Company Description
HireQuest, Inc. (NASDAQ: HQI) is a franchisor of staffing and recruiting solutions operating in the human resources consulting services industry within the broader professional, scientific, and technical services sector. The company focuses on on-demand staffing, executive search, and commercial staffing, serving employers that need temporary, contract, and direct-hire talent across multiple industries. Rather than owning and operating all locations directly, HireQuest works through a network of franchise offices, which are central to how it delivers services and generates revenue.
According to company disclosures, HireQuest’s franchisees provide various types of temporary personnel through two business models and operate under several trade names. These include HireQuest Direct, HireQuest, Snelling, DriverQuest, HireQuest Health, Northbound Executive Search, MRINetwork, and TradeCorp. Through these divisions and brands, the company offers staffing and recruiting services across industries such as construction, light industrial, healthcare, finance, manufacturing, cybersecurity, engineering, and other sectors where employers rely on flexible or specialized labor.
HireQuest describes itself as a global franchisor with a presence across the United States and international markets. Its network includes hundreds of offices that support on-demand staffing and corporate recruiting. The company states that its divisions operate as one team for customers, providing workforce solutions that range from day labor and temporary staffing to executive search and talent advisory services. This structure allows franchise owners to leverage shared infrastructure, purchasing power, training, and back-office support provided by HireQuest.
A key element of HireQuest’s business model is that its primary source of revenue is royalty fees based on the operations of its franchised offices. Franchise royalties and related service revenue are reported in its financial statements as the main components of total revenue. System-wide sales generated by franchisees drive these royalty streams, while HireQuest maintains a relatively asset-light model focused on franchising, support services, and brand management rather than directly employing large numbers of temporary workers itself.
Within its portfolio, different brands focus on distinct parts of the staffing and recruiting market. HireQuest Direct and related brands are associated with on-demand and commercial staffing, including light industrial and blue-collar segments. MRINetwork and Northbound Executive Search are positioned in executive and professional recruiting, while HireQuest Health focuses on healthcare-related staffing. TradeCorp and Snelling also participate in commercial and specialized staffing, contributing to the company’s reach across multiple skill levels and job categories.
HireQuest is incorporated in Delaware and lists its common stock on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol HQI. The company reports that it provides employment opportunities for thousands of individuals each year through its franchise network. Its disclosures emphasize a community-based franchise model and a combination of local office expertise with broader organizational scale, including technology, training, and risk management infrastructure that support franchisees and their clients.
Corporate actions disclosed in recent filings and press releases highlight how HireQuest manages its capital and shareholder returns. The Board of Directors has declared recurring quarterly cash dividends on its common stock, as reflected in multiple Form 8-K filings. In addition, the Board approved a stock repurchase program authorizing the repurchase of up to a specified dollar amount of common shares. Under this program, the company may buy back stock through open market purchases, privately negotiated transactions, block trades, and Rule 10b5-1 trading plans, with the flexibility to modify, suspend, or terminate the program and to reissue repurchased shares for employee benefit plans or other corporate purposes.
HireQuest also reports on its financial performance and franchise activity through quarterly results. Its financial statements show revenue derived primarily from franchise royalties and service revenue, along with selling, general and administrative expenses, depreciation and amortization, workers’ compensation-related items, and other income and expense. The company publishes non-U.S. GAAP measures such as Adjusted EBITDA and adjusted net income, together with reconciliations to U.S. GAAP metrics, to provide additional views of its operating performance.
Governance and shareholder matters are documented in the company’s SEC filings. For example, at its annual meeting of stockholders, HireQuest’s shareholders vote on the election of directors, ratification of the independent registered public accounting firm, advisory votes on executive compensation, and the frequency of such advisory votes. Voting results are disclosed in Form 8-K filings, which detail the number of shares voted for, against, or withheld on each proposal, as well as broker non-votes.
Within its executive search operations, MRINetwork is identified as a global executive search brand with a long history in the recruitment industry. HireQuest has announced a change in MRINetwork’s ownership structure, transitioning majority ownership to a leadership group composed of current and former MRINetwork franchise owners while retaining partial ownership. Under this arrangement, HireQuest continues to provide shared services, infrastructure, and purchasing scale to MRINetwork, illustrating how the company can adjust ownership structures within its network while maintaining operational ties.
HireQuest also publishes labor market insights based on data from its franchise network. In one outlook, the company summarizes survey responses from hundreds of offices and comments on hiring trends, time-to-fill metrics, application volumes, and the growth of fractional and contract roles. These insights reflect the company’s perspective on broader labor market dynamics and the demand patterns its franchisees observe across regions and industries.
Overall, HireQuest’s profile combines a franchise-based staffing and recruiting model, a portfolio of specialized brands, and a focus on royalty-driven revenue. Investors and analysts looking at HQI stock typically review the company’s franchise royalties, system-wide sales, dividend policy, share repurchase activity, and disclosures about its staffing and executive search operations across U.S. and international markets.