Recruiter pain a signal of Sarbox uncertainty

Robert Half International, a big headhunter-type firm, has benefited from the rise of Sarbanes-Oxley. Like a lot of executive search companies, there was law-generated turnover that kept them busy. In addition, its Protiviti unit fared very well as demand soared for its independent internal audit and risk-assessment consulting services. So it really seemed to have hit the Sarbox sweet spot. But the company missed its first-quarter estimates. And the company guided analysts lower for the second quarter--to the 40 to 43 cents per share range. That compares with previous estimates in the 48 cents range. One issue seems to be that more companies are scaling back their risk-assessment work or putting off until the issues are better clarified. If more companies are scaling back, in a sense, that means the drive to narrow the scope of Sarbox is working. If they are merely postponing, we could see a really frenzied rush once, make that if, the guidance from regulators is made explicit. Interesting.

For more:
- here's the AP article via Forbes