Item 1. Business
Overview and History
ASGN Incorporated ("ASGN," "our", "we," or "us") is a leading provider of information technology (IT) solutions to the commercial and government sectors. In November 2025, ASGN announced its intent to rebrand to Everforth, a new parent brand that will unify our six brands — Apex Systems, Creative Circle, CyberCoders, ECS, GlideFast, and TopBloc — under a single identity. Everforth is a leading technology and digital engineering company with six core solution areas: (i) Cloud and Infrastructure, (ii) Data and AI, (iii) Software Development and Engineering, (iv) Customer Experience, (v) Cybersecurity, and (vi) Enterprise Platforms. Through proprietary assets, accelerators, and proven expertise, Everforth delivers measurable outcomes that help organizations adapt, innovate, and thrive.
Our Company operates through two segments, Commercial and Federal Government, and across six industries, which together promote balance, strength, and resiliency throughout economic cycles. The transition from ASGN to Everforth is slated for the first half of 2026.
Our Company has grown through a combination of organic growth and strategic acquisitions. Over the last five years, we completed six acquisitions which align with our strategy to offer higher-end, higher-value IT consulting solutions and digital engineering capabilities. We have built a sizable consulting platform, with 62 percent of our 2025 consolidated revenues in a combination of commercial and federal government IT consulting work.
Our clients set rigorous requirements for expertise, technological proficiency, and solutions capabilities. Their expectations have increased as we’ve evolved our business. To meet their requirements, we leverage a deep talent pool of professionals that has been expertly built over decades. This enables us to differentiate our Company in the marketplace, by quickly identifying and building tailored, just-in-time teams for our clients.
We support clients across a diverse set of industries. No client, other than the U.S. federal government, represented more than 10 percent of consolidated revenues in 2025. Revenues from contracts directly with several U.S. federal government agencies in which our Federal Government Segment is a prime contractor combined were 26 percent of consolidated revenues in 2025.
ASGN was incorporated in 1992. Our principal office is located at 4400 Cox Road, Suite 110, Glen Allen, Virginia 23060, and our telephone number is (888) 482-8068.
Commercial Segment
Our Commercial Segment (70 percent of 2025 consolidated revenues) provides IT solutions to Fortune 1000 and large mid-market clients across six harmonized solutions areas: (i) Cloud and Infrastructure, (ii) Data and AI, (iii) Software Development and Engineering, (iv) Customer Experience, (v) Cybersecurity, and (vi) Enterprise Platforms; and five industries: (i) Financial Services, (ii) Consumer and Industrial, (iii) Technology, Media and Telecom ("TMT"), (iv) Healthcare, and (v) Business and Government Services.
Our business heritage is providing our clients with experienced IT and creative digital marketing professionals for project engagements. These roots as a premier IT staffing provider differentiate how we go to market. As aforementioned, by leveraging our deep talent pool, we can quickly build custom-fit teams for our clients incorporating the latest technology skillsets. Building on our staffing foundation, we have cultivated enduring, trusted relationships with enterprise clients and established a significant presence within their organizations.
Over the past six years, we have strategically refined our focus and broadened our service portfolio to encompass high-value, high-margin consulting solutions that enable us to effectively address the evolving and increasingly complex needs of our client base. Our subject matter experts deliver solutions that are tailored for specific industries and customer environments, meeting business challenges at greater speed and with more accuracy and precision than ever before. By harnessing proprietary assets and accelerators and leveraging our technology alliance partner ecosystem to co-sell, co-develop, and co-deliver our solutions capabilities, we are driving greater revenue opportunities and actively building our pipeline of new business. The Commercial Segment provides services under time-and-materials and fixed-price contracts.
Corporate support activities for this segment are primarily based in Richmond, Virginia, with offices across the United States, Canada, and Europe. In addition, we have two near-shore delivery centers in Mexico and maintain a growing delivery center in India.
Consulting — Our business focus and growth strategy lies in providing our clients with higher value IT consulting services. A byproduct of our decades-long, trusted client relationships over the years, our customers have increasingly engaged us in higher-value consulting contracts. Consulting contracts leverage the same talent pool as our assignment work but offer higher margin opportunities and increased revenue visibility.
Assignment — Our business heritage is in providing our clients with experienced IT and creative digital marketing billable professionals for temporary assignments and project engagements. Our billable professionals have knowledge and experience in specialized technical and creative digital marketing services that make them qualified to fill a given assignment or project.
Federal Government Segment
Our Federal Government Segment (30 percent of 2025 consolidated revenues) delivers advanced solutions in data and AI, cybersecurity, software and engineering, and enterprise platforms to some of the world's leading agencies in the public and private sectors. These solutions capabilities are geared towards IT modernization of the federal government as well as promoting efficiency and security for our federal customer base. Our team of skilled experts tackles highly complex challenges for customers in defense, intelligence, and national security. We maintain relationships with leading cloud, cybersecurity, and AI/ML providers and hold specialized certifications in these technologies. We have approximately 1,000 cybersecurity consultants, of which approximately 500 have security clearances, along with an additional 900 AI and data professionals with security clearances. We also hold over 1,400 certifications.
The Federal Government Segment provides services under time-and-materials, cost reimbursable, and firm-fixed-price contracts. Contracts range from approximately three to five years in length, providing longer-term revenue visibility and countercyclical support throughout market cycles. We have contract backlog of $2.9 billion as of December 31, 2025, which represents the estimated amount of future revenues to be recognized under awarded contracts including task orders and options.
Corporate support activities for this segment are based in Fairfax, Virginia, with offices located across the United States.
Industry and Market Dynamics
We are a leading provider of IT solutions to the commercial and government sectors. We help leading corporate enterprises and government organizations develop, implement, engineer, and operate critical IT and business solutions. Our total addressable market is approximately $680 billion, which includes $490 billion in commercial IT consulting, $135 billion in government IT consulting, and $55 billion in professional staffing. Our total addressable market has significantly expanded as clients have actively pulled us into higher-value consulting work for the commercial and government end markets.
Our business model continues to evolve in line with client needs and expectations to focus on higher-end, higher-value IT solutions capabilities that provide enhanced margin opportunities in key areas of technological advancement, such as AI, data, cloud, cybersecurity, and other areas critical to digital transformation. By employing a unique go-to-market strategy that leverages a single talent pool for both shorter-term and long-term contracts, our clients benefit from cost structure advantages, flexibility to address fluctuating demand in business, and access to greater expertise. We intend to continue to grow our diverse client base by focusing on large, stable enterprises that are quick adopters of new technologies. We will continue to invest in our organic growth while simultaneously looking to execute strategic acquisitions of IT consulting companies that provide us with new solution capabilities, industry expertise, technology partnerships, or contract awards.
Strategy
Our strategy is to be a leading technology and digital engineering company, enabling organizations to adapt and innovate amid continual market change. We deliver measurable value by integrating top talent and advanced technology to address our clients’ most critical IT opportunities. We remain focused on high-value, scalable IT work and delivering future-ready solutions that accelerate time to value. By combining engineering, expertise, and speed, we transform client organizations, enabling them to seize opportunities, manage risks, and become adaptive enterprises.
Our value proposition is based on four key areas: (i) Deep Industry Expertise, (ii) Assets and Accelerators, (iii) IT Partnerships and Alliances, and a (iv) Superior Delivery Model. Beginning with Industry Expertise, commercial technologies are adopted differently by every industry and every client environment. Maintaining in-depth knowledge of each client’s unique enterprise technology environment has enabled us to build trust and longstanding relationships that have expanded over decades. Our domain specialization is supercharged through proven code that accelerates deployment and implementation, reducing time to value for our client base.
We are committed to continuous innovation. Beyond developing proprietary assets and accelerators that enable efficient, strategic outcomes, we partner with leading technology companies to align with our evolving customer needs. These relationships are mutually beneficial, leading to deal flow, product development, and continued innovation. Strategic partnerships multiply our market access. We partner with hyperscalers, such as AWS, Microsoft, and Google; enterprise platforms, including Salesforce, ServiceNow, and Workday; cybersecurity players, such as CrowdStrike, Elastic, SailPoint, and Trellix; and data & AI platforms, such as Databricks and Snowflake. The fourth part of our value proposition, our superior delivery model, provides quick access to a broad, specialized skills network, which exponentially powers the other three areas of our value proposition.
Professional Experience
We recruit candidates with backgrounds in IT and creative digital marketing who seek contract or permanent work opportunities. When we place these candidates on projects with clients, they become our employees. Many of these professionals, and those we place via subcontractors, are paid hourly wage or contract rates based on their specific skills. We pay the related costs of employment, including social security taxes, federal and state unemployment taxes, workers’ compensation insurance, and other similar costs for our employees. After achieving minimum service periods and/or hours worked, our professionals are offered access to medical and other voluntary benefit programs (e.g., dental, vision, disability) and the right to participate in our 401(k) retirement savings plan. Each professional’s employment relationship with us is terminable at will. In 2025, we employed approximately 19,600 billable professionals on a full-time-equivalent basis.
Competition
We compete with other large publicly-held and privately-owned providers of human capital in the IT consulting and professional services segments on a local, regional, national, and international basis across the commercial and government end markets. With an industry focus that is supported by our solutions, our unique deployment model allows us to provide the right solutions at the right time. Our experienced engagement leaders and methodologies help our clients solve critical problems and create incremental value for their organizations.
The IT industry generally attracts individuals seeking opportunities to support companies on a contract basis, allowing them to work with the latest technologies across industries. We offer more opportunities for these professionals to get in front of Fortune 1000 companies and are therefore viewed as a better partner for their career objectives. In addition, our competitive salaries and benefits, availability and variety of opportunities, and quality, duration and location of engagements enable us to attract the highest caliber expertise. As many people seeking IT employment may be pursuing opportunities through other means, the speed at which we assign prospective professionals to our teams, and the availability of attractive and appropriate projects, are important factors in our ability to maintain a deep talent pool of leading IT professionals.
We also differentiate our Company from a client perspective. The principal competitive factors in obtaining and retaining clients are properly assessing the clients’ specific IT needs, followed by determining the right team of professionals at the right time to meet these needs. Although we believe we compete favorably with respect to these factors and maintain an intimacy and institutional knowledge with our clients that enables us to successfully compete in the market, we expect competition to continue to increase particularly as we grow our IT consulting footprint. Nevertheless, the larger total addressable market in IT consulting offers us greater revenue and margin opportunity. In addition, unlike our competitors, for the majority of our IT consulting business we do not rely upon a large bench to support us; rather, we use our extensive database of highly-skilled technical talent to provide and build teams that offer our clients a full suite of services tailored to their individual needs. This sophisticated project delivery model offers us a cost advantage over the competition that has previously enabled us to grow above industry averages.
Human Capital
Our workforce is and will always be the core of our business. Our diverse talent pool strengthens our position as a leading IT consulting and professional services firm, and we aim to recruit exceptional leaders in their respective areas of expertise that support ASGN’s high-performance, innovative, and collaborative culture. In 2025, we employed approximately 2,800 internal employees, including sales directors, account managers, recruiters, and corporate office employees. We support our internal employees in a number of ways including, but not limited to, the following initiatives:
Engagement and Professional Development – Our team is the driving force behind our success, and continuing to support career development and advancement across our Company remains one of our top organizational priorities. We prioritize career growth through ongoing education, professional development, and comprehensive training. To supplement in-person and virtual training, we maintain a mentorship program where mentors are provided opportunities to enhance their management and communication skills, while mentees are given the ability to foster relationships with experienced professionals who can support their career development.
Performance Management & Retention – With regard to career development, we encourage our employees to seek opportunities that align with their long-term career goals. Communicating career interests and employee development is at the heart of our performance management process. This is a collaborative process that focuses on developing clear goals at the start of each calendar or employment year and providing constructive feedback and support throughout the year to position our employees for success. Furthermore, to guide our efforts on a go-forward basis and drive long-term employee retention, we conduct annual employee engagement surveys.
Health, Safety, and Well-being – Core to employee retention, we also remain focused on the health and well-being of each of our employees and consultants. Our employees enjoy competitive compensation and benefits packages, which include medical, dental, and vision plans; flexible spending accounts; and savings plans. Guided by our Company-wide Employee Wellness and Workplace Health and Safety policies, we support our employees' emotional well-being and physical health with wellness programming and personal growth workshops.
For more detailed information on our workforce programs and initiatives, please visit the Sustainability section of our website: ASGN.com/Sustainability. Nothing on our website shall be deemed incorporated by reference into this 2025 10-K.
Government Regulation
We take reasonable steps to ensure that our billable professionals possess all current licenses and certifications required. We provide workers’ compensation insurance, unemployment insurance, and professional liability insurance for our employees. For a further discussion of government regulation associated with our business, see Part I, Item 1A. Risk Factors.
Available Information and Access to Reports
We electronically file our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, Proxy Statements, and all amendments to those reports and statements with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). The SEC maintains an internet site sec.gov that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC. You may also read and copy any of our reports that are filed with the SEC by visiting:
•Our website, asgn.com; or
•By contacting our Investor Relations Department at info@asgn.com.
Our reports are available through any of the foregoing means and are available free of charge on our website as soon as practicable after such material is electronically filed with or furnished to the SEC. Also available on our website are copies of our Code of Ethics for the Principal Executive Officer and Senior Financial Officers, Code of Business Conduct and Ethics, Corporate Governance Guidelines, and the charters for the committees of our Board. We intend to disclose any amendment to, or waiver from, a provision of our Code of Ethics for our Principal Executive Officer and Senior Financial Officers on our website promptly after the amendment or waiver has been granted. This information found on, or otherwise accessible through our website is not incorporated by reference to, nor does it form a part of this report or any other document that we file with the SEC.
Item 1A. Risk Factors
Our business is subject to various risks, including, but not limited to those described below, any of which could adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition, and as a result, could cause a decline in the trading price of our common stock.
Profitability and Operational Risks
If we are not able to remain competitive in obtaining and retaining clients, our future growth will suffer. Many of our agreements may be terminated by clients at will and the termination of a significant number of such agreements would adversely affect our revenues and results of operations.
The IT industry is highly competitive and fragmented with limited barriers to entry. We compete in national, regional, and local markets with professional services firms, traditional consulting agencies, and specialized boutique industry or solutions-focused businesses. The success of our business depends upon our ability to continually secure new contracts and organize custom fit teams to meet our clients’ needs.
Most of our agreements with clients do not provide for exclusive use of our services, and many of our agreements may be terminated at will. As such, clients are free to place orders with our competitors. If clients terminate a significant number of agreements or do not use us for future IT solutions support, we may be unable to generate new work to replace lost revenues. The growth of our business could be adversely affected, and our revenues and results of operations could be harmed. Specifically with regard to our longer-term consulting contracts, clients may reduce, delay, or cancel bookings. This may cause expected revenues to be lower, to be realized in a later period, or not at all. In addition, if we are not able to comply with performance requirements laid out in the consultant contract, our revenues and client relationships may be adversely affected. It is therefore imperative to our continued growth that we maintain positive relationships with our clients.
To the extent that competitors seek to gain or retain market share by reducing prices or increasing marketing expenditures, we could lose revenues and our margins could decline, which could harm our operating results and cause the trading price of our stock to decline. We expect competition for clients to increase in the future, and the success and growth of our business depends on our ability to remain competitive. In addition, we participate in a number of third-party contracts as a subcontractor and that requires us to participate in vendor management contracts, which may subject us to greater risks or lower margins.
If we are unable to attract and retain qualified IT, creative digital, and engineering professionals, our business could be adversely affected.
Our business is substantially dependent upon our ability to attract and retain professionals who possess the skills, experience, advanced degrees, certifications, licenses, and clearances which may be required to meet the specified IT requirements of our clients. We compete for these professionals with other professional services and consulting companies, government contractors, and our clients and potential clients. There can be no assurance that qualified professionals will be available to us in adequate numbers to staff our temporary assignments or client projects. Moreover, the employment of our contingent professionals is terminable at will and they are often hired to become regular employees of our clients. Attracting and retaining professionals depends on several factors, including our ability to provide these professionals with desirable opportunities and competitive wages and benefits. The cost of attracting and retaining professionals may be higher than we anticipate if there is an increase in competitive wages and benefits and, as a result, if we are unable to pass these costs on to our clients, our likelihood of achieving or maintaining profitability could decline. In periods of low unemployment, there may be a shortage of, and significant competition for, the skilled professionals sought by our clients. If we are unable to attract and retain a sufficient number of professionals to meet client demand, we may be required to forgo revenue opportunities, which may hurt the growth of our business. In periods of high unemployment, due to a large pool of available candidates, clients are able to directly hire and recruit qualified candidates without the involvement of our services.
Sometimes we utilize subcontractors to provide us with qualified professionals. The subcontractors are generally small companies that may lack the resources or experience to comply with complex and fluid wage and hour and other laws. A subcontractor’s failure in this regard could adversely affect our ability to perform and subject us to additional legal liabilities, which could have a material adverse effect on our relationships with clients and on our results of operations.
Our future performance depends on the Company’s effective execution of our business strategy.
In prior years, we have experienced revenue and earnings growth both organically and through acquisitions. There is no assurance that we will resume this pace of growth in the future or meet our strategic objectives for growth. Our revenues declined this past year due to adverse macroeconomic conditions, including, but not limited to, increasing interest rates, tariffs, efforts by the Department of Government Efficiency ("DOGE"), and a government shutdown. Our growth could be adversely affected by many other factors, including future technology industry conditions, macroeconomic events such as inflation and recession, and interest rate increases, competition, and labor market trends or regulations. If our growth rate continues to decline, or we fail to grow at the pace anticipated and we are unsuccessful in our growth initiatives and strategies, our financial results could be less than our expectations or those of investors or sell-side research analysts.
Our business strategy is focused on integrating and optimizing our organization, programs, technology, and delivery of services to make us a more agile and effective competitor, to reduce the cost of operating our business, and to increase our operating profit and operating profit margin. We may not be successful in our integration and optimization efforts, which may cause us to fail to achieve the cost savings we anticipate or limit our ability to scale growth. Further, we may fail to prevent the return of costs eliminated in these efforts. If we are not successful in implementing our integration and optimization efforts, our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be adversely affected.
Performance under contracts, including those on which we have partnered with third parties, may be adversely affected if we or the third parties fail to deliver on commitments, or otherwise breach obligations to our clients.
Our contracts are complex and, in some instances, may require that we partner with other parties, including software and hardware vendors, to provide the complex solutions required by our clients. Our ability to deliver the solutions and provide the services required by our clients is dependent on our and our partners’ ability to meet our clients’ delivery schedules and other expectations. Our partners may at times be impacted by global events, the changing macroeconomic environment and supply chain disruptions, as well as rapid increases in demand for their products and services, any of which may impact their ability to provide their products and services within our expected timeframes, or at anticipated prices. If we or our partners fail to deliver services on time, our ability to complete the contracts may be adversely affected.
Our strategic alliances and third-party partnerships often involve complex cooperation and resource sharing, and their success depends on the continued alignment of goals and effective coordination. There is no guarantee that our current partners will continue to collaborate with us on favorable terms, or at all. The loss of a significant partner, or the failure of an alliance to achieve its intended objectives, could result in a direct and immediate loss of referrals and future opportunities. The failure of an alliance could also harm our reputation and make it more difficult to form new partnerships in the future.
We outsource certain aspects of our business operations, which could result in disruption, unexpected increased costs, and reputational risk.
We have recently outsourced, and may further outsource, certain back-office support functions to a third-party vendor in an effort to improve efficiency, strengthen our operations, and capture cost savings. As a result, we depend on a single third-party vendor relationship to ensure that certain of our business needs are sufficiently met, and there is no guarantee that such third party will be able to provide an adequate level of support and perform in accordance with our expectations. Our outsourcing arrangement thus exposes us to additional risks, including, among others, potential disruptions to our business operations, unexpected costs, reputational risk, and risks related to applicable laws and public perceptions about outsourcing. In addition, it could be difficult and costly, or potentially adversely affect our business continuity and margins, if we need to replace the vendor for performance or economic reasons.
As a result of outsourcing, we may experience reduced control over processes and quality, leading to inconsistencies, unmet standards, and misalignment with our strategic goals, impacting our brand. Thus, our business could be adversely impacted if we are unable to effectively manage this third-party relationship and the agreements under which our third-party vendor operates. Further, unexpected costs or failure to achieve projected savings may negate the intended benefits of outsourcing.
Additionally, if there is a disruption or security breach of our outsourced services that results in a loss or damage to our data, or an unauthorized disclosure of confidential, personally identifiable, or sensitive data, our business and financial results could be materially adversely affected. See “The failure to prevent a cybersecurity incident affecting our or third-party systems could result in the disruption of our services or the disclosure or misuse of sensitive information, which could harm our reputation, decrease demand for our services and products, expose us to liability, penalties, and remedial costs, or otherwise adversely affect our financial performance.”
Our outsourced vendor’s failure to meet its obligations to us or perform to our standards or legal requirements in a timely fashion, or at all; service interruption; or other poor performance could disrupt our operations and/or negatively impact customer service, affecting revenue, client satisfaction, and our reputation in the market and have a significant adverse effect on our business. While we have policies and procedures for managing these relationships, they inherently involve a lesser degree of control over business operations, governance and compliance, thereby potentially increasing our financial, legal, reputational and operational risk.
Our results of operations could be adversely affected if we cannot successfully keep pace with technological changes in the development and implementation of our services.
Our success depends on our ability to keep pace with rapid technological changes in the development and implementation of our services. We rely on a variety of technologies to support important functions in our business, including the recruitment, placement and monitoring of our billable professionals, our billings, and candidate and client data analytics. If we do not sufficiently invest in new technology (including artificial intelligence as more fully described below), appropriately implement new technologies, or evolve our business at sufficient speed and scale in response to such developments, or if we do not make the right strategic investments to respond to these developments, our services, results of operations, and ability to develop and maintain our business could be adversely affected.
We develop and utilize artificial intelligence, including generative artificial intelligence, machine learning, and similar tools and technologies that collect, aggregate, analyze, or generate data or other materials or content (collectively, “AI”) in connection with our business and our services.
We have been integrating AI into our business and services in both the commercial and government markets to meet client demand and to maintain competitiveness in a highly competitive and rapidly evolving market. We have made substantial investments in developing and supporting AI capabilities and services, and we anticipate making further investments in the future. If we are unable to quickly develop, adopt, and deploy AI technologies, we risk falling behind our industry competitors. In addition to facing significant competition from other companies that are developing AI technologies, our own clients may develop their own internal AI-related capabilities, which could lead to reduced demand for our services or solutions. Additionally, while AI is currently the focus of significant investment and strategic prioritization, there is a risk that if the expected value of AI does not materialize at scale, or if high-profile AI failures emerge, clients may reassess their AI plans, which could lead to reduced spending and negatively impact our financial condition and results of operations.
There are significant risks involved in using AI; for example, AI algorithms may be flawed, insufficient, of poor quality, rely upon incomplete or inaccurate data, reflect unwanted forms of bias, or contain other errors or inadequacies, any of which may not be easily detectable despite internal policies and diligence efforts in place to mitigate such deficiencies.
If the AI that we use produces deficient, inaccurate, unethical, or controversial results, or if public opinion of AI is adversely affected due to actual or perceived risks regarding the usage of AI, we could incur operational inefficiencies, competitive harm, legal liability, brand or reputational harm, or other adverse impacts on our business and results of operations.
Although we conduct diligence on third-party AI developers, we will not be able to control the manner in which third-party AI technologies are developed or maintained. Legal and regulatory frameworks related to the use of AI are rapidly evolving worldwide and there is divergence among such AI laws and regulations. The continued enactment or expansion of laws and regulations related to the use of AI in our operations could result in increased compliance costs related to our use of AI. Violations of these laws may lead to reputational damage, financial penalties and increased regulatory scrutiny and oversight. Furthermore, because AI technology itself is highly complex and rapidly developing, it is not possible to predict all of the legal, operational, or technological risks that may arise relating to the use of AI.
The failure to prevent a cybersecurity incident affecting our or third-party systems could result in the disruption of our services or the disclosure or misuse of sensitive information, which could harm our reputation, decrease demand for our services and products, expose us to liability, penalties, and remedial costs, or otherwise adversely affect our financial performance.
Our daily business operations depend on our information technology systems and third-party systems (collectively, "IT Systems") for a wide variety of functions, including, among other things, identifying consulting and staffing resources, matching personnel with client assignments, and managing our accounting and financial reporting functions. In conducting our business, we and certain of our third-party providers routinely collect, retain, and process data about customers, employees, business partners, and others, including personally identifiable information on these systems about our employees and billing professionals and their dependents, as well as sensitive and/or proprietary information belonging to our business such as trade secrets (collectively, “Confidential Information”). Any IT Systems are at risk of being compromised, including through malicious activity or human or technological error. While we invest significant resources in maintaining and regularly enhancing our information security technologies, and have implemented controls to protect the security and privacy of our business information both on‑premises and in the cloud, the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of our IT Systems remain subject to cybersecurity risks. These risks arise from a range of threat actors, including state‑sponsored groups, opportunistic hackers, and hacktivists, as well as from multiple attack vectors. Such threats may include security incidents involving third‑party service providers, employee negligence, fraud or misappropriation, business email compromise, and other cybersecurity events, including denial‑of‑service attacks, viruses, ransomware, social engineering or phishing schemes, and other malicious software. Additional risks may result from malicious code embedded in open‑source software, or from misconfigurations, bugs, or other vulnerabilities in commercial software integrated into our IT Systems. Successful cyberattacks can result in third parties gaining unauthorized access to our IT Systems for purposes of misappropriating assets or Confidential Information, corrupting data, or causing operational disruption. We are continuously exposed to unauthorized attempts to compromise the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of our IT Systems and Confidential Information through cyberattacks, insider threats and other information security threats, including physical break-ins and malicious insiders, and we and certain of our third-party providers have, from time to time, experienced security incidents. Moreover, we have acquired and continue to acquire companies with cybersecurity vulnerabilities and/or unsophisticated security measures, which exposes us to significant cybersecurity, operational, and financial risks. Remote and hybrid working arrangements at our company (and at many third-party providers) also increase cybersecurity risks due to the challenges associated with managing remote computing assets and security vulnerabilities that are present in many non-corporate and home networks. Additionally, any integration of artificial intelligence in our or any service providers’ operations, products or services has and is expected to continue to pose new or unknown cybersecurity risks and challenges. Because our products and services are integrated with
our customers’ systems and processes, any circumvention or failure of our cybersecurity defenses or measures could compromise the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of our customers’ own IT systems or Confidential Information as well.
Any security incident that results in the compromise of the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of our IT Systems and Confidential Information we collect and retain, or that otherwise disrupts or negatively impacts our operations, could harm our reputation, lead to customer or employee attrition, and expose us to regulatory enforcement action or litigation (including class actions). Because the techniques used in cyber attacks change frequently and threat actors are becoming increasingly sophisticated in using techniques and tools—including artificial intelligence—that circumvent security controls, evade detection and remove forensic evidence, despite maintaining robust detection and remediation efforts, we may face difficulties in detecting, investigating, remediating or recovering from future attacks or incidents, or to avoid a material adverse impact to our IT Systems, Confidential Information or business. In addition, our IT Systems are vulnerable to fire, storm, flood, power loss, computer and network failures, problems with transitioning to upgraded or replacement systems or platforms, flaws in third-party software or services, terrorist attacks, and similar events. All of these risks are also applicable wherever we rely on outside vendors to provide services. We cannot guarantee that any costs and liabilities incurred in relation to an attack or incident will be covered by our existing insurance policies or that applicable insurance will be available to us in the future on economically reasonable terms or at all. For information on our cybersecurity risk management, strategy, and governance, see Item 1C. Cybersecurity.
We may not successfully make or integrate acquisitions, which could harm our business and growth.
As part of our growth strategy, we have made numerous acquisitions, and we intend to continue to pursue select acquisitions in the future, including the acquisition of Quinnox Inc., which we announced on January 20, 2026, subject to regulatory approval. We compete with other companies for acquisition opportunities and there can be no assurance that we will be able to successfully identify suitable acquisition candidates or be able to complete future acquisitions on favorable terms, if at all. In making acquisitions, we may pay substantial amounts of cash, incur debt, or issue securities to finance our acquisitions, which would adversely affect our liquidity or capital resources or result in dilution to our stockholders. There also can be no assurance that we will realize the benefits expected from any transaction or receive a favorable return on investment from our acquisitions.
The integration of an acquisition involves a number of factors that may affect our operations. These factors include diversion of management’s attention from other business concerns, difficulties or delay in the integration of acquired operations, retention of key personnel, significant unanticipated costs or legal liabilities, and tax and accounting issues. Furthermore, once we have integrated an acquired business, the business may not achieve anticipated levels of revenue, profitability or productivity, or otherwise perform as expected. Any of these factors may have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.
An impairment in the carrying amount of goodwill and other intangible assets could require a write-down that materially and adversely affects our results of operations and net worth.
As of December 31, 2025, we had $2.1 billion of goodwill and $453.8 million of net acquired intangible assets. We review goodwill and indefinite-lived trademarks for impairment at least annually, and when events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount may not be recoverable. Intangible assets having finite lives are amortized over their useful lives and are tested for recoverability whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount may not be recoverable. We may be required to record a charge, which could be material, in our financial statements during the period in which we determine an impairment has occurred. Impairment charges could materially and adversely affect our results of operations in the periods that such charges are recorded.
Failure to comply with the terms of our debt agreements could affect our operating flexibility.
Our long-term debt at December 31, 2025, is comprised of (i) a Senior Secured Credit Facility, inclusive of term loan A and B, as well as a revolving credit facility, and (ii) Unsecured Senior Notes, see Note 9. Long-Term Debt in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data. The components of our Senior Secured Credit Facility have variable interest rates, making us vulnerable to increases in interest rates. Additionally, we use a portion of our cash provided by operations for interest payments on our debt rather than for our operations.
Our failure to comply with restrictive covenants under our debt instruments could result in an event of default, which, if not cured or waived, could result in the requirement to repay such borrowings before their due date. Some covenants are tied to our operating results and thus may be breached if we do not perform as expected. We expect to use cash on hand and cash provided by operations to pay our expenses and repay our debt. If we do not have enough cash, we may be required to refinance all or part of our existing debt, sell assets or borrow additional funds. The lenders may require fees and expenses to be paid or other changes to terms in connection with waivers or amendments. If we refinance these borrowings on less favorable terms or our costs and/or the interest rates on our outstanding debt increase, our results of operations and financial condition could be adversely affected by increased costs and/or rates.
U.S. and global market and economic developments could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Demand for the IT solutions that we provide is significantly affected by global market and economic conditions, including recessions, inflation, interest rates, tax rates, tariffs, and economic uncertainty. Our business is particularly susceptible to economic conditions in the United States where our clients or operations are concentrated. As economic activity slows, many clients or potential clients reduce their use of and reliance upon billable professionals, which reduces the demand for the Company’s services and could significantly decrease the Company’s revenues and profits. During periods of reduced economic activity, we may also be subject to increased competition for market
share and pricing pressure. As a result, any significant economic downturn in the United States or other countries in which we operate could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Natural disasters, the effects of climate change, pandemics, and other events beyond our control could harm our business.
Natural disasters or other catastrophic events may cause damage or disruption to our operations, international commerce, and the global economy, and thus could have a negative effect on us. Our business operations are subject to interruption from earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, fires, severe weather, power shortages, pandemics and other public health concerns, terrorism, political unrest, telecommunications failure, vandalism, cyber-attacks, geopolitical instability, war and other actual or threatened military conflicts, the effects of climate change, actions taken by the U.S. or other governments in response to any of the foregoing, and other events beyond our control. Although we maintain disaster recovery plans, such events could disrupt our operations or those of our customers and suppliers, including through the inability of employees and billable professionals to work, destruction of facilities, loss of life, and adverse effects on supply chains, power, infrastructure and the integrity of information technology systems, any of which could materially increase our costs and expenses, delay or decrease revenue from our customers, disrupt our ability to maintain business continuity, or otherwise have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition, and prospects. Further, our insurance may not be sufficient to cover losses or additional expenses that we may sustain. In addition, we could incur significant costs to improve the climate-related resiliency of our infrastructure and otherwise prepare for, respond to, and mitigate the effects of climate changes.
Our business relies heavily on the health and safety of our employees, billable professionals, and customers. The impact of a health crisis such as a pandemic on our business, operations, and future financial performance could include, but is not limited to, adverse impacts to our operating income, operating margin, net income, earnings per share, and operating cash flows, as expenses may not decrease at the same rate as revenues decline. In addition, our quarterly and annual revenue growth rates and expenses as a percentage of our revenues may differ significantly from our historical rates, and our future operating results may fall below expectations.
Our sustainability commitments and disclosures may expose us to reputational risks and legal liability.
We, as with other companies, face scrutiny related to our sustainability practices and disclosures required or made by certain customers, employees, investors, shareholder advocacy groups, federal, state, local and foreign governments, and other stakeholders. Requirements to report on our sustainability practices may result in increased costs, enhanced compliance or disclosure obligations, or other adverse impacts on our business, financial condition, or results of operations. At the request of our clients, we have reported on various disclosure frameworks and standards, and the interpretation or application of those frameworks and standards may change from time to time or may not meet the expectations of our clients, investors or other stakeholders.
Furthermore, our processes and controls for reporting sustainability matters across our operations and supply chain are evolving along with multiple disparate standards for identifying, measuring, and reporting sustainability metrics, including disclosures that may be required by various regulators regarding our greenhouse gas emissions. Such standards may change over time, which could result in significant revisions to our emissions reduction targets or ability to achieve such targets in the future.
Risks Related to Government Contracts
We may not realize the full value of our Federal Government Segment contract backlog, which may result in lower revenues than anticipated.
Contract backlog, which was approximately $3 billion at December 31, 2025, is a useful measure of potential future revenues for our Federal Government Segment. Contract backlog consists of contracts for which funding has been formally awarded (funded backlog of $0.5 billion at December 31, 2025) and unfunded backlog, which represents the estimated future revenues to be earned from negotiated contract awards for which funding has not been awarded, and from unexercised contract options (unfunded backlog of $2.5 billion at December 31, 2025). The U.S. government’s ability to not exercise contract options, to reduce orders, or to modify, curtail or terminate our contracts, makes the calculation of our Federal Government Segment contract backlog subject to uncertainty. Due to the uncertain nature of our contracts with the U.S. government, we may never realize revenue from some of the contracts that are included in our contract backlog.
Changes in U.S. government spending or budgetary priorities, the failure of government budgets to be approved on a timely basis, or delays in contract awards and other procurement activity may significantly and adversely affect our future financial results.
Our Federal Government Segment depends upon continued U.S. government expenditures on cybersecurity, cloud and enterprise IT, AI/ML, digital transformation, and other programs that we support. During 2025, revenues from contracts directly with U.S. federal government agencies were 26 percent of consolidated revenues. The U.S. government conducts periodic reviews of U.S. defense strategies and priorities, which may shift Department of Defense budgetary priorities, reduce overall spending, or delay contract or task order awards for defense-related programs from which we would otherwise expect to derive a significant portion of our future revenues. Any of these changes could impair our ability to obtain new contracts or contract renewals. Any new contracting requirements or procurement methods could be costly or administratively difficult for us to implement. Our revenues, cash flows, and operating results could be adversely affected by spending caps or changes in budgetary priorities, as well as by delays in the government budget process, program starts, the award of contracts or task orders under contracts, or by a government shutdown. Considerable uncertainty exists regarding how future budget and program decisions will unfold, including the spending priorities of the U.S. government. From time-to-time, certain government agencies may be funded through short-term continuing resolutions. These continuing resolutions authorize agencies of the U.S. government to continue to operate, but do not
authorize new spending initiatives. When the U.S. government operates under a continuing resolution, contract awards may be delayed, canceled, or funded at lower levels which could adversely impact our operations, cash flows, and financial results. Failure to complete a budget or to provide for another continuing resolution by applicable deadlines may result in a federal government shutdown, which could cause us to incur labor or other costs without reimbursement under customer contracts or the delay or cancellation of key programs, and could adversely impact our operations, cash flows, and financial results.
We derive significant revenues from contracts and task orders awarded through a competitive bidding process. Our revenues and profitability may be adversely impacted if we fail to compete effectively in such processes.
Our contracts and task orders with the federal government are awarded through a competitive bidding process, which creates significant competition and pricing pressure. We spend time and resources to prepare bids and proposals for contracts. Some of these contracts may not be awarded to us or, if awarded, we may not receive meaningful task orders under these contracts. We may encounter delays and additional expenses if our competitors protest or challenge contracts awarded to us in competitive bidding, and any such protest or challenge could result in the resubmission of bids on modified specifications, or in the termination, reduction, or modification of the awarded contract. If we are unable to win particular contracts, we may be prevented from providing services to customers that are purchased under those contracts for a number of years. In addition, upon the expiration of a contract, if the customer requires further services of the type provided by the contract, there is frequently a competitive rebidding process. There can be no assurance that we will win any particular bid, or that we will be able to replace business lost upon expiration or completion of a contract, and the termination or non-renewal of any of our significant contracts could cause our actual results to differ materially and adversely from those anticipated.
Our earnings and profitability may vary based on the mix of our contracts and may be adversely affected by our failure to accurately estimate and manage costs, time, and resources.
Our Federal Government Segment generates revenues under various types of contracts: firm-fixed-price, cost reimbursable, and time-and-materials. Our earnings and profitability may vary materially depending on changes in the proportionate amount of revenues derived from each type of contract. Under firm-fixed-price contracts, we perform specific tasks and services for a fixed price. Compared with cost reimbursable, firm-fixed-price contracts generally offer higher margin opportunities, but involve greater financial risk because we bear the impact of cost overruns. Failure to accurately estimate costs, resources, and technology needed to perform our contracts or to effectively manage and control our costs during the performance of work could result in reduced profits or in losses. Under cost reimbursable contracts, we are reimbursed for allowable costs plus a profit margin or fee. These contracts generally have lower profitability and less financial risk. Under time-and-materials contracts, we are reimbursed for labor at negotiated hourly billing rates and for certain expenses. We assume financial risk on time-and-materials contracts because we assume the risk of performing those contracts at negotiated hourly rates.
A significant loss or suspension of our facility or employee security clearances with the federal government could lead to a reduction in our revenues, cash flows, and operating results.
We act as a contractor and a subcontractor to the U.S. federal government and many of its agencies. Some government contracts require us to maintain facility security clearances and require some of our employees to have advanced degrees and/or to maintain individual security clearances. If we are unable to attract or retain qualified employees, our employees lose or are unable to timely obtain security clearances, or we lose a facility clearance, a government agency client may terminate the contract or decide not to renew it upon its expiration. In addition, a security breach by us could cause serious harm to our business, damage our reputation, and prevent us from being eligible for further work on sensitive or classified systems for federal government clients.
We are required to comply with numerous laws and regulations related to government contracts, some of which are complex, and our failure to comply could result in fines or civil or criminal penalties, or suspension or debarment, which could materially and adversely affect our results of operations.
We must comply with laws and regulations relating to the formation, administration, and performance of federal government contracts. These laws and regulations affect how we conduct business with our federal government customers. Such laws and regulations may potentially impose added costs on our business and our failure to comply with them may lead to civil or criminal penalties, termination of our U.S. government contracts, and/or suspension or debarment from contracting with U.S. government agencies. All of our U.S. government contracts can be terminated by the U.S. government either for its convenience or if we default by failing to perform under the contract. Termination for convenience provisions provide only for our recovery of costs incurred or committed settlement expenses and profit on the work completed prior to termination. Termination for default provisions provide for the contractor to be liable for excess costs incurred by the U.S. government in procuring undelivered items from another source and could damage our reputation and impair our ability to compete for future contracts. Failure to comply with regulations and required practices and procedures could harm our reputation or influence the award of new contracts.
We depend on our teaming arrangements and relationships with other contractors and subcontractors. If we are not able to maintain these relationships, or if these parties fail to satisfy their obligations to us or the customer, our revenues, profitability, and growth prospects could be adversely affected.
We rely on teaming relationships with other prime contractors and subcontractors in order to submit bids for large procurements or other opportunities where we believe the combination of services, products, and solutions provided by us and our teammates will help us to win and perform under contracts. Our future revenues and growth prospects could be adversely affected if other contractors eliminate or reduce their
contract relationships with us, or if the U.S. government terminates or reduces these other contractors’ programs, does not award them new contracts, or refuses to pay under a contract. We may have disputes with our subcontractors arising from, among other things, the quality and timeliness of work performed by the subcontractor, customer concerns about the subcontractor, our failure to extend existing task orders or issue new task orders under a subcontract, our hiring of a subcontractor’s personnel, or the subcontractor’s failure to comply with applicable law. If any of our subcontractors fail to satisfactorily perform the agreed-upon services or have regulatory compliance or other problems, our ability to fulfill our obligations as a prime contractor or higher tier subcontractor may be jeopardized. When we are in the role of a subcontractor, we often lack control over fulfillment of a contract, and poor performance on the contract could impact our customer relationship, even when we perform as required. Moreover, our revenues and operating results could be adversely affected if any prime contractor chose to offer directly to the customer services of the type that we provide, or if they team with other companies to provide those services.
Audits of our contracts by U.S. government agencies could result in unfavorable audit results that could subject us to a variety of penalties and sanctions and could harm our reputation and relationships with our customers and adversely impact results of operations.
Federal government agencies routinely audit and investigate contractors’, whether commercial or federal, administrative processes and systems. These agencies review our performance on contracts, pricing practices, cost structure, and compliance with applicable laws, regulations, and standards. Any costs found to be improperly allocated to a specific contract will not be reimbursed, while such costs already reimbursed must be refunded. If a government audit uncovers improper or illegal activities, we may be subject to civil and criminal penalties and administrative sanctions, including termination of contracts, forfeiture of profits, suspension of payments, fines, and suspension or debarment from doing business with federal government agencies in the future.
Legal and Regulatory Risks
Significant legal actions, claims or investigations could subject us to substantial uninsured liabilities, result in damage to our business reputation, result in the discontinuation of our client relationships, and adversely affect our recruitment and retention efforts.
We employ people internally and in the workplaces of other businesses. Our ability to control or influence the workplace environment of our clients is limited. Further, many of the individuals that we place with our clients have access to client information systems and confidential information. As the employer of record of our billable professionals, we incur a risk of liability due to the actions of our professionals at client sites or with client information and systems, and to our professionals for various workplace events, including claims of physical injury, discrimination, harassment, or failure to protect confidential personal information. Other inherent risks include possible claims of errors and omissions, claims related to acquisitions, intentional misconduct, release, misuse or misappropriation of client intellectual property, criminal activity, torts, or other claims. We have been and could, in the future, be subject to large collective, class, or Private Attorneys General Act ("PAGA") actions alleging violation of wage and hour laws. These types of actions typically involve substantial claims and significant defense costs. We also have been subject to legal actions alleging vicarious liability, job posting violations, negligent hiring, discrimination, sexual harassment, retroactive entitlement to employee benefits or pay, retaliation, and related legal theories. We may be subject to liability in such cases even if the contribution to the alleged injury was minimal. Moreover, in most instances, we are required to indemnify clients against some or all of these risks if they are caused by us or our employees, and we could be required to pay substantial sums to fulfill our indemnification obligations.
A failure of any of our employees internally, or billable professionals in clients' workplaces, to observe our policies and guidelines intended to reduce these risks could result in negative publicity, injunctive relief, investigations and/or charges, payment of monetary damages or fines, or other material adverse impacts on our business. Claims raised by clients stemming from the improper actions of our professionals, even if without merit, could cause us to incur significant expense associated with the costs or damages related to such claims. Further, such claims by clients could damage our business reputation and result in the discontinuation of client relationships. Any associated negative publicity could adversely affect our ability to attract and retain clients and qualified professionals in the future.
We proactively address many of these issues with our robust compliance program. Further, to protect ourselves from the costs and damages of significant legal actions and claims, we maintain workers’ compensation, errors and omissions, cybersecurity, employment practices, and general liability insurance coverage in amounts and with deductibles that we believe are appropriate for our operations. Our insurance policies include a retention amount and may not cover all claims against us or continue to be available to us at a reasonable cost. In addition, we face various employment-related risks not covered by insurance, such as wage and hour laws and employment tax responsibility. If we do not maintain adequate insurance coverage or are made party to significant uninsured claims, we may be exposed to substantial liabilities that could have a material adverse impact on our results of operations and financial condition.
Our business is subject to government regulation, which in the future could restrict the types of employment services we are permitted to offer or result in additional or increased costs that reduce our revenues and earnings.
The IT industry is regulated in the United States and other countries in which we operate. We are subject to federal, state, and local laws and regulations governing the employer/employee relationship, such as those related to payment of federal, state, and local payroll and unemployment taxes for our employees, tax withholding, social security or retirement benefits, licensing, wage and hour requirements, paid sick leave, paid family leave and other leaves, employee benefits, pay equity, non-discrimination, sexual harassment, and workers’ compensation; and we must further comply with immigration laws and a wide variety of notice and administrative requirements, such as record keeping, written contracts, notification, and reporting. We are also subject to U.S. laws and regulations relating to government
contracts with federal agencies. In certain other countries, we may not be considered the legal employer of our temporary personnel, however we are still responsible for collecting taxes and social security deductions and transmitting these amounts to the taxing authorities.
In addition, we receive, store, use and otherwise process information that relates to individuals and/or constitutes “personal information” or similar terms under applicable data privacy laws, including from and about our employees and business contacts. We also depend on a number of third-party vendors in relation to the operation of our business, a number of which process personal information on our behalf. We and our vendors are subject to data privacy, protection, and security laws, rules, regulations, industry standards and other requirements, including the European Union General Data Protection Regulation ("EU GDPR"), the U.K. General Data Protection Regulation and the U.K. Data Protection Act 2018 (collectively, the "U.K. GDPR"). These laws impose stringent data protection requirements on personal information and provide for significant penalties for noncompliance. These laws impact our U.S. operations as well as our European operations as they apply not only to third-party transactions, but also to transfers of personal information among the Company and its subsidiaries. Certain U.S. states such as California have also enacted new or modified data privacy laws imposing requirements including security measures for personal information. Although we have implemented and are implementing policies and procedures designed to comply with these laws and regulations, the application and interpretation of data privacy laws are constantly evolving and are subject to change, creating a complex compliance environment. In some cases, these requirements may be either unclear in their interpretation and application or they may have inconsistent or conflicting requirements with each other. Further, there has been a substantial increase in legislative activity and regulatory focus on data privacy and security in the United States and elsewhere, including in relation to cybersecurity incidents. Any failure or perceived failure by us or our vendors to comply with applicable laws, rules, regulations and other requirements related to consumer protection, information security, data protection and privacy could result in legal claims or proceedings (including class actions), governmental enforcement actions and investigations, fines, and other penalties that could potentially have an adverse effect on our operations and reputation including a loss of confidence in us or damage to our brands. We could incur significant costs in investigating and defending such claims and, if found liable, pay significant damages or fines or be required to make changes to our business. If any of these events were to occur, our operations and financial condition could be materially adversely affected.
Future changes in the laws or governmental regulations affecting our business may result in the prohibition or restriction of certain types of consulting or employment services that we are permitted to offer, or the imposition of new or additional compliance requirements that could increase our costs and reduce our revenues and earnings. Due to the substantial number of state and local jurisdictions in which we operate, there also is a risk that we may be unable to adequately monitor actual or proposed changes in, or the interpretation of, the laws or governmental regulations of such states and localities. Any delay in our compliance with changes in such laws or governmental regulations could result in potential fines, penalties, or other sanctions for non-compliance. In addition, although we may elect to bill some or all of any additional costs to our customers, there can be no assurances that we will be able to increase the fees charged to our customers in a timely manner and in a sufficient amount to fully cover any increased costs as a result of future changes in laws or government regulations.
Our business may be materially affected by changes to fiscal and tax policies that could adversely affect our results of operations and cash flows.
Our business is subject to taxation in the United States and the foreign jurisdictions where we operate. Due to economic and political conditions, tax rates in various jurisdictions may be subject to significant change. Our future effective tax rates could be affected by changes made by the current administration in the United States and in the mix of earnings in countries with differing statutory tax rates or by changes in the tax laws or their interpretation.
Various levels of government also are increasingly focused on tax reform and other legislative action to increase tax revenue. Further changes in tax laws in the United States or foreign jurisdictions where we operate, or in the interpretation of such laws, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition, or cash flows.
We are subject to various business and regulatory risks associated with international operations, which could increase our costs, cause our results of operations to fluctuate, and adversely affect our business.
We conduct business outside the United States primarily in Canada and Europe, and we have delivery centers in Mexico and India. Our international operations, which represented approximately five percent of our consolidated costs of services in 2025, expose us to, among other things, operational, regulatory, and political risks in the countries in which we operate.
General Risks
The loss of key members of our senior management team, as well as failure to develop the next generation of future leaders, could adversely affect the execution of our business strategy and our financial results.
We believe that the successful execution of our business strategy and our ability to build upon our business and acquisitions of new businesses depends on the continued employment of key members of our senior management team and maintaining good succession plans for their retirement or other departure. If we cannot attract and retain qualified personnel or effectively implement appropriate succession plans, it could have a material adverse impact to our business, financial condition, and/or results of operations. We have provided short-term and long-term incentive compensation to our key management in an effort to retain them, and have prepared succession plans at such time as their employment ends. However, if members of our senior management team become unable or unwilling to continue in their present positions, or our succession plans are not adequate, we could incur significant costs and experience business disruption related to time spent on efforts to replace them, and our financial results and our business could be adversely affected. Additionally, we must continue to recruit, train, and
develop management team members in order to achieve our current business objectives and execute on our succession plans. A failure to support leadership excellence through adequate resources, expectations and training required for growth or in the event of the loss of key members of our senior management team could jeopardize our ability to meet our business performance expectations and adversely affect our financial results.
Failure of internal controls may leave us susceptible to errors and fraud.
Management does not expect that our disclosure controls and internal controls will prevent all errors and all fraud. A control system, no matter how well conceived and operated, can provide only reasonable assurance that the objectives of the control system are met. Furthermore, because of the inherent limitations in all control systems, no evaluation of controls can provide absolute assurance that all control issues and instances of fraud, if any, would be detected, particularly in our newly acquired companies and international operations. If our internal controls are unsuccessful, our business and results of operations could be adversely affected.
The trading price of our common stock has experienced significant volatility.
The market price of our stock has fluctuated substantially in the past and could fluctuate substantially in the future, based on a variety of factors, including our operating results; announcements of changes in government priorities; changes in general conditions in the economy and/or the staffing and consulting industries; announcements by our competitors; involvement in a significant litigation matter; a major change in our management; and short sales, hedging, and other derivative transactions in shares of our common stock. In addition, the stock market in general has experienced historical volatility that is unrelated to the operating performance of our Company. Broad market and industry fluctuations may adversely affect the market price of our common stock, regardless of our operating results. Among other things, volatility in our stock price could mean that investors will not be able to sell their shares at or above the prices they pay. The volatility also could impair our ability in the future to offer common stock as a source of additional capital or as consideration in the acquisition of other businesses, or as compensation for our key employees.
Provisions in our corporate documents and Delaware law may delay or prevent a change in control that our stockholders consider favorable.
Provisions in our certificate of incorporation and bylaws could have the impact of delaying or preventing a change of control or changes in our management. These provisions include the following:
•Our Board has the right to elect directors to fill a vacancy in the Board upon the resignation, death, or removal of a director, which prevents stockholders from being able to fill vacancies on our Board until the next applicable annual meeting of stockholders.
•Stockholders must provide advance notice to nominate individuals for election to the Board or to propose matters that can be acted upon at a stockholders’ meeting. Further, our Board is divided into three classes and only one class is up for election each year. These provisions may discourage or deter a potential acquirer from conducting a solicitation of proxies to elect the acquirer’s own slate of directors or otherwise attempting to obtain control of us.
•Our Board may issue, without stockholder approval, up to one million shares of undesignated or "blank check" preferred stock. The ability to issue undesignated or "blank check" preferred stock makes it possible for our Board to issue preferred stock with voting or other rights or preferences that could impede the success of any attempt by, or make it more difficult for, a third party to acquire us.
As a Delaware corporation, we are also subject to certain Delaware anti-takeover provisions, including Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law. Under these provisions, a corporation may not engage in a business combination with any large stockholders who hold 15 percent or more of our outstanding voting capital stock in a merger or business combination unless the holder has held the stock for three years, the Board has expressly approved the merger or business transaction, or at least two-thirds of the outstanding voting capital stock not owned by such large stockholder approves the merger or the transaction. These provisions of Delaware law may have the impact of delaying, deferring, or preventing a change of control and may discourage bids for our common stock at a premium over its market price. In addition, our Board could rely on these provisions of Delaware law to discourage, prevent, or delay an acquisition of us.