Star Equity Holdings, Inc.

General

Hudson Global, Inc. (the “Company” or “Hudson,” “we,” “us,” and “our”) is a leading total talent solutions provider operating under the brand name Hudson RPO. We deliver innovative, customized recruitment outsourcing and total talent solutions to organizations worldwide. Through our consultative approach, we develop tailored talent solutions designed to meet our clients’ strategic growth initiatives. We are a Delaware corporation, and have operated as an independent publicly held company since April 1, 2003, when Monster Worldwide, Inc., formerly TMP Worldwide, Inc., spun off its eResourcing division.

The Company delivers Recruitment Process Outsourcing (“RPO”) services, consisting of recruitment and contracting solutions tailored to the individual needs of primarily mid-to-large multinational companies. The Company’s RPO delivery teams utilize recruitment process methodologies and project management expertise to meet clients’ ongoing business needs. The Company’s RPO services include complete recruitment outsourcing, project-based outsourcing, contingent workforce solutions, and recruitment consulting for clients’ permanent staff hires. Hudson’s RPO services leverage the Company’s consultants, supported by the Company’s specialists, in the delivery of its proprietary methods to identify, select, and engage the best-fit talent for critical client roles. In addition, the Company provides RPO clients with a range of outsourced professional contract staffing services and managed service provider services offered sometimes on a standalone basis and sometimes as part of a blended total talent solution. These services draw upon a combination of specialized recruiting and project management competencies to deliver a wide range of solutions. Hudson-employed professionals - either individually or as a team - are placed with client organizations for a defined period of time based on specific business needs of the client.

2024 was a transformative year for the Company, in terms of key offerings and geographic reach. To capitalize on the business growth in the Middle East, the Company announced it had entered into strategic agreements with Executive Solutions and Striver, both of which are Dubai-based talent solutions companies. These agreements allowed the Company to expand its global footprint and client base in the Middle East market. The Company evaluated the agreements under ASC 805 “Business Combinations” and determined that the transactions did not qualify as either business combinations or asset purchases. Payments associated with these agreements were classified as compensation expense and were included in the “Salaries and related” caption on the Company’s Consolidated Statements of Operations.

On October 31, 2023, Hudson completed its acquisition of Hudson Global Resources (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. (“Hudson Singapore”), a provider of recruitment services primarily to clients operating in Singapore. Hudson Singapore has a 30-year track record of senior placements and project recruitment work across Southeast Asia including Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, and Indonesia.

On November 15, 2023, Hudson announced the appointment of Jacob “Jake” Zabkowicz as Global Chief Executive Officer for Hudson RPO. Mr. Zabkowicz leads the vision, strategy, and execution of Hudson RPO’s growth plan, while Jeff Eberwein, Chief Executive Officer of Hudson Global, Inc., continues to focus on capital allocation, acquisitions, corporate strategy, and maximizing shareholder value.

In February 2024, Hudson RPO announced an expansion of its service offerings to include executive search in North America, focusing on Life Sciences and Human Resources. This expansion, coupled with the Company’s existing RPO strategy, provides a comprehensive talent acquisition approach, enabling clients to develop streamlined and centralized hiring strategies within a flexible and scalable total talent solution. This service offering better positions the Company as a strategic partner, helping clients to implement successful business strategies.

In October 2024, the Company made a focused investment in Latin America to help drive our support and growth within the region by hiring a seasoned leader to spearhead efforts there. Further in 2024, the Company enhanced its growth trajectory in North America, making investments in both its talent and geographic presence. It hired professionals to lead efforts in several areas, including executive search, finance, and communications, and increased its investment in the Tampa, Florida talent hub.

In addition, realizing that advancements in technology within the talent space have exponentially boomed over the past five years, the company increased investments in automation, AI, and optimization. The company’s current technology solution, TalentMax, covers all areas of the talent journey, including brand awareness, sourcing, engagement, and assessment, as well as candidate offers and onboarding.

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The Talent Acquisition industry has recognized Hudson RPO’s progress with several recent awards, including the SEEK Sara award in 2021, 2023 and 2024, inclusion in HRO Today’s Baker’s Dozen (recognized for the last 16 consecutive years, and named as the No. 1 RPO provider in APAC in 2023 and 2024), the Everest PEAK Matrix (recognized in all categories as a Major Contender or Star Performer in 2024), and NelsonHall (named a Leader in NelsonHall’s Vendor Evaluation & Assessment Tool (NEAT) Matrix in 2024).

Business Segments

The Company operates directly in sixteen countries with three reportable geographic business segments: Americas, Asia Pacific, and Europe, Middle East, and Africa ("EMEA"). For the year ended December 31, 2024, the amounts and percentages of the Company’s total revenue from the three reportable segments were as follows:

Service Offerings

The Company’s core service offering is RPO, consisting of RPO and contracting services:

RPO: The Company provides complete recruitment outsourcing, project-based outsourcing, and recruitment consulting for clients’ permanent staff hires. Hudson’s RPO services leverage the Company’s consultants, supported by the Company’s specialists, in the delivery of its proprietary methods to identify, select, and engage the best-fit talent for critical client roles.

Contracting: The Company provides clients with a range of outsourced professional contract staffing services and managed service provider services offered sometimes on a standalone basis and sometimes as part of a blended total talent solution. These services draw upon a combination of specialized recruiting and project management competencies to deliver a wide range of solutions. Hudson-employed professionals - either individually or as a team - are placed with client organizations for a defined period of time based on specific business needs of the client.

For the year ended December 31, 2024, the amounts and percentages of the Company’s total revenue from the core service offerings were as follows:

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Clients

The Company’s clientele includes mid-to-large-cap multinational companies and government agencies. For each of the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, over 85% of the Company’s revenue was generated by its top 25 clients. Three clients accounted for an aggregate of 46% of revenue in 2024, and two clients accounted for an aggregate of 50% of revenue in 2023. One client accounted for 20% or greater of accounts receivable as of December 31, 2024 and 2023. Our business is dependent upon the continuation of these business relationships as well as new client development. As part of our client retention and renewal strategy, we continue to develop and foster long-term relationships, and have been successful in retaining and negotiating multi-year (three to five year) contracts with most of our key partners.

Market Competition

The markets for the Company’s services and products are highly competitive. There are few barriers to entry, so new entrants occur frequently, resulting in considerable market fragmentation. Companies in this industry compete based on a number of parameters including degree and quality of candidate and position knowledge, industry expertise, global presence, scalability, service quality, and efficiency in completing assignments. Typically, companies with greater strength or scale in these areas generate higher margins.

Growth Strategy

We focus on organically growing our RPO business, reducing overhead expenses as a percentage of revenue, and pursuing acquisition opportunities. We target driving organic growth in RPO by investing in people and technology, as well as sales and marketing, to leverage our existing strong reputation in the market. We are investigating acquisition opportunities to expand capabilities and capacity and utilize our net operating losses. We continue to explore all strategic alternatives to maximize value for stockholders, including without limitation, improving the market position and profitability of our services in the marketplace, and enhancing our valuation. We may pursue our goals through organic growth, strategic initiatives, or other alternatives. We will also continue to monitor capital markets for opportunities to repurchase shares and consider other actions designed to enhance stockholder value, as well as review information regarding potential acquisitions and provide information to third parties, from time to time.

Human Capital Resources

The Company’s success significantly depends upon its workforce. The Company employs approximately 980 people worldwide, including approximately 100 employees in the United States (“U.S.”) and 880 employees internationally. Hudson is dedicated to acquiring, investing in, and retaining top talent. Hudson RPO’s global and regional employees have vast training and expertise across human capital solutions. Specifically, of the Company’s employees, approximately 890 are client-facing consultants who sell and deliver the Company’s RPO services to its existing client base. The Company’s consultant population has deep expertise in specific functional areas and industry sectors, and provides broad-based recruitment and solution services based on the needs of each client on a regional and global basis.

Our well-being program, Thrive, provides the framework to support our employees’ physical, mental and financial health and well-being in addition to providing our line managers with the guidance needed to support their teams. Our regional well-being champions rolled out a variety of initiatives aimed at raising awareness and encouraging employees to look after their health and well-being. Our employee assistance programs offer additional support and information to our staff and a range of additional training modules were rolled out focusing on topics such as mental health awareness, health and wellness in the workplace, and keeping remote teams connected.

All our employees play an important part in contributing to and shaping our culture. We have taken actions to enhance our employees’ experience working for the Company through the implementation of a continuous performance management framework in order to drive employees’ performance, development, and engagement.

Employees have access to a range of training courses, including courses on anti-harassment, discrimination, and unconscious bias. eLearning is an integral part of the continuous development journey that we offer to all our employees. Through our long-term partnership with one of the leading eLearning providers, our employees have access to an extensive range of hiring and talent management content delivered by industry experts and renowned thought leaders. Our eLearning courses include over 200 hours of learning modules, including over 20 modules specifically on diversity. Tailored learning programs, in which diversity forms a cornerstone, have been created for all client-facing roles. Our employees are encouraged to participate in these learning modules and to complete a minimum of 30 minutes of learning each week.

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Segment and Geographic Data

Financial information concerning the Company’s reportable segments and geographic areas of operation is included in Note 17 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements contained in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K (this “Form 10-K”).

Available Information

We maintain a website with the address www.hudsonrpo.com. We are not including the information contained on our website as part of, or incorporating it by reference into, this Form 10-K. Through our website, we make available free of charge our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and other reports and amendments to these reports that we file with or furnish to the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) in a timely manner after we provide them.

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