Spherion Corp. (NYSE: SFN) on Wednesday reduced its estimated earnings for the first quarter and said it anticipates that year-over-year revenue will be flat on an organic basis.

"After a relatively good start in January, we experienced a greater seasonal pullback in our staffing services segment than we had initially estimated," said CEO Roy Krause. "Additionally, due to greater uncertainties within client organizations, our total direct hire revenues will be lower than anticipated and organically less than last year."

The new estimates for first-quarter revenue are between $573 million and $578 million, about flat year-over-year on an organic basis, according to the company. Spherion originally estimated revenue of between $585 million and $600 million.

Also, it now expects adjusted earnings from continuing operations, including one-time costs for acquisitions, to be between 4 cents and 5 cents a share. It initially estimated between 7 cents and 11 cents a share.

Spherion will release its first-quarter earnings on April 28 after close of market.