Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

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Anthony Harris: Our tax rate is always varied for a couple of reasons, including geography and some of our underlying mix with our subsidiaries. That said, the rate for ’23 is expected to be very much in line with ’22. And really, I would say that’s kind of our baseline for a normal rate going forward.

Marc Riddick: Okay. And then as far as the hiring commentary that you made as far as going into ramping up in the second quarter, I was wondering if there was a general ballpark magnitude that you had in mind as far as what you were looking to add and the idea that having them be productive, but I guess, by the fourth quarter, I think is what the commentary was. But what type of magnitude would be thinking about for the hiring pickup there?

Gary Kramer: Yes. I mean if we think of where we’ve added so far, we did a fair amount in Texas. We’ve done Oklahoma. We’ve done Detroit. We’ve done Chicago. We’ve done some in the Northeast, which gets you to those 14. The way we think about this in general is not as much about the market, but about the talent. So when we start to recruit for this in ’23, we’ll post in 2 markets. And really, it comes down to how many good folks do we think — because really we’re looking for somebody who’s going to be an entrepreneur and a grower and a builder. So they’re not an easy skill set to find. But we’ll post it in 20 markets. And then depending upon how the interviews are going, we’ll take 6 or 10 of the best folks. It will be based upon where it will be based upon the person and not based upon the geography.

Marc Riddick: Got it. And then the last thing for me, and you actually touched on this, and I just wanted to follow up on a little bit the commentary on weather and kind of how it’s kind of played into the beginning of this year, which, of course, has been historic in many ways. I was wondering, as you had that in mind for the guide is the thought process that maybe some of those construction projects will really just sort of be pushed out into next year? Or do you get the sense that there’s a chance to sort of for there to be catch up through the year?

Gary Kramer: It’s an unknown, unfortunately. The weather the weather had a couple of bad weeks in December, but January was really where we saw the bad weather. So our January cash revenue number was a little lower than we expected, but we saw it pull back some in February, but then weather came again in California, and we haven’t seen those payroll cycles yet that are going to run. So we don’t know if it’s — I hate to say word transitory, I feel like that’s a dirty word now, but we don’t know if it’s transitory or if it’s going to come back.

Operator: . Thank you. Again, ladies and gentlemen, we have reached the end of the question-and-answer session. I’d now like to turn the call back over to Mr. Kramer for closing remarks. Over to you, sir.

Gary Kramer: Thank you. I would just like to take the time to thank all the BBSI professionals. Everybody in the company worked hard. We had a great year, and I’m looking forward to ’23 to be a better year than we had in ’22. I’ve never been more optimistic about the company. Thank you, everybody, for your support, and we’ll talk again in the quarter.

Operator: Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today’s teleconference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.

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