Kelly Services Inc. (NASDAQ: KELYA, KELYB) reported first-quarter revenue fell 1.4% year over year in constant currency to $1.27 billion. The US-based staffing giant noted that demand for specialty talent remains, but the broader staffing market was impacted by economic uncertainty.

When measured on an organic basis, first-quarter revenue was roughly flat (down 0.5% when calculated on both an organic and constant currency basis), according to Kelly. Results were also impacted by the sale of the Russian operations in July 2022, as well as the acquisitions of RPO provider RocketPower and school therapy services firm Pediatric Therapeutic Services.

“Taking into account well-recognized macroeconomic headwinds, we delivered solid results as our specialty solutions proved more resilient than others,” President and CEO Peter Quigley said. “Our education segment and our more profitable outcome-based solutions in both [professional and industrial] and [science, engineering, and technology] continued to deliver solid growth while, as expected, our staffing businesses faced decreased demand in this environment.”

Revenue was down in much of Europe,  except for Portugal. Asia-Pacific revenue rose 6.5% in constant currency. US revenue rose 0.3% in the first quarter, while Canadian revenue increased 22.4% in constant currency. Puerto Rican revenue fell 2.3%, while revenue from Mexico was up 47.0% in constant currency.

In Kelly’s outsourcing and consulting segment — which includes MSP, RPO, payroll process outsourcing, and consulting — revenue fell 13.8% year over year in constant currency.

Perm placement revenue fell 33.3% on a constant currency basis year over year to $17.5 million.

The first quarter included a restructuring charge of $5.7 million.

Kelly Services shares closed at $17.59, up 7.52% on the day and 31.17% above the 52 week low of $13.41 set on 29 September 2022. The company has a market cap of $652.58 million.