite necessary awareness in our client base related to macroeconomic trends, there remains opportunity for RGP as companies continue to fashion flexible solutions to forge ahead on important objects. One favorable trend that is increasingly prevalent is the importance that clients are pricing on value, which has long been our hallmark. As RGP provides experts to actually execute to work directly versus leveraging a pyramid structure that has common in a big consulting.

此外，正如我們從大流行中了解到的那樣，我們客戶群的變化步伐並未放緩。我們仍然謹慎樂觀地認為，儘管我們的客戶群對宏觀經濟趨勢有必要的認識，但隨著公司繼續制定靈活的解決方案以在重要目標上取得進展，RGP 仍有機會。一個越來越普遍的有利趨勢是客戶按價值定價的重要性，這一直是我們的標誌。由於 RGP 為專家提供了實際執行的直接工作，而不是利用大型諮詢中常見的金字塔結構。

As an example, a top-tier commercial and investment bank has utilized this consulting over the last couple of years to help them transform. As they evaluated their current and upcoming portfolio of initiatives, 2 things became increasingly evident. The number of reliance on large consultant firms utilizing junior talent for much of the work product and the increasingly prohibitive cost of those relationships, particularly as they shifted in the project execution phase. As a result, our accounts team have given an opportunity to propose on a Google of service and we were successful in shifting several projects to RGP, including work to support a significant divestiture.

例如，一家頂級商業和投資銀行在過去幾年中利用這種諮詢來幫助他們轉型。在他們評估當前和即將推出的計劃組合時，有兩件事變得越來越明顯。對利用初級人才來完成大部分工作產品的大型諮詢公司的依賴程度，以及這些關係的成本越來越高，尤其是當他們在項目執行階段轉移時。因此，我們的客戶團隊有機會就 Google 服務提出建議，並且我們成功地將多個項目轉移到 RGP，包括支持重大資產剝離的工作。

There is also more opportunities beyond the horizon to shift work from the wallet share of larger competitors, a process we shorthand as shift share. Another example of shift share occurred in a large pharmaceutical client that was struggling with the user experience for Intranet with offering to their employees. The main charter of the site was to be a place where colleagues could quickly find answers so they could get back to the important work of making breakthroughs that change patients' lives. A larger firm had implemented this new technology. And as stakeholders began to use the platform, the client realized they do not provide the ease and utility they expected. Instead of turning back to the consultancy that had done the initial implementation, the client gave Veracity an opportunity to propose on an overall assessment with particular emphasis on user journeys and experience.

在地平線之外還有更多機會將工作從更大的競爭對手的錢包份額轉移，我們將這一過程簡稱為轉移份額。輪班份額的另一個例子發生在一家大型製藥客戶身上，該客戶正在努力改善內部網的用戶體驗，並向其員工提供服務。該網站的主要宗旨是成為同事們可以快速找到答案的地方，這樣他們就可以回到重要的工作中，做出改變患者生活的突破。一家更大的公司已經實施了這項新技術。隨著利益相關者開始使用該平台，客戶意識到他們沒有提供他們期望的便利性和實用性。客戶沒有返回完成初始實施的諮詢公司，而是讓 Veracity 有機會提出整體評估建議，特別強調用戶旅程和體驗。

Veracity won that proposal and the project has been so well received that we are proposing on significant additional work. On the candidate side of our business, the first quarter demonstrated continued strength in our ability to attract and retain premium talent to our platform.

Veracity 贏得了該提案，並且該項目受到瞭如此熱烈的歡迎，以至於我們提議進行大量的額外工作。在我們業務的候選人方面，第一季度表明我們在吸引和留住優秀人才到我們的平台上的能力持續增強。

RGP is increasingly viewed as an attractive alternative to traditional employment both in professional services and an industry that talent is more drawn to the flexibility, career ownership and community that RGP provides. Despite current economic concerns, the labor market continues to be very tight, and our team talent with the attraction, engagement and deployment of talent are performing with excellence.

RGP 越來越被視為專業服務和行業中傳統就業的有吸引力的替代方案，人才更喜歡 RGP 提供的靈活性、職業所有權和社區。儘管當前存在經濟問題，但勞動力市場仍然非常緊張，我們的團隊人才在吸引、參與和部署人才方面表現出色。

Attrition is lowered to quarterly and strong hiring trends that persisted as we have become the premier destination for professional talent that is daring to work differently. This strong trend continues despite some of the hiring freezes and layoffs that in previous periods of volatility may have created a sense of anxiety and perhaps deflects the traditional employment.

由於我們已成為敢於以不同方式工作的專業人才的首選目的地，因此每季度的流失率和強勁的招聘趨勢持續存在。儘管在以前的動盪時期可能會產生焦慮感並可能使傳統就業發生偏轉，但這種強勁趨勢仍在繼續。

In fact, hiring freezes and reductions in workforce helped to amplify the increasingly small cavern between traditional and agile employment. This realization, coupled with the shift in the way people desire to live and work makes RGP a very attractive employment destination. A clear example of this as you can see with the decision of one of our West Coast consultants. Working with an RGP consultant for over a year with a large technology company, we were approached numerous times for a variety of different job interviews. We have repeatedly declined noting that we enjoyed the control of the hourly schedule and that is position to help with client be successful without having to stress the project ownership.

事實上，招聘凍結和勞動力減少有助於擴大傳統就業和敏捷就業之間越來越小的差距。這種認識，加上人們對生活和工作方式的轉變，使 RGP 成為一個非常有吸引力的就業目的地。您可以從我們的一位西海岸顧問的決定中看到一個明顯的例子。在一家大型科技公司與 RGP 顧問合作了一年多，我們多次接到各種不同的工作面試。我們一再拒絕指出，我們享有對小時計劃的控制權，這是幫助客戶取得成功的位置，而不必強調項目所有權。

He admitted that the current macro environment made him think harder by our recent offer but that is desired for flexibility and love with the RGP community, along with headlines about layoffs in other technology companies cemented his design remaining our RGP. We also continue to see boomerang or alumni return to us after leading to work on other opportunities. These individuals are so important to our company as they are living embodiments of the agility that people seek and the experience that we work hard to provide for them.

他承認，當前的宏觀環境讓他對我們最近的提議更加認真地考慮，但這是對靈活性和對 RGP 社區的熱愛所需要的，以及關於其他科技公司裁員的頭條新聞鞏固了他的設計保留我們的 RGP。我們還繼續看到 boomerang 或校友在尋找其他機會後回到我們身邊。這些人對我們公司非常重要，因為他們是人們尋求的敏捷性以及我們努力為他們提供的經驗的生動體現。

They are excellent ambassadors and can provide cautionary tales about leaving our platform. They help us cement the culture and community and cohort with rejoiners, which is very important, particularly for those who are trying agile employment for the first time. A recent boomerang shared that she missed the culture and family environment RGP, and lamented that sometimes you must believe to appreciate what you have. While that is true, we are committed to continue to build an environment that is hard to leave at all. Now let me turn back to our first quarter operations.

他們是優秀的大使，可以提供關於離開我們平台的警示故事。他們幫助我們鞏固文化和社區，並與重新加入的人結成同群，這非常重要，特別是對於那些第一次嘗試敏捷就業的人。最近一位迴旋鏢分享說，她懷念RGP的文化和家庭環境，感嘆有時候你必須相信才能珍惜你所擁有的。雖然這是事實，但我們致力於繼續營造一個讓人難以離開的環境。現在讓我回到我們第一季度的運營。

During the quarter, we saw pipeline growth fueled by strong overall demand. We continue to make progress with respect to pricing, increasing bill rates by 3% on a constant currency basis compared to prior year quarter. We see pricing leverage as an opportunity across the enterprise even in a potentially more challenging macro environment as value is paramount to clients. While we are mindful of potentially broader impact based on economic conditions, early second quarter revenue and operational trends are in line with Q1 trends.

在本季度，我們看到強勁的整體需求推動了管道增長。我們在定價方面繼續取得進展，與去年同期相比，按固定匯率計算，票據利率提高了 3%。我們將定價槓桿視為整個企業的機會，即使在可能更具挑戰性的宏觀環境中也是如此，因為價值對客戶至關重要。雖然我們注意到基於經濟狀況的潛在更廣泛影響，但第二季度初的收入和運營趨勢與第一季度的趨勢一致。

Finally, let me touch on operational leverage. In Q1, we continued to focus on controlling fixed costs and operating efficiently. Adjusted EBITDA margin improved significantly over prior year quarter. We remain vigilant about discretionary spend and work diligently to continue to improve operating leverage.

最後，讓我談談運營槓桿。第一季度，我們繼續專注於控制固定成本和高效運營。調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率比去年同期顯著提高。我們對可自由支配的支出保持警惕，並努力工作以繼續提高經營槓桿。

I will now turn the call over to Jenn for a more detailed review of our first quarter results.

我現在將電話轉給 Jenn，以更詳細地審查我們的第一季度業績。

Thank you, Tim, and good afternoon, everyone. We achieved another outstanding quarter, one of the best first fiscal quarters in the company's history. Revenue of $204.1 million exceeded the high end of our guidance. On same-day constant currency basis and excluding the impact of the taskforce divestiture, we grew revenue 17% year-over-year and 0.4% sequentially from the fourth quarter despite summer stronger vacation in Q1. In addition to the strong top line growth, we also expanded our adjusted EBITDA margin by 280 basis points from the prior year quarter to 15%, a record first quarter margins and attained GAAP diluted EPS of $0.53 per share for the quarter.

謝謝蒂姆，大家下午好。我們取得了另一個出色的季度，這是公司歷史上最好的第一財季之一。 2.041 億美元的收入超出了我們指導的上限。在同一天固定匯率的基礎上並排除工作組剝離的影響，儘管第一季度夏季假期更旺盛，但我們的收入同比增長 17%，比第四季度環比增長 0.4%。除了強勁的收入增長外，我們還將調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率從去年同期擴大了 280 個基點，達到 15%，創下了第一季度利潤率的記錄，本季度的 GAAP 攤薄後每股收益為 0.53 美元。

Overall, demand remains healthy despite uncertainties in the macro environment. Our strong revenue performance in Q1 was broad-based across all client segments in our core business, including strategic global accounts and regional accounts with 15% growth and 10% growth year-over-year. And was led by solution areas in finance and accounting, technology and digital and business transformation. Revenue and profit consulting and on-demand talent both grew approximately 12% year-over-year.

總體而言，儘管宏觀環境存在不確定性，但需求依然健康。我們在第一季度的強勁收入表現廣泛涵蓋了我們核心業務的所有客戶群，包括戰略性全球客戶和區域客戶，同比增長 15% 和 10%。並由財務和會計、技術、數字和業務轉型等解決方案領域領導。收入和利潤諮詢以及按需人才均同比增長約 12%。

Geographically, North America and the Asia Pacific both performed well with 18% and 20% year-over-year growth on a same-day constant currency basis, while Europe declined slightly by 1% as a result of heavy summer vacation as we had anticipated.

從地域上看，北美和亞太地區均表現出色，按當日固定匯率計算同比增長 18% 和 20%，而歐洲則如我們預期的那樣因暑假而小幅下滑 1% .

While we're anticipating to see some softness in pockets of the European client base, the growing recession in Europe did not have a material impact on our Q1 performance in the region. Gross margin in the first quarter was 40.9%, up 190 basis points over the same quarter a year ago, primarily driven by an improvement in the pay bill ratio of 230 points. We raised our average billing to $130 constant currency from $126 in Q1 of fiscal '22, a 3.2% improvement while U.S. average bill rate rose by 5.4%. Average pay rate was also favorable at $62 constant currency compared to $63 in the prior year quarter. Turning to SG&A. We remain disciplined with cost management and investment oversight improvement.

雖然我們預計歐洲客戶群的收入會有些疲軟，但歐洲日益嚴重的經濟衰退並未對我們在該地區的第一季度業績產生實質性影響。第一季度的毛利率為 40.9%，比去年同期增長 190 個基點，主要是由於支付賬單比率提高了 230 個百分點。我們將平均賬單從 22 財年第一季度的 126 美元提高到 130 美元固定貨幣，提高了 3.2%，而美國平均賬單利率上漲了 5.4%。平均工資率也很有利，為 62 美元的固定匯率，而去年同期為 63 美元。轉向 SG&A。我們在成本管理和投資監督改進方面保持紀律。

Our run rate SG&A expense for this quarter was $53.1 million or 46% of revenue or 100 basis point increase compared to the same period a year ago. As a reminder, run rate SG&A excludes noncash stock compensation, restructuring charges, convenient consideration and technology transformation costs. This new, new leverage for SG&A that we continue to focus on, our management compensate occupancy and business travel expenses. First, in the case of recessionary pressure, we will closely monitor our headcount investment to match the pace of demand and business activity while driving forward our growth strategy in key areas of the business.

我們本季度的運行率 SG&A 費用為 5310 萬美元，佔收入的 46%，與去年同期相比增加了 100 個基點。提醒一下，運行率 SG&A 不包括非現金股票補償、重組費用、便利對價和技術改造成本。我們繼續關注的 SG&A 的這種新的、新的槓桿，我們的管理層補償了入住和商務旅行費用。首先，在經濟衰退壓力的情況下，我們將密切監控我們的員工投資，以適應需求和業務活動的步伐，同時推動我們在關鍵業務領域的增長戰略。

Second, we will continue to drive reduction in our real estate while reaping benefits from our previous efforts over the last 2 years. Occupancy costs in the current fiscal year is expected to be favorable by another $2 million or 17% over fiscal '22. Lastly, we will remain disciplined with the level of business travel and expect to sustain the cost reduction achieved in the previous fiscal year. Turning to our liquidity, as expected, we used approximately $5.3 million of cash in operations during the first quarter due to our annual bonus payout in the summer.

其次，我們將繼續推動減少房地產，同時從我們過去兩年的努力中獲益。本財年的入住成本預計將比 22 財年再減少 200 萬美元或 17%。最後，我們將保持對商務旅行水平的約束，並期望維持上一財年實現的成本削減。談到我們的流動性，正如預期的那樣，由於夏季的年度獎金支付，我們在第一季度使用了大約 530 萬美元的運營現金。

We repaid $34 million of outstanding debt, lowering our debt leverage ratio from 0.6% to 0.2% and ended the fiscal quarter with $72.6 million of cash and cash equivalents. Now let me address the macroeconomic trends and how they impact our business. First, on inflation. Shock inflation understandably brings the cost pressure on our business, primarily in the area of employee consulting rating compensation, given that's the most significant cost in the business. We're focused on providing competitive pay to our employees while raising pay rate and have been successful in alleviating the margin pressure from wage inflation. And will continue to do so in the future.

我們償還了 3,400 萬美元的未償債務，將債務槓桿率從 0.6% 降至 0.2%，並在本財政季度結束時擁有 7,260 萬美元的現金和現金等價物。現在讓我談談宏觀經濟趨勢以及它們如何影響我們的業務。首先，關於通貨膨脹。可以理解的是，衝擊性通貨膨脹給我們的業務帶來了成本壓力，主要是在員工諮詢評級補償方面，因為這是業務中最重要的成本。我們專注於為員工提供有競爭力的薪酬，同時提高薪酬水平，並成功緩解了工資上漲帶來的利潤率壓力。並將在未來繼續這樣做。

In a contractual economic environment, we believe our value proposition becomes more appealing compared to our competitors to our optimal expenses leading to ample opportunities to continue driving billings upwards. Second on currency, particularly with respect to the strengthening U.S. dollar, while the transition of our operating results is subject to fluctuations in the exchange rate of foreign currency, we believe our economic exposure to such fluctuations is not material. Our foreign entities typically transact with clients and consultants in the respective local currencies and generate healthy cash flows to fund their own operations.

在合同經濟環境中，我們相信，與我們的競爭對手相比，我們的價值主張變得更具吸引力，因為我們的最佳支出導致充足的機會繼續推動賬單上漲。其次是貨幣，特別是美元走強，雖然我們的經營業績的轉變受外幣匯率波動的影響，但我們認為我們的經濟面臨這種波動的風險並不大。我們的外國實體通常以各自的當地貨幣與客戶和顧問進行交易，並產生健康的現金流來為其自身運營提供資金。

There is a limited number of circumstances where we may be asked to transact with our client in one currency but are obligated to pay our consulting in another currency. Loss on interest rates, at the current debt level, we do not expect any material impact from rising interest rates nor our ability to service such debt. In the event of higher debt levels, our ability to generate cash will enable us to deleverage quickly. And always, we will remain prudent in how we leverage debt to grow the business, whether organically or strategically.

在少數情況下，我們可能會被要求以一種貨幣與客戶進行交易，但我們有義務以另一種貨幣支付我們的諮詢費用。利率損失，在目前的債務水平下，我們預計利率上升或我們償還此類債務的能力不會產生任何實質性影響。如果債務水平較高，我們產生現金的能力將使我們能夠迅速去槓桿化。而且，我們將始終謹慎地利用債務來發展業務，無論是有機的還是戰略性的。

I'll close with our second quarter outlook. Early second quarter weekly revenue trend has been stable. While there is more caution in general within our client base, critical projects are still being initiated and executed, albeit at a more deliberate pace. More than ever in the face of macro headwinds, our deep relationships with our clients and our expert talent base has positioned us to compete and win opportunities. Our second quarter revenue is estimated to be in the range of $196 million to $201 million, representing growth over the prior year quarter, excluding taskforce.

我將結束我們的第二季度展望。第二季度初的每週收入趨勢一直穩定。雖然我們的客戶群總體上更加謹慎，但關鍵項目仍在啟動和執行中，儘管速度更加謹慎。面對宏觀逆風，我們與客戶的深厚關係以及我們的專業人才基礎使我們比以往任何時候都更有能力競爭並贏得機會。我們第二季度的收入估計在 1.96 億美元至 2.01 億美元之間，比去年同期有所增長，不包括工作組。

Gross margin in Q2 is expected to be in the range of 40% to 41%, reflecting the impact on banks getting holidays. Finally, our run rate SG&A is expected to be in the range of $54 million to $58 million. We continue to make progress in our technology transformation project and expect cash outlays to be in the range of $3 million to $5 million in the second quarter, of which approximately 55% to be capitalized with the remaining to be recognized as nonrecurring operating expenses. With that, I will open up the call for Q&A.

預計二季度毛利率在 40%至 41%之間，反映了銀行放假的影響。最後，我們的運行率 SG&A 預計在 5400 萬至 5800 萬美元之間。我們的技術改造項目繼續取得進展，預計第二季度的現金支出將在 300 萬至 500 萬美元之間，其中約 55% 將被資本化，其餘將被確認為非經常性運營費用。有了這個，我將打開問答電話。

(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 Mark Marcon 和 Baird。

Really nice to see the strong first quarter results. Wondering, can you talk a little bit about the progress that you're seeing with HUGO? You're expanding that to California and then Texas. What have you seen so far in New York in terms of the take-up? And how meaningful is it in terms of revenue and stability?

很高興看到第一季度的強勁業績。想知道，你能談談你在 HUGO 上看到的進步嗎？您正在將其擴展到加利福尼亞，然後是德克薩斯。到目前為止，您在紐約看到了什麼？它在收入和穩定性方面有多大意義？

Yes. Mark, thanks for the question. So we have launched in the Tri-State area as we talked about in the last fiscal year, and we've just launched in California, both Northern California and Southern California. So we're on track with our strategy. We've hired some additional sales personnel to support the platform. And we've been building talent pools in the particular geographies where we're expanding. So as we return to more hybrid or on-site work, we'll have talent available to fill the need. So far, we're on track, but it's early days. And the budget for HUGO is not material this year in light of our overall results.

是的。馬克，謝謝你的提問。因此，正如我們在上一財年談到的那樣，我們已經在三州地區推出，我們剛剛在加州推出，包括北加州和南加州。所以我們正在按照我們的戰略走上正軌。我們已經僱用了一些額外的銷售人員來支持該平台。我們一直在我們正在擴張的特定地區建立人才庫。因此，當我們返回到更多的混合或現場工作時，我們將有可用的人才來滿足需求。到目前為止，我們走上了正軌，但現在還為時過早。鑑於我們的整體業績，今年 HUGO 的預算並不重要。

Okay. But it is meeting expectations in terms of what you were expecting out of the Tri-State area in terms of the kind of the initial stages?

好的。但就初始階段的種類而言，它是否符合您對三州地區的期望？

Yes, we're on track. We feel good about where we are. I mean migrating to this alternative channel is something that will take some time, especially as we're targeting more digitally native buyers. And so that takes some time. As we shared on a previous call, Mark, we had a client who loved the experience, went through the digital engagement. But came out the other end saying, that still let me lose the connection to my client service personnel as well. So I think still going through a stage where we're learning new behaviors and new channels and the efficiency of it. And I -- as we've said before, this will be a learning year as we bring this platform to life.

是的，我們走上正軌。我們對自己所處的位置感覺良好。我的意思是遷移到這個替代渠道需要一些時間，尤其是當我們瞄準更多的數字原生買家時。所以這需要一些時間。正如我們在之前的電話會議上分享的那樣，馬克，我們有一位喜歡這種體驗的客戶，他經歷了數字參與。但另一端說，這仍然讓我失去了與客戶服務人員的聯繫。所以我認為我們仍在經歷一個我們正在學習新行為和新渠道及其效率的階段。而我——正如我們之前所說，這將是學習的一年，因為我們將這個平台變為現實。

Great. And then the 17% growth that you ended up experiencing on a constant currency basis when we strip out taskforce, that was terrific. I'm wondering how is the growth split between project consulting and managed services versus on-demand talent and professional search?

偉大的。然後，當我們剔除特別工作組時，您最終以固定貨幣為基礎實現了 17% 的增長，這真是太棒了。我想知道項目諮詢和託管服務與按需人才和專業搜索之間的增長差距如何？

Yes. Mark, on-demand talent and project consulting, both segments grew by 12% year-over-year. And when I say 12% there, it's not constant currency and same day. So I would say that the growth is evenly split between the 2 segments.

是的。馬克，按需人才和項目諮詢，這兩個部門同比增長了 12%。當我在那裡說 12% 時，它不是固定貨幣和同一天。所以我想說增長在這兩個部分之間平均分配。

Okay. Great. And then with regards to Europe during the last quarter, obviously, taskforce came out. It still seemed a little bit softer than what we were looking for. I'm wondering, was that broad-based across Europe? Or was it 1 country or 2 countries specifically that may have been a little bit softer? And any sort of projects that, that would have been associated with?

好的。偉大的。然後關於最後一個季度的歐洲，顯然，特別工作組出來了。它似乎仍然比我們正在尋找的要柔和一些。我想知道，這是否在整個歐洲都有廣泛的基礎？或者是 1 個國家或 2 個國家可能稍微軟化了一點？與任何類型的項目相關聯？

Mark. Well, I would say it was fairly broad based. Remember our largest practice in Europe is in the U.K. And a lot of the reasons had to do with a full complement of vacation of some of the royals in the markets and then there are all types of things that happened with the queen and other things there. So generally, it wasn't -- I don't think it was solely unexpected. There are some things that occurred, obviously, that we're on our control that are a little bit unexpected. And we had some timing of projects -- remember, it's a smaller European practice than it's been in the past, and we're focusing really on large projects and have larger clients. So some of the timing of those projects can impact where they hit in the quarter.

標記。好吧，我會說它的基礎相當廣泛。請記住，我們在歐洲最大的業務是在英國。很多原因與一些皇室成員在市場上的完整假期有關，然後女王和其他事情發生了各種各樣的事情.所以總的來說，這並不是——我不認為這完全是出乎意料的。顯然，有些事情發生在我們的控制之下，但有些出乎意料。我們有一些項目的時間安排——請記住，這是一個比過去更小的歐洲實踐，我們真正專注於大型項目並擁有更大的客戶。因此，這些項目的某些時間安排可能會影響它們在本季度的影響。

Great. And then the gross margin improvement was impressive. Can you talk a little bit about the sustained ability to continue to raise the bill rates in excess of the pay rates and how you're doing that? And are there specific practices where you're seeing a greater ability to do that?

偉大的。然後毛利率的提高令人印象深刻。你能談談繼續提高賬單利率超過工資率的持續能力以及你是如何做到的嗎？是否有特定的實踐可以讓您更有能力做到這一點？

Yes. Let me address the bill rates. I think -- I'll talk about the pay rates in a second because our approach around pay rates hasn't really changed, but our approach around bill rates really has over the last few quarters as we've been talking about it. Some of this kind of comes down to -- we always talk about having both mindset and mechanics. And I think we've had -- we've done a pretty good job of shifting people's mindset, few of these concepts of pricing to value. I mean, prior to this year, prior to last year, we hadn't really focused.

是的。讓我來談談賬單費率。我想 - 我會在一秒鐘內談論工資率，因為我們圍繞工資率的方法並沒有真正改變，但我們圍繞賬單利率的方法在過去幾個季度確實發生了變化，因為我們一直在談論它。其中一些歸結為——我們總是談論同時擁有心態和機制。而且我認為我們已經 - 我們在改變人們的心態方面做得非常好，這些定價概念中很少有價值。我的意思是，在今年之前，在去年之前，我們並沒有真正集中精力。

We've been more of a cost plus as opposed to pricing the value. So we've made some of those strides. We brought in some assets to help us around strategic pricing. So we've put folks through training, we've tightened up the governance. And so that mechanic -- both of mechanics of helping to enforce the mindset and the market can take it. I mean the reality of it is, is that we've been on the market for many years. So our ability to continue to raise pricing. But I still think there's plenty of upside there.

與定價價值相比，我們更多的是成本加成。所以我們已經取得了一些進展。我們引入了一些資產來幫助我們進行戰略定價。所以我們對人們進行了培訓，我們加強了治理。所以那個機制——幫助強化心態的機制和市場都可以接受它。我的意思是它的現實是，我們已經在市場上很多年了。所以我們有能力繼續提高定價。但我仍然認為那裡有很多上升空間。

So with respect to pay rates, our pay rate has been fairly consistent, but we price to market. We don't negotiate against our consultants. We want to pay them -- we want to pay a fair wage to come and work for us and pay them for every hour that they work. And the result of that is we're in the market a lot, both for using external surveys, but also just in our own experience to make sure that we're paying the right amount to our folks. And so the reality of it is, is that, that muscle in our business is a little further ahead than our muscle on pricing, and we'll really look to flex the pricing muscle now.

因此，就支付率而言，我們的支付率一直相當穩定，但我們根據市場定價。我們不會與我們的顧問談判。我們想付錢給他們——我們想支付公平的工資讓他們來為我們工作，並為他們工作的每個小時支付報酬。其結果是我們在市場上進行了很多，既是為了使用外部調查，也是為了根據我們自己的經驗來確保我們向我們的人支付了正確的金額。因此，現實情況是，我們業務中的實力比我們在定價方面的實力要領先一些，我們現在真的希望發揮定價實力。

Yes. Let me just add something else on pay rate, which is, in some parts of the business, we are hiring offshore talent. And so that definitely is the favorability that you're seeing in this quarter in pay rates, some of it comes from that as well. And that's something that we're going to continue to focus on going forward to expand that offshore.

是的。讓我再補充一下工資率，也就是說，在業務的某些部分，我們正在招聘離岸人才。因此，這絕對是您在本季度看到的薪酬率的優勢，其中一些也來自於此。這是我們將繼續關注的重點，以擴大離岸業務。

That's really helpful and really illuminating. Can you talk a little bit about the 17% constant currency ex taskforce growth that you ended up seeing, how did that vary over the course of the quarter? And how are you seeing that translate? Or how are you thinking about that translating into the guidance that you basically provided for the second quarter, what areas might potentially slow down? Obviously, we're all aware of the macro headwinds. And so it's natural to assume that there would be some slowing. But just wondering if you can be specific about where you're seeing it.

這真的很有幫助，也很有啟發性。你能談談你最終看到的 17% 不變貨幣前工作組增長嗎，這在整個季度中有何變化？你怎麼看那個翻譯？或者您如何考慮將其轉化為您基本上為第二季度提供的指導，哪些領域可能會放緩？顯然，我們都知道宏觀逆風。因此，很自然地假設會有一些放緩。但只是想知道您是否可以具體說明您在哪裡看到它。

Yes. First of all, overall, when I think about the velocity of the business, we're actually fairly consistent through the quarter with some -- in the latter part of the quarter with some of the holiday impact in Europe impacting us towards the latter 1/3 of the quarter. And what we've seen is real consistency and stabilization as we moved into the second quarter. And so when I look at both kind of the trends from a velocity standpoint, but then also looking into where our pipeline is and some of our operational metrics, those are still strong.

是的。首先，總體而言，當我考慮業務速度時，我們實際上在本季度的某些方面相當一致 - 在本季度的後半部分，歐洲的一些假期影響影響了我們對後者的影響 1 /3 個季度。當我們進入第二季度時，我們看到的是真正的一致性和穩定性。因此，當我從速度的角度來看這兩種趨勢，但同時也研究了我們的管道在哪里和我們的一些運營指標時，這些趨勢仍然很強勁。

What you -- what we begin to think about is that the things that aren't -- things will get a little bit harder, we know that. But our overall demand profile is still really strong. So some of that kind of comes down to how quick -- how hard are we willing to grind to get that extra bit of revenue, which I can tell you that we're willing to do that. And the second bit is just understanding that there may be some things, some choppy waters that are outside of our control. And we are putting ourselves in the best position to help our clients. And we'll -- depending on kind of the wariness or the impact that they're feeling from the macro economy will adjust as we move through.

你 - 我們開始考慮的是那些不是 - 事情會變得有點困難，我們知道這一點。但我們的整體需求狀況仍然非常強勁。因此，其中一些歸結為我們願意多快地努力獲得額外的收入，我可以告訴你我們願意這樣做。第二點就是了解可能有一些事情，一些波濤洶湧的水域是我們無法控制的。我們將自己置於幫助客戶的最佳位置。我們會——根據他們從宏觀經濟中感受到的謹慎程度或影響，我們會隨著我們的進展進行調整。

Yes. Mark, I'll just add one thing. I was on the phone today with one of our major market leaders talking about the environment and what he's seen. And one comment he made, which I think has been echoed in with a variety of our clients is in these economic times, they don't want -- clients don't want to be paying for a lot of advice right now. They really want to be paying those firms that can help them execute the projects that are already on the agenda or underway. And that tells me that we are the right solution for today because we are all about locking on for their clients and executing those initiatives. And I think that's really what clients are looking for in today's environment.

是的。馬克，我要補充一件事。我今天正在與我們的一位主要市場領導者通電話，談論環境和他所看到的。他發表的一項評論，我認為已經與我們的各種客戶產生了共鳴，在這些經濟時代，他們不想要 - 客戶現在不想為很多建議付費。他們真的很想付錢給那些可以幫助他們執行已經列入議程或正在進行的項目的公司。這告訴我，我們是今天的正確解決方案，因為我們都是為了鎖定他們的客戶並執行這些計劃。我認為這正是客戶在當今環境中所尋求的。

Okay. That makes a lot of sense. One last one for me, and then I'll jump into the queue. But with regards to one of the questions that we're getting from investors is this -- how companies might end up reacting with regards to if the macro environment significantly slows down to what levers you would have in order to reduce expenses if need be Obviously, you've got a variable cost structure. But I'm wondering if you can just discuss that a little bit just in terms of like what the game plan would be if things do get a lot choppier over the next 3 to 9 months?

好的。這很有意義。最後一個給我，然後我會插隊。但關於我們從投資者那裡得到的一個問題是——如果宏觀環境顯著放緩，公司最終可能會如何反應，如果需要的話，你可以用什麼槓桿來減少開支？ ，你有一個可變成本結構。但我想知道，如果未來 3 到 9 個月事情變得更加不穩定，你是否可以稍微討論一下游戲計劃？

Right. Well, I'll start by saying we've highlighted that we have a variable cost structure already. It's built into our model, and that makes us more agile than many of our competitors. The other thing I'd say is with the work we've done internally over the last 5 years, we do have much greater visibility to our data and to the investments we're making and whether that's paying off and what the trend lines we see in our client buying behaviors, so we can adjust sales or pull levers more quickly than I think we used to be able to do.

正確的。好吧，我首先要說我們已經強調我們已經有了一個可變成本結構。它內置於我們的模型中，這使我們比許多競爭對手更加敏捷。我要說的另一件事是我們過去 5 年在內部所做的工作，我們確實對我們的數據和我們正在進行的投資以及這些投資是否有回報以及我們的趨勢線有了更大的可見性了解我們客戶的購買行為，因此我們可以比我認為我們過去能夠做的更快地調整銷售或拉動槓桿。

Keep in mind the 2 most fundamental elements of our cost structure, our headcount and real estate and we'll continue to look very carefully. I mean, Tim is running our operations with a very careful eye on headcount, replacement or additions, and we will continue to stay very disciplined. And Jenn and her group are continuing to look at our real estate needs and continuing to slim those where appropriate.

請記住我們成本結構的兩個最基本要素，我們的員工人數和房地產，我們將繼續非常仔細地研究。我的意思是，蒂姆在運營我們的業務時非常關注員工人數、更換或增加，我們將繼續保持紀律嚴明。 Jenn 和她的團隊正在繼續關注我們的房地產需求，並在適當的時候繼續削減這些需求。

As a firm, we're still operating largely in a hybrid model. That seems to be working for our people. We recognize that in today's environment, we are in a new world of work with new behaviors and in order to attract the very best that can drive growth and profitability, we need to be listening to what talent wants.

作為一家公司，我們仍然主要以混合模式運營。這似乎對我們的人民有用。我們認識到，在當今的環境中，我們處於一個有著新行為的新工作世界，為了吸引能夠推動增長和盈利的最優秀人才，我們需要傾聽人才的需求。

(Operator Instructions) Our next question comes from Marc Riddick with Sidoti.

（操作員說明）我們的下一個問題來自 Marc Riddick 和 Sidoti。

So I wanted to follow up on the travel side -- the business travel side of things and what you're seeing there, it seems as though you're expecting that to be steady. Are there any particular areas where you're seeing any type of pickup as far as folks looking to -- clients looking to engage more face-to-face or any type of visibility that you might have and having that pick up going forward?

所以我想跟進旅行方面——商務旅行方面的事情以及你在那裡看到的，似乎你希望它保持穩定。是否有任何特定區域，您看到人們希望的任何類型的皮卡 - 客戶希望更多地面對面參與或您可能擁有的任何類型的可見性，並讓這種皮卡繼續前進？

Marc, first of all, in terms of face-to-face travel, a couple of things. I mean, there are a couple of industries where one of them is financial services where they express they prefer to have more face-to-face in terms of our delivery. And also for us, just in terms of level of concentration in terms of how we serve our clients there, we are pretty face-to-face. And the other one I would say is energy. Those 2 industries have really asked for more face-to-face. Almost everybody else, including some of the large technology companies who have sort of said publicly that they want all their employees back in. The reality of it is, is that almost everybody is working in a hybrid fashion.

馬克，首先，就面對面旅行而言，有幾件事。我的意思是，有幾個行業，其中一個是金融服務，他們表示他們更願意在我們的交付方面進行更多面對面的交流。而且對於我們來說，就我們如何為客戶提供服務的集中度而言，我們是面對面的。我要說的另一個是能量。這兩個行業確實需要更多的面對面交流。幾乎所有其他人，包括一些公開表示希望所有員工回歸的大型科技公司。現實情況是，幾乎每個人都在以混合方式工作。

And the companies who got used to working with excellent talent that help them execute their work and haven't got worked done remotely are wiling to give that talent up now. So we haven't seen any major shifts outside of those couple of industries that I talked about.

那些習慣於與幫助他們執行工作的優秀人才一起工作並且還沒有遠程完成工作的公司現在願意放棄這些人才。因此，除了我談到的那幾個行業之外，我們還沒有看到任何重大轉變。

And Marc, we talked about, which is -- majority of the travel that we are doing, I mean, we are really focused on go-to-market activity and client-facing activities as opposed to internal travel. So typically, we try to keep our travel to no more than 60 basis points of our revenue. That's kind of where the target is, which is about half of what -- a little less than half of what we used to spend pre-pandemic.

馬克，我們談到過，這是——我們正在進行的大部分旅行，我的意思是，我們真正專注於進入市場活動和麵向客戶的活動，而不是內部旅行。因此，通常情況下，我們盡量將差旅收入佔收入的比例控制在 60 個基點以下。這就是目標所在，大約是我們過去在大流行前花費的一半——略低於一半。

Great. And then I wanted to shift over to in just the branding opportunities and the messaging that you're moving forward with. So wonder if you could talk a little bit about, I guess, maybe how that might roll out strategically or from a timing perspective? Are there any sort of things that we should be thinking about as to sort of that messaging? Or do you wait until after the political season stuff? And -- or is that something that ramps up more after the new year? How should we think about that?

偉大的。然後我想轉移到品牌機會和你正在推進的信息中。所以想知道你是否可以談談，我想，也許這可能會如何在戰略上或從時間的角度推出？關於這種消息傳遞，我們應該考慮哪些事情？還是等到政治季節之後？並且 - 或者在新的一年之後會增加更多？我們應該如何考慮？

Yes. I think you'll see -- before the end of Q2, Marc, you'll see us releasing some new positioning and brand language on our website. We're currently refreshing that. As I mentioned in my prepared remarks, we're also engaged currently in a research project, which will be -- help us deliver some thought leadership for our client base and targets around moving to more agile talent models. And that we'll be showcasing in Q3 both, I think, before the holidays and then thereafter.

是的。我想你會看到 - 在第二季度結束之前，馬克，你會看到我們在我們的網站上發布一些新的定位和品牌語言。我們目前正在刷新它。正如我在準備好的發言中提到的，我們目前還參與了一個研究項目，該項目將幫助我們為客戶群提供一些思想領導力，並圍繞轉向更敏捷的人才模型製定目標。而且我認為，我們將在假期之前和之後的第三季度展示。

And we're going to continue to build on that thought leadership. If you really think about RGP as a leader in the field of agile human capital models and how we can help clients move more toward agility in their human capital supply chain. You'll see us talking more and more about that and preparing insights and other reports that can help clients along their journey.

我們將繼續以這種思想領導力為基礎。如果您真的將 RGP 視為敏捷人力資本模型領域的領導者，以及我們如何幫助客戶在其人力資本供應鏈中更加敏捷。您會看到我們越來越多地談論這一點，並準備可以幫助客戶完成旅程的見解和其他報告。

Great. And then the last question for me. I was wondering if you could -- are there any sort of shifts or changes that you've seen in strategy when it comes to sort of how your clients are responding -- not necessarily from a -- specifically from a macro-driven kind of recessionary concern area. But I mean, just from a strategic approach. Are there any sort of trends that maybe are kind of under the radar that you're seeing that you think might emerge and be more of a contributor going forward?

偉大的。然後是我的最後一個問題。我想知道你是否可以 - 當涉及到你的客戶如何回應時，你是否在戰略中看到了任何類型的轉變或變化 - 不一定來自 - 特別是來自宏觀驅動的類型衰退關注領域。但我的意思是，只是從戰略方法來看。是否有任何類型的趨勢可能在您看來可能會出現並成為未來的貢獻者？

Yes. I think this whole idea of agility and mobility, it's going to happen with talent pools that are not entirely captive. So coming out, we are -- in our point of view, we're clearly moving out of the baby-boomer paradigm, where everyone really aspired to a full-time equivalent job where you worked for only 1 employer at a time, you climb to the corporate ladder, you work at a specific location and you worked under a regular set of hours. That is changing.

是的。我認為敏捷和機動性的整個想法，將發生在不完全被俘虜的人才庫中。所以出來，我們是——在我們看來，我們顯然正在擺脫嬰兒潮一代的範式，在這種範式中，每個人都真正渴望一份相當於全職工作的工作，在這種情況下，你一次只為一個雇主工作，你爬上公司階梯，您在特定地點工作，並且您在固定的工作時間下工作。那正在改變。

And while we're still in a period, I think, of flux, what we're going to see through the next 12 to 24 months is how is that paradigm really shifting for the future. And that means clients have to prepare for more mobility even in their own captive talent pools. But they also, in order to compete and move after have to identify the right kind of process and protocol to in-source talent when they need it for the specialized skill sets they need. And that's really the opportunity for RGP.

我認為，雖然我們仍處於不斷變化的時期，但在接下來的 12 到 24 個月中，我們將看到這種範式如何真正轉變為未來。這意味著即使在他們自己的專屬人才庫中，客戶也必須為更多的流動性做好準備。但是，為了競爭和轉移，他們也必須確定正確的流程和協議，以便在需要人才時為其提供所需的專業技能。這確實是 RGP 的機會。

It's what we do so well and what we think we can continue to do well into the future with more and more clients as they move in that direction. I mean there are plenty of really leading business people that have said this kind of shift in strategy and how work gets done is coming. I think its not as widespread as I would have thought it would be right now, but we really feel like that movement is accelerating, and that creates opportunity for us. And that's really where we're focused on delivering and putting together our platform, which brings the right level of care on the talent side and the client side to really be successful in this new way of working.

這是我們做得很好的事情，也是我們認為隨著越來越多的客戶朝著這個方向前進，我們可以在未來繼續做得很好的事情。我的意思是，有很多真正領先的商界人士表示，這種戰略轉變以及工作完成方式即將到來。我認為它不像我現在想像的那樣廣泛，但我們真的覺得這種運動正在加速，這為我們創造了機會。而這正是我們真正專注於交付和整合我們的平台的地方，該平台為人才方面和客戶方面帶來了適當的關注，以在這種新的工作方式中真正取得成功。

Our next question comes from Mark Marcon with Baird.

我們的下一個問題來自 Mark Marcon 和 Baird。

I had a follow-up. With regard to the new guidance that you gave us, how would you -- which areas would you say would be growing the fastest versus the slowest from a geographic perspective? How should we think about that?

我有一個跟進。關於您給我們的新指導，從地理角度來看，您認為哪些地區增長最快，哪些地區增長最慢？我們應該如何考慮？

Yes, Mark, I would say the area I was geographically -- North America and the U.S. probably is still going to accelerate faster than the other geography. Europe, given that the growing concerns and growing kind of recessionary pressure and economic turmoil going on in Europe, it will be the slower part of the business in the guidance. That's what's baked into the guidance.

是的，馬克，我會說我所在的地區——北美和美國可能仍然會比其他地區加速得更快。歐洲，鑑於歐洲正在發生越來越多的擔憂和越來越大的衰退壓力以及經濟動盪，這將是業務指導中較慢的部分。這就是指南中提到的內容。

Okay. So Europe, a little bit slower. And Asia Pac relative to North America?

好的。所以歐洲，有點慢。亞太地區相對於北美？

Asia Pac is performing very steadily. Most (inaudible)

亞太地區表現非常穩定。大多數（聽不清）

How about from practical perspective?

從實用的角度來看呢？

In terms of the solution area market, is that what you're inquiring about?

就解決方案領域市場而言，這就是您要詢問的嗎？

That's right.

那就對了。

Yes. So I mean -- Tim, you should answer that one.

是的。所以我的意思是——蒂姆，你應該回答那個問題。

Yes. First of all, if you can see kind of coming out of the -- coming out of last year, we had a full boom in finance and accounting, and that continues to be strong. What you see is that there's still a lot of transformative even despite things kind of the slowdown in M&A, there's still a lot of -- there's still a fair amount of transformation that's occurring. So I talked about in my script, divestitures that we're working on. There are a number of things that we have teed up around digital transformations that are pretty strong in our pipeline. But both in terms of kind of shared volume and also in terms of where there is opportunity when we look into the applied science and accounting still continues to be the dominant trend.

是的。首先，如果你能看到去年的情況，我們在金融和會計領域出現了全面繁榮，而且這種情況仍然很強勁。你看到的是，儘管併購有所放緩，但仍有很多變革，仍有很多——仍有相當多的變革正在發生。所以我在我的劇本中談到了我們正在進行的資產剝離。我們已經圍繞數字化轉型準備了許多事情，這些事情在我們的管道中非常強大。但無論是在共享數量方面，還是在我們研究應用科學和會計的機會方面，仍然是主導趨勢。

Okay. Great. And then with regards to looking beyond this self-imposed slowdown that's occurring because of interest rates going up. Once we get to the other side, you've obviously done a great job in terms of improving the margins. You've got these technology initiatives put in place, which should increase the efficiency. How are you thinking about like where the EBITDA margins can go from a long-term perspective, given the mix of business once your digital transformation is completed?

好的。偉大的。然後關於超越由於利率上升而發生的這種自我強加的放緩。一旦我們到達另一邊，您顯然在提高利潤率方面做得很好。您已經實施了這些技術計劃，這應該會提高效率。考慮到數字化轉型完成後的業務組合，您如何從長期角度考慮 EBITDA 利潤率？

Yes. Well, I think we have our eye on continuing to improve those, not only with the more modern technology platform that we'll put in place. And lots of both automated and self-serve possibilities with those state-of-the-art platforms. Also, how much of our more on-demand talent we can drive through HUGO, which can improve our efficiency and our financial metrics. So I mean we're all about improvement and focused on that. I'm not going to give you a solid number right now.

是的。好吧，我認為我們著眼於繼續改進這些，而不僅僅是我們將建立的更現代的技術平台。這些最先進的平台還有很多自動化和自助服務的可能性。此外，我們可以通過 HUGO 驅動多少按需人才，這可以提高我們的效率和財務指標。所以我的意思是我們都致力於改進並專注於此。我現在不會給你一個可靠的數字。

We've talked about 15%, I think, 1.5 years ago, and we're achieving that. So we're continuing to drive toward improvement, Mark, and we'll keep you updated. That's an aligned commitment by this executive team and part of it is going to depend on how quickly both clients and talent adapt to some self-serve and automated aspects of our business workflows and we're going to do all we tend to continue driving that. So we stay as a top performer in our industry group.

我認為，1.5 年前我們談到了 15%，我們正在實現這一目標。因此，馬克，我們將繼續努力改進，我們會及時通知您。這是該執行團隊的一致承諾，其中一部分將取決於客戶和人才適應我們業務工作流程的某些自助和自動化方面的速度，我們將盡一切努力繼續推動這一點.因此，我們在我們的行業組中保持領先地位。

Great. And then just from a shorter-term perspective, how should we think about headcount additions internally over the balance of this year?

偉大的。然後從短期的角度來看，我們應該如何考慮在今年餘下的時間裡在內部增加員工人數？

From a headcount perspective, as I said in my remarks that we are going to hold headcount steady and obviously, looking at the pace of demand and the pace of business activities, and that's definitely going to be closely monitored although we do don't want to continue to grow in key areas as a business such as HUGO and Veracity. So areas of key investments where we need to invest, we're going to move forward. But in other areas, we're really going to watch it very, very cautiously.

從員工人數的角度來看，正如我在發言中所說的那樣，我們將保持員工人數穩定，而且很明顯，從需求的速度和業務活動的速度來看，這肯定會受到密切監控，儘管我們不希望作為 HUGO 和 Veracity 等業務在關鍵領域繼續發展。因此，我們將繼續推進我們需要投資的關鍵投資領域。但在其他領域，我們真的會非常、非常謹慎地觀察它。

Thank you. And I'm not showing any further questions. At this time, I would now like to turn the call back over to Kate Duchene for any further remarks.

謝謝你。我不會再提出任何問題。此時，我想將電話轉回給 Kate Duchene 以徵求進一步意見。

Okay. Thank you, everyone. Thanks, again. We look forward to connecting with you after we report our Q2 results. Thanks again.

好的。謝謝大家。再次感謝。我們期待在報告第二季度結果後與您聯繫。再次感謝。

Thank you. This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.

謝謝你。今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連接。