Our 80 years of impact.
The staffing industry was born.
Many women who kept the economy running during World War II weren't working, and William Russell Kelly saw an opportunity missing in the market. With the demand for secretarial services, Kelly opened a business that companies could turn to for temporary help and made it easier for women to connect to new professional opportunities.
The Russell Kelly Office Service opened in 1946 in Detroit, Michigan, positioning temporary staffing as a core solution that became a permanent shift in how work got done in America. Employers enjoyed a smoother hiring process while workers found jobs faster and got hired without roadblocks. The term “Kelly girl” started being used to describe the nation’s leading supplier of women working on a temporary basis.
- 1946: William Russell Kelly created the staffing industry, founding Russell Kelly Office Service in Detroit, Michigan.
- 1953: Kelly reached $1 million in annual sales.
- 1957: Renamed Kelly Girl Service, Inc., reflecting rapid growth.
Expansion into specialty fields.
The demand for temporary workers grew quickly in the 1960s–1970s. Globalization brought in a new corporate structure that valued short-term gains over long-term company investments. Kelly expanded its services in accounting, engineering, information technology, law, marketing, education, and healthcare to reach more people across industries, helping jobseekers and employers in specialized fields find greater opportunities. Kelly also began to hire men as temporary workers and expanded with new offices, proving how breaking traditional employment barriers can build a thriving workforce and scale a business.
- 1966: Renamed to Kelly Services, Inc., reflecting a broader workforce solutions scope.
- 1968: Opened first international office in Toronto, starting an era of global expansion.
- 1972: Opened first European office in Paris.
- 1973: Surpassed $100 million in sales.
- 1979: Achieved full national coverage with offices in all 50 U.S. states.
Building scale.
Kelly had 550 branches and was the first temporary agency to exceed $1 billion in revenue by 1986, dominating the industry. A technological shift was also happening with the transition from typewriters to word-processing computers. Kelly launched its "Guided Discovery Learning" multimedia training program in 1981 to help its workforce adapt to the growing digital office environment.
Outsourcing and consulting soon became an important part of how Kelly operated. In the late 1990s, specialized industries like technology, education, and engineering needed reliable workers with specific skillsets beyond generalists. Kelly accepted the challenge and evolved to launch four specialized staffing divisions each staffed by recruiters in their field. Kelly no longer just filled positions; it provided the entire human resources staff for enterprise businesses to rely on.
In 1996, Kelly headquarters was wrapped in a bow to celebrate its 50th anniversary while a transformative business model took form. Kelly established the industry’s first Managed Service Provider (MSP) Program, designed to leverage staffing as a managed business function by managing the entire staffing infrastructure for enterprises. Kelly was now a reliable one-stop-shop partner responsible for recruiting, screening, vendor management, compliance, and cost control across a client's entire temporary workforce. The impact of MSPs helped Kelly evolve into a true specialty workforce provider.
- 1986: Surpassed $1 billion in annual sales.
- 1995: Debuted on the Fortune 500 list and launched Kelly Scientific Resources.
- 1996: Pioneered the industry's first Managed Service Provider (MSP) program — now managing $7.2 billion in MSP spend globally.
- 1997: Reached 1,500 field offices and opened its 500th Partnered Staffing office.
- 1999: Launched four specialized divisions: Engineering, IT, healthcare, and education.
Becoming a specialized workforce solutions leader.
Investing in focused industry expertise began to set Kelly apart from general staffing firms. Kelly built a system to match the demand for expertise at scale, shifting Kelly from placing workers to deploying expertise.
- 2003: Named one of Fortune magazine’s “Most Admired Companies.”
- 2004: Launched Kelly Government Solutions, focused on federal staffing.
- 2006: Added career development and outplacement services by acquired the Ayers Group.
- 2007: Restructured globally into three regions: Americas, Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
Digital innovation and expansion.
New digital tools began to change the way people operated in their day-to-day work. By 2015, one million workers worldwide found work through Kelly and its expanded network of supplier partners. As the world of work evolved, Kelly grew its strategic acquisitions to expand capabilities into specialty growth sectors like education, technology, healthcare, and more. In 2025, Kelly helped a technology distribution partner improve turnover rates by 52% in one year while nearly doubling the client’s revenue.
-
2011: Launched The Talent Project iPad® app, bringing job search to mobile devices.
-
2009–2015: Connected one million workers to employment opportunities.
-
2017: Acquired Teachers On Call, expanding K-12 education staffing and expertise.
-
2019: Acquired Global Technology Associates and NextGen Global Resources, growing engineering and telecom capabilities.
-
2020: Acquired Insight (higher education staffing) and Greenwood/Asher & Associates (moving Kelly Education into the university/college market).
-
2021: Kelly acquired Softworld, strengthening Kelly Science, Engineering, Technology & Telecom.
-
2022: Acquired RocketPower (Silicon Valley-based RPO) and Pediatric Therapeutic Services (specialized healthcare staffing for schools).
A strategic workforce solutions partner.
In 2026, Kelly celebrated 80 years as a recognized workforce solutions leader. Kelly continues to leverage its temporary staffing roots and grow its workforce solutions services across 10 specialties, including education, science, engineering, technology, digital infrastructure, consulting, and more.
Kelly operates in 80 countries worldwide with a vast network of supplier and partner organizations. Over 350,000 job seekers connect with new work opportunities through Kelly every year, spanning temporary staffing, MSP solutions, and specialty industries.