Revenue at Shanghai-based ManpowerGroup Greater China (2180:HKG), a workforce solutions provider in China, rose by 13.5% for the six-month period ended 30 June 2023. The group reported its results last week.

The largest shareholder of ManpowerGroup Greater China Limited is ManpowerGroup Inc. (NYSE: MAN). In July ManpowerGroup Inc. reported second-quarter revenue fell 3.5% year over year in constant currency to $4.86 billion.

The company said revenue increased in H1 2023 despite a 28.2% year-over-year decrease of the recruitment and solutions segment due to weak economy and sluggish demand across different industries.

Revenue generated from the flexible staffing business segment grew by approximately 15.8% on a year over year basis to RMB 2.43 billion (USD 333.2 million), of which the flexible staffing revenue from Mainland China recorded an increase of approximately 24% compared with the same period last year.

Business in Hong Kong decreased slightly by 0.6% during the period due to the ending of Covid-related government projects and weaker-than-expected demand recovery. Taiwan achieved revenue growth of 2.6% year over year despite being negatively impacted by a weak economy and a shift away of production.

The group continued to expand its service offerings in Mainland China during the first half of the year, particularly in the flexible staffing business where the group said solid progress was seen in the IT outsourcing (ITO) business segment.

During the six months ended 30 June 2023, the group derived its revenue primarily from workforce solution services, including flexible staffing, and recruitment solutions, including headhunting and RPO; and other HR services, including HR consultancy services, training and development, career transition, payroll services as well as government solutions.

Revenue by business line

Revenue growth in flexible staffing rose primarily due to the increase in the number of associates placed during the period owing to increasing business from key clients and business development from new clients in China.

The increase in revenue generated from other HR services increased primarily due to the increase in revenue generated from the HR consultancy service of Right Management.

These increases were partially offset by the decrease in revenue generated from recruitment solutions by approximately 28.2% which was primarily due to the falling demand of hiring services and longer hiring cycles caused by clients’ cautiousness in determining the offers to candidates and candidates’ declining willingness to change jobs.

During the six months ended 30 June 2023, the group operates in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan with the PRC contributing the largest part of the group’s total revenue during the period.

Revenue by geography

Outlook

The group said it remains cautious about its business growth in the second half this year amid limited visibility of the macroeconomic environment. It added that its outlook in the medium term is more optimistic on the back of a fast-growing flexible staffing industry, diversification of the portfolio of services, and robustness of its business model.

The group’s strategic focus in the second half of 2023 will remain on flexible staffing in China with industry focus on several key fast-growing industries such as new energy, financial services, IT services, healthcare, and consumer & retail.

ManpowerGroup Greater China also stated that it believes that it will continue to benefit from the industry growth momentum with a strong global brand and leading market position.

Going forward, the group added that it will actively seek opportunities of strategic acquisition and cooperation in order to strengthen its leadership position in the workforce solutions market.

ManpowerGroup Greater China shares closed last Thursday at HKD 6.50 (USD 0.83), up 1.56% on the day. The company has a market cap of HKD 1.17 billion (USD 149.10 million).