Spherion Franchise Costs, Fees & FDD

Year Business Began: 1946

Franchising Since: 1956

Headquarters: Atlanta, Georgia

Estimated Number of Units: 195

Franchise Description: The franchisor is Spherion Staffing, LLC. The franchisor’s principal business is staffing through identifying, recruiting, assessing and deploying talent for a wide variety of customers. Spherion General Staffing franchises provide temporary staffing and permanent placement services in office, clerical, non-clinical scientific, non-clinical health care and administrative occupations, and semi-skilled and unskilled industrial occupations, such as assembly, food service, materials handling, warehouse and distribution logistic personnel, primarily to commercial establishments. For certain Spherion General Staffing franchisees, the franchisor may elect to offer an addendum to their agreements that expands the services that the franchisee can provide to include some or all of the following professional services: contract and permanent placement services of legal assistant and paralegal, finance and accounting, engineering, marketing, information technology, and management.
Training Overview: Franchisees must personally attend and successfully complete such initial and ongoing training as the franchisor shall deem necessary. Training curriculum and timeline to complete such training will be determined by the franchisor. Initial training takes place at the franchisor’s home office in Atlanta, Georgia and online. The franchisor also will provide role-based training for one or more of the franchisee’s representatives. This training will be provided, at the franchisor’s discretion, through a combination of its systems, manuals, phone based or in person at either the franchisee’s office location or in Atlanta or at a designated training location. In addition to the initial training programs, the franchisor will make additional training available to franchisees or their employees throughout their time as a franchisee. These trainings are generally offered through the franchisor’s systems or by phone, webinar or in-person. In addition, the franchisor periodically conducts national and regional meetings covering the subjects of sales, advertising, operating procedures, insurance and legal developments. The franchisor may make attendance at any of these meetings mandatory.

Territory Granted: The Franchise Agreement will define the area in which franchisees will conduct their business. Except under unusual circumstances, the franchisee’s area will consist of a political jurisdiction such as a city, county, parish or township, or multiple contiguous political jurisdictions in one or more states, or a list of zip codes. For Spherion General Staffing franchisees, the franchisor will not establish an office in the area under the Spherion name that provides General Staffing Services, but the franchisor has the right, and it may franchise or franchise others, to establish and operate businesses outside the franchisee’s area under the same proprietary marks it franchises to the franchisee. However, the franchisor will not franchise another licensee or franchisee to provide the same set of staffing services under the Spherion trademark in an existing franchisee’s area. If a Spherion General Staffing franchisee is granted the additional rights in the Professional Services Addendum, the franchisee will not have any exclusivity rights in those services in the territory.

Obligations and Restrictions: If the Franchise Agreement includes more than one individual, then franchisees must designate one individual as the “managing owner” for purposes of clear communication with the franchisor and to facilitate franchise operations, and the franchise’s ability to make commitments to, the franchisor. If franchisees are the only franchisee under the Franchise Agreement, then they will be deemed the managing owner. In signing the Franchise Agreement, franchisees agree to operate the business and market and provide the services required in the business for the entire term of the Franchise Agreement. Franchisees are also agreeing to maintain confidentiality of the franchisor’s materials and to conform to the covenants not to compete. Franchisees must employ a competent and fully trained staff to operate their business. Franchisees may offer their customers only the services authorized by the Franchise Agreement. Franchisees may not own, operate or otherwise engage in any other business without the franchisor’s prior written consent. Franchisees must maintain the regular office hours the franchisor establishes, with a means for twenty-four hour response to provide their customers with the authorized services.

Term of Agreement and Renewal: The length of the initial franchise term is 10 years. Renewal means that the franchise continues for a five-year period under the franchisor’s then-current Franchise Agreement form, which may include materially different terms and conditions.

Financial Assistance: Generally, franchisees must secure their initial and continuing capital from their own sources. Franchisees should note that because of the structure of the franchise the franchisor does, in effect, finance the temporary payroll, since it pays the temporary employees, and then bills the clients. The franchisee’s monthly remittance from the franchisor is based on the amounts billed to the client. Franchisees do not pay a carrying charge on this “float” until they begin to pay interest on their share of the receivable after the account is 60 days old. If the franchisor writes off the account, or if the account remains outstanding after 270 days, the franchisor charges franchisees back 100% of the account. The franchisor also offers two financing options in connection with its workers’ compensation allocation. The franchisor may change or discontinue its financing program at any time. In isolated cases, it may also offer financing arrangements outside of its regular programs.

Estimated Initial Investment

Name of Fee	Low	High
Initial Franchise Fees	$30,000	$60,000
Computer System Hardware	$7,000	$10,000
Real Property (monthly)	$2,500	$2,500
Furniture and Fixtures	$15,500	$35,000
Leasehold Improvements	$10,000	$20,000
Signs	$2,000	$10,000
Equipment	$500	$15,000
Opening Advertising	$7,500	$12,500
Training Expenses	$5,625	$9,375
Start-up Supplies	$510	$1,050
Insurance	$3,500	$6,000
Utility Expenses	$160	$1,100
Professional Fees	$1,050	$5,200
Business Franchises	$160	$1,100
Hardware Installation	$720	$1,100
Additional Funds for 6 to 11 months	$125,000	$234,000
ESTIMATED TOTAL	$211,725	$423,925

Other Fees

Type of Fee	Amount
Temporary Sales Fee and Full-Time Placement Fee	The franchisor pays its Spherion General Staffing franchisees the following commission splits in each fiscal year: 70% commission on (and it retains the 30% balance of) the full-time placement sales; and 70% commission on (and it retains 30% balance of) the temporary gross profits.
Franchise Support Fee	1.9% of the total gross payroll plus 1.9% of full-time placement sales.
SHL Talent Central License Fee	Not currently passed on, but at this time the license fee is $500 per site plus any applicable sales tax; and is subject to vendor increases.
Candidate Management System Fee	This is the mandatory AI driven candidate management system. Recruiter licenses are covered by the franchisor for those in recruiter positions. Currently, the cost to purchase additional licenses are: Non recruiter View Only License - $15 per month per license Non-Recruiter License - $110 per month per license Additional Franchisee Admin License - $110 per month per license
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) System	All sales people will be granted a license, which will be charged to franchisees at $90-$100 per month, per license. Additional recruiter licenses will be available at no cost to the franchisee.
Accounting Software	The franchisor’s costs and expenses.
Phone & Fax Systems	Phone: $5 per mainline; $25 per talk license. Fax: $10 per fax line & must have a talk license.
Electronic Onboarding Package	Not currently passed on at this time.
The Work Number (TWN)	Currently ranges from $19.22 to $81.34 per verification of employment check, based on option selected.
Time and Expense Transaction Fee	Not currently passed on at this time.
Gross Profit Quota Fee	Will vary under circumstances.
Spherion Marketing Fund	0.25% of sales.
Accounts Receivable Funding Fee on Accounts Receivable Over 60 Days Old	The franchisor will reduce the franchisee’s commission by an accounts receivable funding fee, based on accounts receivable which are more than 60 days old at the end of each accounting period. The rate is calculated by multiplying the variable annual rate (which is the Prime Rate of interest quoted on the first business day of each accounting period in the Southeastern Edition of the Wall Street Journal plus one-and-a-half percentage points by 30/365 with the result multiplied by the amount over 60 days ([Prime Rate + 1.5%] x 30/365 x AR over 60 days).
Uncollectible Customer Billings	Will vary under circumstances.
Area Expansion	$15,000
Temporary Employee Wages	Will vary under circumstances.
Purchases From the Franchisor or Its Affiliates	Will vary under circumstances.
Transfer Fee	50% of then-current undiscounted initial franchise fee.
Indemnification	Will vary under circumstances.
Materials or Courses for Additional (Post Initial) Training	Will vary depending on what is provided.
National or Regional Meeting Attendance Fee	Not currently charged, but the franchisor may require franchisees to reimburse for its costs and expenses (including without limitation any late charges and cancellation fees).
Off-Shore Recruiter Fee	The franchisor’s then-current costs and expenses.
Revenue Sharing Fee	Amount of revenue sharing varies depending upon the circumstances.

The above information has been compiled from the FDD of Spherion. Date of FDD: 2025.
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