SeatonCorp, a privately held staffing firm based in Chicago, reported Monday that net income rose 86% organically in the first half of the year. The company said net income benefitted from cost containment initiatives, several large client signings and strong results from its StudentScout division.

"We are encouraged that hiring demand has begun to stabilize at existing clients," Chief Operating Officer Patrick Beharelle said in a statement. "New client signings and scope expansions across all three divisions have helped to offset the soft hiring conditions."

SeatonCorp's Staff Management division, a high-volume, vendor-on-premise and managed services staffing provider signed more than a dozen multi-million dollar contracts, the company said. Its PeopleScout recruitment process outsourcing division posted several key client renewals and its StudentScout division posted significant bottom line growth, SeatonCorp reported. StudentScout provides recruitment and admissions support for for-profit colleges and universities.

The privately-held company only disclosed growth in net income. It did not release revenue growth or earnings amounts.