What changed in this filing

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Item 1. Business

2026-02-18 compared with 2025-02-19 · 100 added, 81 removed, 148 unchanged (55% of the section changed)

TrueBlue, Inc.

(the “company,” “TrueBlue,” “we,” “us” and “our”) is a leading provider of specialized workforce solutions that help our clients improve productivity and grow their businesses.

We began operations in 1989 and are headquartered in Tacoma, Washington.

(the “company,” “TrueBlue,” “we,” “us” and “our”) began operations in 1989 and is a leading provider of specialized workforce solutions that connect employers and talent.

Backed by decades of experience, an extensive national footprint, expansive talent network, deep local market insight, and global recruitment process outsourcing (“RPO”) reach, TrueBlue delivers total workforce solutions helping clients improve quality, streamline operations and meet evolving talent demands.

BUSINESS OVERVIEW

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Our operations are managed as three business segments:

PeopleReady, PeopleScout and PeopleManagement.

PeopleReady, PeopleManagement and PeopleSolutions.

PeopleReady connected approximately 130,000 people with work and served approximately 52,000 clients in fiscal 2025.

PeopleReady provides clients with dependable access to qualified associates for their on-demand, contingent general and skilled labor needs to supplement their permanent workforce, across a broad range of industries including construction, transportation, manufacturing, retail, hospitality and energy.

Our services range from providing one associate to hundreds, and are generally short-term in nature as they are filling the contingent staffing needs of our clients.

Our PeopleReady brand connects our clients with individuals looking for on-demand, general temporary and temp-to-hire positions through our vast network of approximately 500 branches across all 50 states in the United States (“U.S.”) and Puerto Rico.

Augmenting our branch network, our mobile app, JobStack ® , connects people with on-demand work 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

JobStack creates a digital exchange between our associates and clients, and allows our branch resources to focus on sales, recruiting and service delivery efforts.

Our services range from providing one associate to hundreds, and are generally short-term in nature as we are filling the contingent staffing needs of our clients.

Pricing reflects factors such as scope of engagement, role requirements and market conditions, offering flexibility based on workforce needs.

PeopleReady connects our clients with individuals looking for on-demand, general temporary and temp-to-hire positions through our vast network of physical branches across all 50 states in the United States (“U.S.”) and Puerto Rico.

Augmenting our branch network, our proprietary mobile app, JobStack ® , connects people with on-demand work 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Supplemented by artificial intelligence (“AI”), JobStack creates a digital marketplace between our associates and clients, and allows our field resources to focus on sales, recruiting and service delivery efforts.

PeopleReady also connects skilled tradespeople with temporary work across a wide range of trades, including carpentry, electrical, plumbing, welding and energy installation positions through our PeopleReady Skilled Trades and RenewableWorks brands.

PeopleScout, a global leader in recruitment process outsourcing (“RPO”) services, connected approximately 143,000 people with work in fiscal 2024, primarily in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia.

Our RPO solutions are generally multi-year in duration, highly scalable, and provide clients the support they need as their hiring volumes fluctuate.

Our services are designed to lower client recruiting costs while improving the candidate experience by creating strategies that facilitate our clients’ talent acquisition, development and retention goals.

To do so, we tailor our services to individual client needs by offering multiple solutions, including the following:

• Full-cycle RPO solution:

Provides oversight of the entire talent acquisition strategy, including sourcing, screening, hiring and onboarding of candidates.

• Project RPO solution:

Brings a full-scale RPO model to solve a specific client challenge for a defined scope of work and time.

• Recruiter on demand solution:

Provides access to a network of highly-skilled talent acquisition experts, giving clients the option to choose the type of support they need with less cost and complexity than ramping up their internal teams.

• Talent advisory solution:

Provides employer branding, recruitment marketing, talent insights, candidate assessment services and talent acquisition strategy consulting.

Our proprietary technology platform, Affinix ® , uses machine learning to rapidly source a qualified talent pool within minutes, and further engages candidates through a seamless digital experience.

Affinix provides real-time insights to our clients, helping our dedicated service delivery teams efficiently and effectively manage the entire recruitment process.

Client contracts are generally multi-year in duration and pricing is typically composed of a fee for each hire and/or talent consulting fees.

Pricing is impacted by factors such as geography, volume, job type, degree of recruiting difficulty, and the scope of outsourced recruitment and employer branding services included.

PeopleScout also includes our managed service provider (“MSP”) business, which manages our clients’ contingent labor programs including vendor selection, performance management, compliance monitoring and risk management.

As the client’s exclusive MSP, we have dedicated service delivery teams, which work as an integrated partner with our clients to increase the productivity of their contingent workforce program.

We utilize our proprietary hiring and workforce management software, Stafftrack ® , to recruit and connect skilled tradespeople with client assignments.

PeopleManagement

PeopleManagement connected approximately 38,000 people with work in fiscal 2025.

Our OnSite business provides and manages contingent associates at clients’ facilities through our Staff Management | SMX (“Staff Management”) and SIMOS Insourcing Solutions (“SIMOS”) branded services throughout the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico.

PeopleManagement provides and manages contingent associates at clients’ facilities through our Staff Management | SMX (“Staff Management”) and SIMOS Insourcing Solutions (“SIMOS”) branded services throughout the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico.

Our client engagements are generally multi-location and multi-year, and include scalable recruiting, screening, hiring and management of the contingent workforce.

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Both hourly and productivity-based pricing are impacted by factors such as geography, volume, job type and degree of recruiting difficulty.

Our proprietary hiring and workforce management software, Stafftrack, enables us to recruit and connect the best candidates with on-site assignments.

PeopleManagement also provides dedicated and contingent commercial drivers to the transportation and distribution industries through our Centerline Drivers (“Centerline”) brand.

Centerline matches drivers to each client’s specific needs, allowing them to improve productivity, control costs, ensure compliance and deliver improved service.

Pricing is impacted by factors such as geography, job type and solution.

Centerline offers three solutions for clients:

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Short-term relocation of qualified, experienced drivers for special projects or to high-need markets or remote locations where drivers are unavailable.

PeopleSolutions

PeopleSolutions provides clients with services focusing on professional and specialized talent acquisition, as well as workforce management and compliance, and connected approximately 123,000 people with work in fiscal 2025, primarily in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia.

PeopleSolutions provides RPO, managed service provider (“MSP”) solutions and talent advisory services through our PeopleScout brand.

Our solutions are generally multi-year in duration, highly scalable and provide clients the support they need as their hiring volumes fluctuate.

Pricing is typically composed of a fee for each hire and/or talent consulting fees, and is impacted by factors such as geography, volume, job type, degree of recruiting difficulty, and the scope of outsourced recruitment and employer branding services included.

We tailor our services to individual client needs by offering multiple solutions, including the following:

• Full-cycle RPO solution:

Provides oversight of the entire talent acquisition strategy, including sourcing, screening, hiring and onboarding of candidates.

• Project RPO solution:

Brings a full-scale RPO model to solve a specific client challenge for a defined scope of work and time.

• Recruiter on demand solution:

• Talent advisory solution:

Provides employer branding, recruitment marketing, talent insights, candidate assessment services and talent acquisition strategy consulting.

• MSP solution:

Manages our clients’ contingent labor programs including vendor selection, performance management, payrolling, compliance monitoring and risk management.

As the client’s exclusive MSP, we have dedicated service delivery teams, which work as an integrated partner with our clients to increase the productivity of their contingent workforce program.

PeopleSolutions also facilitates the placement of skilled healthcare professionals in extended roles with governmental agencies, healthcare systems and educational institutions through our Healthcare Staffing Professionals (“HSP”) brand.

HSP streamlines hiring for employers while connecting job seekers with opportunities to grow and advance their careers through the following solutions:

• Short-term temporary solution:

Provides clients with immediate coverage of open healthcare professional roles and project-based work.

• Long-term temporary solution:

Provides clients with consistent staffing of healthcare professionals for extended, multi-year assignments.

• Permanent placement solution:

Provides end-to-end recruitment support for clients hiring full time healthcare professionals.

Assisting our PeopleSolutions recruiting teams is our proprietary technology platform, Affinix ® .

Affinix is a total talent suite, supported by AI-powered capabilities, blending digital efficiency with human expertise to create personalized experiences for both candidates and recruiters.

Affinix rapidly sources a qualified talent pool, and further engages candidates through a seamless digital experience.

Affinix provides real-time insights to our clients, helping our PeopleScout dedicated service delivery and HSP recruiting teams efficiently and effectively manage the entire recruitment process.

INDUSTRY AND MARKET DYNAMICS

The staffing industry, which includes our PeopleReady and PeopleManagement businesses, plays a key role in many employers’ talent strategies.

The staffing industry, which includes our PeopleReady, Staff Management, SIMOS, Centerline and HSP brands, plays a key role in many employers’ talent strategies.

Staffing companies supply contingent workforce solutions to ensure the best return on talent investment, optimize talent for business circumstances and reduce the cost and effort of hiring and managing permanent employees.

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Work assignments vary widely in duration, skill level and required experience.

The human resource outsourcing industry, which includes our PeopleScout business, involves transitioning various functions handled by internal human resources and labor procurement departments to outside service providers on a permanent or project basis.

The human resource outsourcing industry, which includes our RPO, MSP and talent advisory services that operate under our PeopleScout brand, involves transitioning various functions handled by internal human resources and labor procurement departments to outside service providers on a permanent or project basis.

Human resource departments are faced with increasingly complex operational and regulatory requirements, higher candidate expectations, an expanding talent technology landscape, and pressure to achieve efficiencies, which increase the need to migrate non-core functions to outsourced providers.

The human resource outsourcing industry includes our RPO and MSP services, which allow clients to more effectively find and engage high-quality talent, leverage talent acquisition technology and scale their talent acquisition function to keep pace with changing business needs.

Through outsourcing, clients are able to more effectively find and engage high-quality talent, leverage talent acquisition technology and scale their talent acquisition function to keep pace with changing business needs.

Our workforce solutions address the following key industry and market trends contributing to anticipated growth:

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Our fiscal 2026 business strategy is focused on accelerating business growth to capture market share, while enhancing our long-term profitability.

Key elements of this strategy include advancement of our digital transformation, expansion in high-growth, less cyclical and under-penetrated end markets as well as high-value roles, and optimization of our business model to drive enhanced sales focus.

• Digital transformation:

We continue to invest in technology to accelerate revenue growth, reduce the cost of delivering our services, and increase our ability to attract and retain clients, candidates and associates.

Key elements of this strategy include enhancing our sales function, expansion in high-growth, less cyclical and under-penetrated end markets as well as high-value roles, and accelerating innovation with technology and operational excellence.

• Enhance sales function :

We will continue to make strategic investments in structure, technology, partnerships and enterprise alignment to drive scalable growth.

◦ Within our on-demand staffing business, we reorganized into a territory-based model and are expanding our sales resources, which will allow us to extend geographic coverage to better capitalize on opportunities in priority markets and accelerate new client acquisition.

◦ We have launched an enterprise-wide strategic partnership with a group purchasing organization to unlock new client acquisition opportunities, which is building momentum and enabling us to expand into new sectors.

◦ We are fostering stronger partnerships across our teams and technology to enhance enterprise alignment and collaboration to create more cross-selling opportunities, allowing us to better serve client needs and drive growth with our full spectrum of specialized workforce solutions.

• Market expansion :

We continuously seek opportunities to expand our market presence in high-growth, less cyclical and under-penetrated end markets, as well as high-value roles.

◦ Investments in skills development programs within our contingent staffing businesses will continue to enhance our strong position in attractive skilled trades areas, including energy and commercial driving.

We have opportunities to drive revenue expansion with our growing momentum in healthcare across our brands, including from our acquisition of Healthcare Staffing Professionals, Inc.

in early 2025.

◦ We continue to look for strategic opportunities to expand our geographic presence across our brand portfolio, with a specific focus on our skilled and healthcare staffing businesses.

◦ Within our human resource outsourcing business, we continue to leverage our strong brand reputation and innovative technology to expand into higher-skilled placements, including professional search.

We are also focused on capturing growth opportunities in attractive end markets such as technology and professional services.

• Technological innovation:

We continue to focus on using technology to accelerate revenue growth, reduce the cost of delivering our services, and increase our ability to attract and retain clients, candidates and associates.

Our technological innovations improve the access, speed and ease of connecting our clients with high-quality contingent and permanent employee workforce solutions.

◦ Our JobStack platform supplements our PeopleReady branch network by connecting our associates and clients through a real-time 24 hours a day, seven days a week digital exchange with an easy-to-use mobile app, allowing our branches to expand their recruiting and sales efforts.

During 2024, we successfully launched a new, proprietary version of JobStack that provides a more customized experience for our clients and associates.

We will continue to add features with a focus on enhancing the user experience and creating efficiencies, which will help drive growth and expand our reach.

◦ Stafftrack ® , a proprietary hiring and workforce management software, enables our Staff Management, SIMOS and RenewableWorks brands to recruit and connect the best candidates with on-site assignments.

Stafftrack has robust, near real-time analytics that drive dynamic supply chain and workforce strategies, which allow clients faster, more precise hiring and help drive operational improvements and efficiencies.

◦ Our proprietary JobStack mobile apps supplement our PeopleReady branch network by providing a customized experience connecting our clients and associates.

The JobStack for Business app allows clients to post jobs, view estimated bill rates, invite the best matched workers to accept a job, view and approve timecards, and rate associates.

The JobStack for Work app enables associates to search for jobs by location, view pay rates and job requirements, schedule shifts, and access resources to become qualified for positions beyond their current skill set.

We continue to focus on adding features that enhance the user experience and create efficiencies, which will help drive growth and expand our reach.

◦ Our proprietary hiring and workforce management software, Stafftrack, provides robust, near real-time analytics that allow clients the ability to adapt to dynamic supply chain and workforce strategies, driving operational improvements and efficiencies.

The Stafftrack associate mobile app provides associates the ability to search for a job, view schedules, add shifts, receive real-time notifications, and earn perks through our Stafftrack Rewards program, which incentivizes associates for good attendance and initiating referrals.

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We continue to expand and build functionality within the mobile app to enhance the overall driver experience.

◦ Our Affinix platform is utilized by our PeopleScout dedicated service delivery teams for sourcing, screening and delivering a permanent workforce to our clients.

◦ Our Affinix platform is utilized by our PeopleScout dedicated service delivery teams for sourcing, screening and delivering a permanent workforce to our clients, and by our HSP recruiters for sourcing healthcare professionals for both temporary and direct-hire positions.

Affinix creates a consumer-like candidate experience and streamlines the sourcing process.

Affinix delivers speed and scalability while leveraging recruitment marketing, machine learning, predictive analytics and other emerging technology to make the end-to-end process seamless for the candidate.

Affinix delivers speed and scalability while leveraging recruitment marketing, predictive analytics and other emerging technology to make the end-to-end process seamless for the candidate.

We continue to invest in Affinix to further improve our ability to quickly and efficiently source the most attractive talent at the best price.

• Expansion :

We continue to evaluate opportunities to expand our market presence in high-growth, less cyclical and under-penetrated end markets, as well as high-value roles.

Also, we have opportunities to drive revenue expansion with our growing momentum in health care, including from our recent acquisition of Healthcare Staffing Professionals, Inc.

We are also focused on capturing growth opportunities in attractive end markets such as technology and professional services.

• Optimize our business model to enable greater focus on sales :

We will continue to optimize our business model and leverage our technology investments to enable a renewed focus on sales growth, including cross-selling opportunities across our brands.

For example, our new, proprietary version of JobStack is allowing us to realize operational efficiencies, offering our PeopleReady employees time to concentrate on growing sales.

In addition, we are aligning our PeopleReady branches to newly established territories, each with dedicated sales resources to expand sales coverage and optimize our footprint.

Contingent staffing services

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Historically, in periods of economic growth, the number of companies providing contingent workforce solutions has increased due to low barriers to entry, whereas, during recessionary periods, the number of companies has decreased through consolidation, bankruptcies or other events.

Competitive forces in any economic environment have historically limited our ability to raise our prices to immediately and fully offset the increased costs of doing business, some of which include increased associate wages, workers’ compensation costs, unemployment insurance and health care.

We have a competitive advantage from our service history, our specialized approach in serving the industries of our clients, and our mobile apps, which connect associates with jobs and create virtual exchanges between our associates and clients.

Our JobStack and Stafftrack mobile apps are competitively differentiating our services, expanding our reach into new demographics, and improving our recruiting, sales and service delivery.

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Important factors for success in RPO services include the ability to add significant scalability to a client’s recruiting and hiring efforts, including accommodating seasonal and irregular hiring, the ability to increase efficiency by standardizing processes and facilitating transitions for candidates and employees, and the ability to source the most attractive talent at the best price.

Our tailored solutions, client partnerships, proprietary technologies and service delivery are key differentiators from many of our competitors.

Our service delivery solutions, bolstered by our proprietary Affinix technology and creative employer branding services, provide a unique approach to partnerships where clients can mix and match capabilities to create the perfect recruitment ecosystem for their specific needs and budget.

Our clients range from small businesses to Fortune 100 companies.

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Human capital management is at the heart of what we do every day.

The Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors (“Board”) regularly receives reports directly from management regarding the progress on our key human capital initiatives.

These reports inform discussions regarding employee development, retention and engagement.

Some of our key human capital management initiatives are discussed below.

Our employees

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Our employees’ skills, experience and industry knowledge significantly benefit our operations and performance.

Our focus in talent acquisition is to enhance the candidate experience, improve efficiency and speed of process as we attract best-in-class talent to support TrueBlue as an employer of choice.

We invest in emerging talent through our recruitment strategies, talent management and development programs for critical roles, as well as offering remote and hybrid work models.

We frequently develop initiatives that strengthen our commitment to people and talent development.

As of December 28, 2025, we employed approximately 3,500 full-time equivalent (“FTE”) employees.

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None of our permanent employees are represented by a labor union.

We have not experienced work stoppages and believe that our employee relations are in good standing, as evidenced by our periodic employee engagement survey results .

The appropriate committees of the Board of Directors (“Board”) regularly receive reports directly from the Chief People Officer regarding the progress on our key human capital initiatives.

These reports inform discussions regarding employee development, retention and engagement.

Some of our key human capital management initiatives are discussed below.

We have not experienced work stoppages and believe that our employee relations are in good standing .

Values and ethics

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The Code applies to officers and all other employees of TrueBlue and its affiliates worldwide and is fully endorsed by the Board.

We require all of our employees to complete our Code training, as well as courses about sexual harassment awareness and prevention and cybersecurity awareness.

Employee engagement

We place strong emphasis on employee engagement.

As we have continued to maintain remote and hybrid work models, we have utilized live virtual and recorded video town hall meetings to ensure employees throughout the company remain engaged, connected to leadership, and focused on our values and business strategies.

To assess and improve engagement, we utilize an independent third-party survey provider.

These surveys include assessments and feedback on employee engagement and employee-management relations.

The results of these surveys are reported and distributed throughout management and the Board.

The survey results are used to create actionable plans to improve employee engagement and retention.

Our April 2024 survey delivered an engagement score of 76, which exceeded the target benchmark score of 74 set by the survey provider.

We require all our employees to complete our Code training, as well as courses about sexual harassment awareness and prevention and cybersecurity awareness.

Culture and belonging

We are dedicated to fostering a culture that supports our belief that human capital is our most valuable asset.

We strive to create an environment that supports and values our people.

Our ability to promote inclusivity and belonging for all employees helps to attract and retain excellent talent, boost innovation, foster collaboration, increase employee engagement, and ultimately improve business performance.

At TrueBlue, we are dedicated to fostering a culture of belonging in which every employee feels valued, supported, and empowered to succeed.

We recognize that a workforce that reflects the clients and communities we serve enhances our creativity and innovation, strengthening our position in the marketplace.

We create an environment that encourages collaboration and mutual respect by embracing and celebrating our unique backgrounds, perspectives and experiences.

This involves intentionally integrating various perspectives into our decision-making processes, recruitment strategies, and workplace policies and procedures, and prioritizing inclusivity when evaluating performance.

Everyone at TrueBlue has a role to play in making sure the culture and belonging thread runs throughout the company.

Our Board and executives set the tone and expectation.

Our Employee Resource Groups (“ERGs”) are employee-led groups that create opportunities for employees to collaborate based on shared characteristics or life experiences.

These ERGs seek to maximize employee engagement and contribute to our overall business objectives by offering varying perspectives, networking opportunities and increased awareness.

Our focus on culture and belonging creates an environment where every employee can experience merit-based career growth, receive the training and development they need to succeed, gain access to new opportunities, and be their authentic selves.

Developing our people

We utilize a performance management process that is focused on both performance and development of our employees in an effort to retain our talented employees.

In fiscal 2024, we enhanced the process by creating a new leadership competency model, emphasizing that how we accomplish our work is just as important as the work we accomplish.

As The People Company, TrueBlue maintains a human-centered focus in everything we do.

We are committed to developing talent and have created and implemented an enterprise-wide, comprehensive talent strategy that includes learning and development, performance management, succession planning and leadership development.

Foundational to the strategy is the TrueBlue leadership competency model.

This competency model is embedded in all aspects of the employee life cycle including talent acquisition, rewards and recognition, and growth and development.

When opportunities arise, we review potential internal candidates, guided by the intention to promote from within as often as possible.

Career growth and promotions will be increasingly linked to our talent management strategy.

By aligning our talent strategy with our strategic initiatives, we ensure that employees have clear pathways and the resources and guidance needed to advance their careers and contribute to the success of TrueBlue.

To retain talented employees, we have a performance management system focused on both the “what” and the “how” of performance as well as development for our employees.

The evaluation of performance is directly tied to merit-based increases in compensation, which establishes a stronger pay for performance culture.

At TrueBlue, how we accomplish our work is just as important as what work we accomplish.

This philosophy is the cornerstone of our performance management process and system, which consists of four stages and guides our employees and managers through setting goals, cascading goals, ongoing monitoring of progress through regular one-on-one discussions, formal performance discussions and rewards directly connected to performance through the annual merit process.

It also focuses on personal development and career growth by setting development goals and aligning the behaviors with company expectations as defined in the leadership competency model.

Our leadership competency model outlines and defines expected behaviors for how we work and provides the foundation for successful performance and development.

Our performance management process consists of four stages to guide our employees through goal setting, ongoing monitoring, and formal performance discussions, which directly impact the annual merit process.

This standardized process also ensures that employees in comparable positions are similarly evaluated.

Our performance management process is also designed for ongoing career growth, including succession planning.

Employees are encouraged to create individual development plans, leveraging the behaviors defined in the leadership competency model, to identify both knowledge and behavior gaps, and set individual goals designed to enhance career progression.

We aim to strengthen skills that transfer across roles, business segments and functions.

To support overall employee growth, we provide access to a wide range of training and development programs to enable more effective onboarding, work performance, compliance and advancement of corporate initiatives.

These training and development programs support our intent to foster a culture that enables all employees to realize their full professional potential and cultivates a qualified network of future leaders.

During 2024, our employees completed nearly 9,000 trainings.

Health and wellness

We emphasize a commitment to health and wellness as a key component of our comprehensive total rewards approach to attract, motivate and retain top talent.

We prioritize offering a range of health and wellness benefits, including wellness initiatives, retirement and financial resources, comprehensive health care coverage and resources to support work-life balance.

We prioritize offering a range of health and wellness benefits, including wellness initiatives, retirement and financial resources, comprehensive healthcare coverage and resources to support work-life balance.

These initiatives are designed to enhance employee well-being, boost productivity and align with our goal of fostering a thriving and engaged workforce to maintain a competitive edge in the industry.

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We are expanding the program into select markets where we operate.

We have an approved apprenticeship program to support skills development and long-term employment in the renewable energy industry, and launched a commercial truck driver training scholarship for female truck drivers.

For example, we have an apprenticeship program registered in a number of states to support skills development and long-term employment in the renewable energy industry, and launched a commercial truck driver training scholarship for female truck drivers.

We are considered the legal employer of our associates, and laws regulating the employment relationship are applicable to our operations.

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Compared sentence by sentence after normalising whitespace, quotation marks, case and digits, so re-formatting and restated figures do not read as changed language. Wording changes appear as one removal and one addition. The current filing and the prior one are authoritative.

What changed 10-K

Item 1. Business