Robert Half

The company's founding was in 1948, in New York City, with its original name being variously reported as being Robert Half Inc., Robert Half Finance & Accounting, and Robert Half Personnel Agency. The founding, in any case, is reported to have been of two separate business entities, the Robert Half portion as "an employment agency for accountants," and the Accountemps portion "to supply accountants and other financial professionals… on a temporary basis." Founder Robert Half had previously managed the hiring of accounting staff for a sizeable textile manufacturing concern, and saw an opportunity as no placement agency had been focusing on this sector of the market.In the mid- to late-1980s, Robert Half altered its prior focus—which had been like that of the field in general—from relatively undifferentiated temporary clerical and light industry staffing, to providing temporary workers at higher skill levels via new "professional staffing divisions". Having grown to over 150 locations in the United States and launched an aggressive campaign to re-purchase many of the separate franchises, the firm went public in 1987, then expanded its operations into Europe in 1993. In addition to their Accountemps brand, the firm expanded to include specialty groups focusing on technology, legal and creative services personnel. Inroads into the legal sector began with the company's 1991 acquisition of "The Affiliates, a firm in Southern California that placed temporary and permanent paralegal, legal administrative, and other legal support personnel," with it being renamed as Robert Half Legal.Robert Half went on to establish itself as a key information provider for government agencies and others seeking statistics and trends regarding employment, with its market-specific salary guides being used as a resource by the U.S Department of Labor in the preparation of their own forecasts.In addition to their main staffing line of business, RH also provides independent risk consulting, internal audit and information technology consulting services via its Protiviti subsidiary, which was founded in 2002 with the acquisition of former employees of Arthur Andersen. Since then, the group has grown from 700 to over 2,900 staff, and continues to be led by Andersen alumni.In 2003, the company was finally able to buy back the last of the few remaining independent franchise operations.In 2006, RH acquired the assets of PG Lewis & Associates, a leading national provider of Data Forensics and Cyber Security services founded in 2003 by serial technology entrepreneur, Paul G. Lewis. Financial terms were not disclosed.In April 2022, Robert Half moved its legal consulting service line to Protiviti, which allows Protiviti to expand its legal consulting practice. The service line supports clients with a broader range of legal, compliance, governance, technology, investigation and transaction-related business needs.