First-quarter revenue at Robert Half International Inc. (NYSE: RHI) rose 19.5 percent on a year-over-year basis to $880.9 million. “We saw strong demand for our professional staffing services, particularly in our Robert Half Technology and Robert Half Finance & Accounting divisions,” said Chairman and CEO Harold “Max” Messmer. “We also saw an improving pricing environment indicative of further strengthening in our underlying labor markets.”

First-quarter revenue rose on a year-over-year basis across all the Menlo Park, Calif.-based staffing provider’s divisions. The increases included:

• 14.3 percent at Accountemps to $330.3 million
• 24.7 percent at OfficeTeam to $176.3 million
• 28.5 percent at Robert Half Technology to $96.6 million
• 19.9 percent at Robert Half Management Resources to $111.5 million
• 39.0 percent at Robert Half Finance & Accounting to $67.6 million
• 9.7 percent at Protiviti to $98.6 million

Robert Half’s first-quarter gross margin improved to 38.4 percent from 36.4 percent in the year-ago quarter.

Net income jumped to $26.7 million in the first quarter, compared with $8.5 million in the same period last year.

The company forecasts second-quarter revenue will be between $880 million to $930 million, a year-over-year increase of between 14.4 percent and 20.9 percent.

Robert Half also reported that a class action lawsuit was filed against it in a California court alleging that salaried account executives and staffing manager were misclassified as exempt and that they are owed unpaid overtime, according to a filing Thursday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The suit was filed Feb. 23 by plaintiff Isabel Apolinario. The attorney in the case is the same as in a similar lawsuit in California against the company by plaintiff Mark Laffitte. Robert Half reported decisions in two other cases in California — one unrelated to the company — that could impact the outcomes of the Apolinario and Laffitte cases.

Robert Half International Inc. (NYSE: RHI)
For the first quarter ended March 31, 2011, compared with the same period in 2010.
Revenue: $880.9 million, +19.5 percent
Net income: $26.7 million vs. net revenue of $8.5 million