Heidrick & Struggles Posts Seven Percent Revenue Gain

March 4, 2025 – Executive search, leadership consulting, and culture shaping services provider Heidrick & Struggles / (NASDAQ:HSII) has posted global full-year revenues of $1.1 billion, an increase of seven percent, compared to $1.03 billion in 2023. The Chicago-headquartered recruiter — the fifth largest global firm as ranked by Hunt Scanlon Media — reported net income was $8.7 million and diluted earnings per share was $0.41, which included a non-cash goodwill impairment charge of $59.5 million, a restructuring charge of $6.9 million and earnout fair value adjustments of $0.4 million.

Consolidated net revenue increased 9.1 percent to $276.2 million in the 2024 fourth quarter compared to consolidated net revenue of $253.2 million in the 2023 fourth quarter (up 9.3 percent, or $23.5 million on a constant currency basis). The revenue increase was driven by year-over-year growth in each of the firm’s lines of business — Executive Search, On-Demand Talent, and Heidrick Consulting.

Heidrick’s 2024 fourth quarter net loss was $15.0 million and diluted loss per share was $0.73 which included a non-cash goodwill impairment charge of $43.3 million related to the firm’s On-Demand Talent segment and an earnout fair value reduction of $0.8 million related to the Heidrick Consulting segment.

Executive Search net revenue was $202.5 million in the 2024 fourth quarter compared to net revenue of $184.0 million in the 2023 fourth quarter, an increase of $18.6 million, or 10.1 percent. The increase in revenue was driven by increases of 11.1 percent in the Americas (up 11.7 percent on a constant currency basis), 8.1 percent in Europe (up 7.3 percent on a constant currency basis), and 7.6 percent in Asia Pacific (up 8.0 percent on a constant currency basis) when compared to the prior year fourth quarter.

On-Demand Talent net revenue was $42.3 million in the 2024 fourth quarter compared to net revenue of $41.1 million in the 2023 fourth quarter, an increase of $1.2 million or 3.0 percent (up $1.3 million, or 3.3 percent on a constant currency basis).

Heidrick Consulting net revenue was $31.3 million in the 2024 fourth quarter compared to net revenue of $28.1 million in the 2023 fourth quarter, an increase of $3.2 million or 11.5 percent (up $3.1 million, or 11.0 percent on a constant currency basis).

“We finished 2024 on a strong note, highlighted by a fourth quarter performance that exceeded our expectations,” said Tom Monahan, CEO. “As we move into 2025, our team is energized and focused on the significant opportunity for client impact in a complex, volatile world. This opportunity – combined with the focus and caliber of our team – gives us great confidence that we can attain our long-term financial targets.”

Related: Heidrick & Struggles Unveils 2025 Global and Regional Leadership Appointments

“As we discussed at our inaugural investor day in December, we serve a large and growing market defined by urgent client needs,” Mr. Monahan said. “We’ve assembled a world class team and unique capabilities to meet those needs. With our iconic brand, powerful technology and valuable intellectual property, we are focused on rapidly achieving the long-term goals we shared and creating value for our clients and shareholders.”

During the quarter, Heidrick’s board of directors declared a 2025 first quarter cash dividend of $0.15 per share payable on March 27, 2025, to shareholders of record at the close of business on March 13, 2025.

Newly Appointed CFO

Heidrick recently appointed Nirupam Sinha as its new CFO. “Nirupam Sinha is a proven financial leader with a passion for strategy, transformation, and people leadership across professional services, financial services, and technology,” said Mr. Monahan. “Throughout his career, Nirupam has helped lead transformative financial management and value creation, all while advancing organizational growth, making him the ideal leader to create value for clients, colleagues and shareholders. Nirupam has the strategic insight, leadership skills and deep experience to support Heidrick & Struggles as the world’s most trusted partner in leadership and critical talent decisions, focused on building differentiated, deep and durable relationships with the world’s most leadership-obsessed companies.”

Heidrick & Struggles Taps Outsider as CEO; Other Leadership Moves Announced

Heidrick & Struggles has announced that president and CEO Krishnan Rajagopalan has decided to retire, after more than 23 years with the firm. Following a planned succession process, the board has appointed Thomas L. Monahan to succeed Mr. Rajagopalan as CEO and member of the board, effective March 4. Mr. Monahan currently serves as managing partner of Norton Street Holdings and was previously president and CEO of DeVry University. Mr. Rajagopalan will step down, effective March 4, 2024, and will retire from the firm as of April 1, 2024, after which he will continue to serve as an advisor. “Search firms are highly focused on trying to leverage data, innovative technology, analytics, and IT to not only lift their client’s performance, but also their own,” said Scott Scanlon, CEO of Hunt Scanlon Media. “Bringing in this outsider at this time makes a whole lot of sense.”

Mr. Sinha is a tested leader with extensive experience across professional services, financial services, and technology. He previously served as CFO of Checkout.com, a global payments company, where he oversees a team of more than 200 across accounting, treasury, tax, FP&A, investor relations, and strategy as well as other groups.

“We are in a pivotal time when people and leadership can make or break a business, making the work at Heidrick & Struggles ever more important,” said Mr. Sinha. “Heidrick & Struggles has long served at the heart of talent strategy and continues to innovate and expand its offerings in an increasingly transformative market. I believe we have an exciting road ahead as a firm and I’m honored to be a part of it. As Heidrick & Struggles continues to grow, I look forward to helping the company continue to scale and deliver strong performance for our clients and shareholders around the world.”

2025 First Quarter Outlook

Heidrick expects 2025 first quarter consolidated net revenue of between $263 million and $273 million, which may be impacted by external factors, such as the foreign exchange and interest rate environments, foreign conflicts, inflation and macroeconomic constraints on pricing actions. In addition, this outlook is based on the average currency rates in December 2024 and reflects, among other factors, management’s assumptions for the anticipated volume of new Executive Search confirmations, On-Demand Talent projects, and Heidrick Consulting assignments, consultant productivity, and consultant retention along with the current backlog.

Related: Heidrick & Struggles Elects New Board Members

Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief and Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor  – Hunt Scanlon Media