Slower European Recovery Drags on Randstad

Randstad operates in the highly fragmented human resources services industry. Most of its revenue is derived from the temporary and permanent placement of talent. Randstad is one of three global recruitment firms along with Adecco and Manpower, each with roughly 5% market share. They all struggle to differentiate their services and networks of clients and talent, as evidenced by all averaging gross and EBIT margins of approximately 20% and 3%, respectively, over the past decade.