Randstad Digital Appoints CEO
December 17, 2024 – Randstad N.V. has announced that Randstad Digital has named Graig Paglieri as its new CEO effective January 1. He replaces Venu Lambu, who will be leaving Randstad at the end of January. “Graig is a pioneer and proven industry leader in talent services who recognizes that our greatest strength lies in our talented teams,” the company said in a LinkedIn post. “Building on the strong foundation already in place, he is poised to drive accelerated growth in 2025 and beyond.”
Mr. Paglieri currently serves as CEO of Randstad Digital Americas, a position he started in January 2021. In his new role, he will assume responsibility for the global business spanning markets across Europe and the Asia Pacific.
Mr. Paglieri, a seasoned professional services leader, previously served as the group president of technologies and engineering. In addition, he also led the strategic direction and execution of Randstad Offshore Services, Central Delivery Operations and Federal client delivery. Each of these business units serves Fortune 1000 clients across multiple industry verticals by providing specialized and customized solutions to their complex STEM-related challenges. Prior to joining Randstad U.S. in 2016, Mr. Paglieri served in several professional services executive roles. He has a track record of applying an innovative vision to lead transformative business initiatives in the professional staffing and services sector.
Headquartered in the Netherlands, Randstad operates in 39 markets and has approximately 40,000 employees. In 2023, the company supported 2 million talent to find work and generated a revenue of €25.4 billion.
New COO
Randstad recently has named Jesus Echevarria, chief client and talent officer, as chief operating officer. He succeeds Chris Heutink starting on January 1. The supervisory board and Mr. Heutink have jointly agreed that he will officially step down from the executive board at the annual general meeting in March 2025 and Mr. Echevarria nomination as an executive board member will be voted upon on the same date. Mr. Heutink will continue as a strategic advisor to Randstad for 12 months to ensure a smooth transition of responsibilities to Mr. Echevarria before departing at the end of 2025.
Related: Randstad Acquires Finite Group in Australia and New Zealand
“For more than 20 years Jesus has demonstrated an exceptional focus on operational excellence and always puts talent and client needs first,” said Sander van‘t Noordende, CEO. “He is an exemplary role model of Randstad’s values and more than that is passionate about the growth of our people. I’m convinced that through his leadership we will accelerate the implementation of our partner for talent strategy.”
Recent Acquisition
In May, Randstad announced that Randstad Digital has acquired Torc, a next-generation AI-powered talent marketplace platform with more than 25,000 digital talent enrolled worldwide, with a specific current emphasis on LATAM, the U.S., and India. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. This acquisition allows Randstad Digital to further accelerate clients’ access to digital talent, including global delivery centers, to meet its digital ambitions across cloud, data, digital engineering, and customer experience capabilities.
Randstad has acquired Zorgwerk, a digital healthcare marketplace in the Netherlands to strengthen its specialized offering in the healthcare and care sector. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. “We are excited to welcome the Zorgwerk team and its extensive network of qualified and dedicated healthcare and care professionals to Randstad,” said Sander van‘t Noordende, CEO. “As part of our strategy, we are focused on growing segments and leveraging digital marketplaces to create more personalized and efficient engagements with clients and talent. By combining Randstad and Zorgwerk we can serve the broadest set of needs of our healthcare clients, across all types of work arrangements, to help address the critical challenges of the healthcare and care industry where talent scarcity is most pronounced.”
“The Torc acquisition strengthens Randstad’s partner for talent strategy in our digital specialization,” said Mr. van‘t Noordende. “Digital transformation needs access to specialized talent at scale and speed globally. Torc, with its enterprise-grade AI-powered talent marketplace, will redefine the talent experience, and speed of delivery, and strengthen Randstad Digital’s capabilities in enabling our client’s digital transformation.”
“As enterprises redefine the digital business model, the demand for specialized skills in AI, cloud, data, and CX, continues to increase,” said Mr. Lambu. “The acquisition of Torc is a direct response to this evolution and client needs. It expands our access to a diverse range of talent skill sets and a robust developer community from assessment to productivity. We are extremely excited to welcome an industry thought leader in open talent platforms, Michael Morris, Torc CEO and co-founder, and his team to Randstad Digital.”
Related: Randstad Announces Senior Leadership Changes
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief and Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
