Kelly Services, Inc. (formerly Russell Kelly Office Service and Kelly Girl Service, Inc.) is an American multinational office staffing company.[1][3][4][5] The company places employees at all levels in various sectors including financial services, information technology, and law.[3] Also, its professional services include human resource and management consulting, outsourcing, recruitment, career transition, and vendor management.[1][3] Kelly Services was founded by William Russell Kelly in 1946 and is headquartered in Troy, Michigan.[1][6]
History
Founded in 1946 by William Russell Kelly, the company was originally named Russell Kelly Office Service.[7][8] Services were provided in-house at the Kelly office. However, as customer offices grew and needed more resources, they began to ask for the Kelly employees to perform the work at their own offices. Temporary workers from Russell Kelly Office Service soon became known as ‘Kelly Girls’. Adelaide Hess Moran, the first Kelly temporary employee to work at a customer’s office, was promptly dubbed the first ‘Kelly Girl’.
The temporary workers, usually female, became known as "Kelly girls",[9] and the company name was changed to Kelly Girl Service, Inc. in 1957.[7] Eventually "Kelly girl" became a widely used term for a temporary worker, regardless of company affiliation or gender. By 1966, the company had expanded to include industrial and technical services divisions and was renamed Kelly Services, Inc.[10]
In 2008, Lynn Noyes was awarded $6.5million in damages from Kelly Services for failing to promote her because she was not part of the Fellowship of Friends cult.[11]
In 2015, the company reported 8,100 employees, $5.5billion in revenue,[1][3] making it one of the world's largest staffing firms.[12] In 2018, the company reported $5.5billion in revenue.[13]
As of 2019, the CEO is Peter Quigley.[14]
In May 2024, Kelly Services acquired Motion Recruitment Partners for $425 million in cash.[15]
See also
External links
References
- 2015 Annual Report Kelly Services, retrieved July 25, 2016^
- Kelly Services Fortune, retrieved 2021-11-14^
- United States Securities and Exchange Commission: Form 10-K U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, retrieved August 17, 2016^
- Jane E. Dutton, Emily Heaphy. We Learn More When We Learn Together Harvard Business Review, January 12, 2016, retrieved August 18, 2016^
- Tim Melvin. 3 Staffing Firms to Get Worked Up About TheStreet.com, March 8, 2016, retrieved August 18, 2016^
- Maxwell Murphy. CFO Moves: Kelly Services, Pharm-Olam The Wall Street Journal, December 21, 2015, retrieved August 17, 2016^
- William Russell Kelly Tribute kellyservices.com, retrieved 2008-10-03^
- Leslie Eaton. William Kelly, 92, Founder Of Temporary Jobs Company The New York Times, 1998-01-08, retrieved 2008-06-23^
- Erin Hatton. The Temp Economy: From Kelly Girls to Permatemps in Postwar America Temple University Press, 2011, retrieved 2013-07-08^
- History of Kelly Services, Inc. – FundingUniverse fundinguniverse.com^
- Metz, Cade; Wakabayashi, Daisuke (16 June 2022). "How a Religious Sect Landed Google in a Lawsuit". The New York Times. The New York Times, 16 June 2022^
- Julie Wernau. Kelly Services, DeVry partner to fill STEM gap Chicago Tribune, November 25, 2014, retrieved August 17, 2016^
- Company Overview - About Us Kelly kellyservices.com^
- Kelly Leadership kellyservices.com^
- Kelly Services Inc. Kelly Enters Agreement to Acquire Specialty Talent Solutions Company, Motion Recruitment Partners, LLC GlobeNewswire News Room, 2024-05-03, retrieved 2024-05-03^