Old Greenwich, Conn., April15, 2024 – Hudson RPO, a global total talent solutions company owned by Hudson Global, Inc. (NASDAQ: HSON), announced today it is expanding its presence in the Middle East with the acquisition of Striver, a Dubai-based executive search organization. This announcement follows Hudson RPO’s March 2024 acquisition of Dubai-based Executive Solutions, a firm focused on Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO).

With the new acquisition of Striver in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Hudson RPO is strongly equipped to partner with new and existing clients for their senior talent acquisition needs in the rapidly growing Middle East region.

The firm’s Middle East executive search efforts will be led by Striver’s founder and current CEO, Toby Simpson, who will take on the role of Managing Director, Executive Search at Hudson RPO. Simpson has extensive experience in executive and non-executive searches in investment banking, asset management and private equity; largely for portfolio companies across a wide range of sectors. He has worked throughout the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council), partnering with boards across investment, private sector and government ventures.

Trained in London, Simpson has also worked in-house for a German private equity business and Saudi government entities covering mandates across EMEA.

“The dynamic nature of the business environment in the Middle East calls for true partnership with clients, offering more intelligent solutions that comprise excellence, value, and a more supportive framework of capabilities that help ambitious businesses attract and retain the best leadership on the global market,” said Simpson. “I believe that our team, with decades of appreciation of the culture and dynamics of this market, combined with Hudson RPO’s global support and research platform, will allow us to make a big difference for our clients in the region.”

The acquisition of Striver further strengthens Hudson RPO’s executive search function on a global scale. The firm recently announced the appointment of several executive search professionals in North America. This is in addition to significantly increasing its executive search function in the APAC region with the acquisition of Hudson Singapore in late 2023.

“We are pleased to continue to expand and enhance our offering in the executive search space. This furthers our ability to become and remain a core strategic partner for our clients as we assist them in putting the right people in place at all levels of their organizations to develop and execute a winning business strategy,” said Hudson RPO Global Chief Executive Jake Zabkowicz.

Old Greenwich, Conn., April 10, 2024 – A new Hudson RPO survey shows that professionals have a positive outlook concerning hiring trends for the remainder of 2024.

The survey found that more than three-quarters (86%) of respondents plan on increasing their workforce by the end of the year, and 68% believe it will be easier to find qualified candidates than it was in 2023. 

“While none of us has a crystal ball to positively predict the future, economic indicators show slow and steady growth in the U.S., which helps increase optimism among employers for expanding their business and their talent pools,” said Hudson RPO CEO Jake Zabkowicz.

When asked what would cause a candidate to choose one job over another, more than half (54%) said more money, followed by a better culture (41%). Nearly all respondents (86%) agreed they have clear messaging on why candidates should choose their organization over another, with 36% agreeing to a great extent that they have a strong employer brand. 

All the respondents (100%) agreed that diversity is important, with 36% saying a diverse candidate pool is mandated for each engagement. 

The top reason respondents say they work with a Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) provider is they find higher-quality candidates than they could find on their own (36%), followed by allowing them to contract and expand their talent acquisition efforts as business needs change (32%).

“We know that each client organization has a unique set of requirements when searching for the right candidates. That’s why we do a complete analysis of business needs before we begin sourcing and presenting candidates,” said Zabkowicz.

Respondents are split when asked how the internal HR function is viewed by their organization. Just over half (55%) said HR is considered a core strategic partner to the C-suite, and 45% said HR fulfills the talent mandates set forth by the business units but is not a strategy partner.

“Leaders who understand that talent is their greatest asset will consider HR professionals as core partners who will help set not only the talent strategy but help fulfill business objectives,” said Zabkowicz. 

The majority of respondents (95%) agree that beyond hiring externally, looking within the organization for qualified candidates is critical, with 22% agreeing to a great extent that they have a robust internal mobility program. 

“Talent management should be looked at from a holistic perspective, analyzing business objectives, what talent is needed to achieve those objectives, determining if there are the right people in-house and where an external search is needed,” said Zabkowicz. 

About the survey – The Hudson RPO survey of 276 professionals took place in March 2024.

Survey results

Do you plan on increasing or decreasing your workforce by the end of the year?

• Increasing: 86%
• Decreasing: 14%

How optimistic are you about finding quality hires for the rest of 2024?

• Very optimistic: 23%
• Somewhat optimistic: 59%
• Somewhat pessimistic: 14%
• Very pessimistic: 4%

Are you finding it easier to find quality talent now versus last year?

• It was easier in 2023: 32%
• It is easier now: 68%

What is the top reason to work with a recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) partner?

• They find higher-quality candidates than we could on our own: 36%
• It allows us to expand and contract our talent acquisition efforts as needed: 32%
• It avoids the high cost of large internal TA teams: 18%
• It allows us to focus on an enhanced candidate and hiring manager experience: 14%

Are you hiring more interim (contingent) talent now than you did in 2023?

• We are hiring more contingent talent now: 36%
• We hired more contingent talent in 2023: 64%

What is the top reason a candidate would take one job over another?

• More money: 54%
• Better culture: 41%
• More of a challenge: 5%

Do you have clear messaging on why candidates should choose your company over a competitor?

• Yes to a great extent: 36%
• Yes to some extent: 50%
• No: 14%

What best describes the way the HR function is viewed in your organization?

• Core strategic business partner to the C-suite: 55%
• Fulfills the talent mandates set forth by the business units, not a strategy partner: 45%

When volume hiring, how important is a diverse candidate pool?

• Extremely important, we mandate a diverse pool during each engagement: 36%
• Important, but we don’t require diversity percentage mandates: 64%
• Not important: 0%

To what extent would you agree that your organization has a robust internal mobility program?

• To a great extent: 22%
• To some extent: 73%
• We don’t have an internal mobility program: 5%