UpperGround by Hudson
UpperGround by Hudson is the technology and project services recruitment sub-brand of Hudson, a 40-year-old Australian recruitment agency placing permanent and contract professionals across IT, finance, engineering, executive, and government roles for enterprise and public sector clients nationally.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1985
- HeadquartersSydney, NSW, Australia
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What UpperGround by Hudson does
UpperGround by Hudson is the technology and project services recruitment sub-brand of Hudson, a privately held Australian recruitment and talent management agency founded in 1985 and headquartered in Sydney, NSW. Hudson operates across 17 specialty divisions spanning executive search, IT and digital, finance and accounting, engineering, HR, legal, government policy, supply chain, and sales/marketing, serving both employers and job seekers through a national network of offices in Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, and Canberra. Named clients include The Pharmacy Guild of Australia, Queensland Government, the Australian Government, Ray White, and Australian Retirement Trust, with federal and state government work representing a recurring source of contract volume.
The underlying technology stack combines a self-serve job portal, the FlexHive mobile application (iOS and Android) for candidate search and application tracking, a Contractor Hub portal for timesheet and payroll management, and a Total Talent Solution platform that unifies Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) and Managed Service Programs (MSP) under a single workforce visibility layer. The flexhive by Hudson remote staffing extension offers offshore talent access with local pay and compliance in more than 190 countries, secured via a ThinScale-powered virtual desktop. Supporting services include psychometric assessment tools (aptitude, personality, simulation exercises) and a partnerships ecosystem with Future Women, Slingshot, SEEK, UTS, and AHRI. The company holds ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 certifications and is an RCSA Corporate Member.
Hudson generates revenue through a mix of transaction fees on permanent placements, managed-service fees for contingent workforce (MSP) and outsourced recruitment (RPO), statement-of-work consulting engagements, and professional services fees for assessment centers. Pricing is not publicly disclosed but is negotiated on a per-engagement basis, with multi-year contracts typical for enterprise RPO/MSP clients. Go-to-market combines direct enterprise field sales (dedicated account managers, onsite embedded teams) with self-serve consumer acquisition via the website and mobile app. The company is privately held with no disclosed funding rounds, parent company, or institutional investors.
UpperGround by Hudson firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- UpperGround by Hudson
- Legal name
- Hudson
- Website
- https://au.hudson.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1985
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- UpperGround by Hudson is the technology and project services recruitment sub-brand of Hudson, a 40-year-old Australian recruitment agency placing permanent and contract professionals across IT, finance, engineering, executive, and government roles for enterprise and public sector clients nationally.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
UpperGround by Hudson industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Recruitment Services
- NAICS
- Employment Placement Agencies (561311), Employment Placement Agencies and Executive Search Services (56131), Executive Search Services (561312)
- SIC
- Services-Employment Agencies (7361)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Talent Acquisition (Recruiting) & Applicant Tracking (ATS) (BPACAPAD)
Keywords
Where UpperGround by Hudson is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Sydney, NSW
- HQ country
- Australia
- HQ region
- Oceania
Offices6 records
Markets served
UpperGround by Hudson business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Permanent Placement Recruitment: Fee-based permanent placement services where Hudson charges employers for successful candidate placements. Services include executive search, specialist recruitment, and volume hiring across all industry verticals.
- Managed Service Programs (MSP): Contractor management services where Hudson manages the contingent workforce including sourcing, onboarding, timesheets, payroll, and compliance for contractors placed at client sites.
- Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO): Outsourced recruitment services where Hudson embeds recruiters within client organizations to manage permanent and contract hiring, providing end-to-end recruitment process management.
- Statement of Work (SOW): Services incorporating Statement of Work consultants alongside PAYG and Independent Contractors, expanding MSP scope to include professional services engagements.
- Assessment Services: Psychometric testing and assessment center services to support hiring decisions, including behavioral assessments, aptitude tests, and competency-based evaluations.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Transaction based/ take rate | Multi-year contract | Custom enterprise agreements |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels5 records
UpperGround by Hudson product offering
Product offeringCore offering
UpperGround by Hudson is the technology and project services recruitment brand within Hudson, an Australian recruitment and talent management agency. The company places IT, digital, and project management professionals into permanent and contract roles for clients, and extends to broader Hudson offerings including Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO), Managed Service Programs (MSP), Statement of Work (SOW) engagements, Hudson Remote Talent offshore staffing, and Assessment Services with psychometric and competency-based evaluations.
Product overview
Hudson is an Australian recruitment and talent management agency with 40 years of industry experience operating across 17 specialist divisions. The company offers a unified talent acquisition platform combining permanent placement, contingent/contract staffing (via Managed Service Programs), and recruitment process outsourcing (RPO). UpperGround serves as Hudson's technology and project services brand. The Total Talent Solution (TTS) unifies RPO and MSP under one contract, while Hudson Remote Talent provides offshore staffing capabilities. Supporting services include assessment services (psychometric testing), the Flexhive mobile app for job seekers, and the Contractor Hub for timesheet management. The company operates across Australian capital cities with local market expertise.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- UpperGround: A talent platform service under Hudson's Technology and Project Services offering for finding or being found with tech talent.
- flexhive by Hudson
Products and services
- UpperGround by Hudson
Quantifiable outcome
- 80% of global businesses feel positive about their outsourcing partners when working with quality providers
Companies that use UpperGround by Hudson
Customer profileNamed customers5 records
Segments13 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
UpperGround by Hudson technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration2 records
Feature5 records
UpperGround by Hudson partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Future Women (FW)coreHudson partners with Future Women to deliver workforce impact through FW Jobs Academy and FW Leadership Summit 2026. The partnership focuses on supporting women into public sector roles and providing leadership development opportunities.
- SlingshotminorHudson partnered with Slingshot's HR Tech accelerator program alongside SEEK and UTS. The partnership seeks disruptive HR technology innovations from startups and scaleups. Selected participants undergo a 12-week accelerator program culminating in Demo Day presentations to potential investors.
- SEEKminorCo-partner with Hudson and UTS in Slingshot HR Tech accelerator program, seeking innovative HR technology solutions from the startup ecosystem.
- University of Technology Sydney (UTS)minorCo-partner with Hudson and SEEK in Slingshot HR Tech accelerator program, providing academic institution support for HR technology innovation.
- Australian Human Resources Institute (AHRI)minorHudson co-hosted breakfast seminars with AHRI on topics including corporate innovation and startup partnerships. The collaboration supports thought leadership in HR and recruitment.
Scale indicators2 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights2 records
UpperGround by Hudson competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- PageGroup: Global recruitment group (Page Personnel, Michael Page) with Australian operations covering professional services, technology, finance, and executive search — comparable service breadth and target segments to Hudson.
- Peoplebank: Australian IT recruitment specialist with strong presence in technology, digital, and project services placements. Competes head-to-head with UpperGround for tech talent in ANZ.
- SEEK: Australia's leading online employment marketplace and Hudson's primary job distribution partner. Both serve the same ANZ employer and job seeker base, with SEEK operating the dominant job platform and Hudson operating recruitment services on top of it.
- Chandler Macleod: Australian recruitment firm (part of RGF Staffing) offering permanent, temporary, and RPO services across commercial, government, and industrial sectors. Direct competitor in the Australian recruitment market.
- Robert Half: Global specialist recruitment firm focused on finance, accounting, technology, and office support — directly overlapping with Hudson's Finance & Accounting and Technology & Project Services divisions.
- Talent International: Australia-founded IT and digital recruitment specialist with ANZ presence. Directly comparable to Hudson's UpperGround sub-brand for technology and project services recruitment.
- Hays: Global recruitment firm with deep Australian presence offering permanent, contract, RPO, and MSP services across similar verticals (technology, finance, engineering, HR). Closely comparable in service mix and target segments to Hudson.
Broad incumbents
- Randstad: One of the world's largest staffing firms with significant Australian operations offering permanent placement, temporary staffing, RPO, and MSP across all major verticals. A scaled global incumbent with overlapping services to Hudson.
- LinkedIn: Global professional network with dominant recruiting and talent solutions business. While not a traditional recruitment agency, LinkedIn's job platform, recruiter tools, and direct sourcing capabilities compete with Hudson's core placement services.
- Adecco: Global staffing leader with Australian operations across general staffing, professional placement, and workforce solutions. A scaled incumbent whose service portfolio overlaps broadly with Hudson's.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
UpperGround by Hudson social profiles
Digital presenceUpperGround by Hudson compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
UpperGround by Hudson financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
UpperGround by Hudson leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles3 records
UpperGround by Hudson funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
UpperGround by Hudson M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about UpperGround by Hudson
What does UpperGround by Hudson do?
UpperGround by Hudson is the technology and project services recruitment brand within Hudson, an Australian recruitment and talent management agency. The company places IT, digital, and project management professionals into permanent and contract roles for clients, and extends to broader Hudson offerings including Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO), Managed Service Programs (MSP), Statement of Work (SOW) engagements, Hudson Remote Talent offshore staffing, and Assessment Services with psychometric and competency-based evaluations.
Is UpperGround by Hudson a public or private company?
UpperGround by Hudson is a private company. It is classified as unknown and is currently operating.
When was UpperGround by Hudson founded?
UpperGround by Hudson was founded in 1985. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is UpperGround by Hudson based?
UpperGround by Hudson is headquartered in Sydney, NSW, Australia, in the Oceania region.
How does UpperGround by Hudson make money?
Five revenue lines are on record. Permanent Placement Recruitment is the primary driver. The others are managed Service Programs (MSP), recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO), statement of Work (SOW) and assessment Services.
Who are UpperGround by Hudson's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are PageGroup, Peoplebank, SEEK, Chandler Macleod, Robert Half, Talent International and Hays. Broad incumbents are Randstad, LinkedIn and Adecco.
Does UpperGround by Hudson have an API?
No public API is recorded for UpperGround by Hudson.
What industry is UpperGround by Hudson in?
UpperGround by Hudson's product category is Recruitment Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPACAPAD, Talent Acquisition (Recruiting) & Applicant Tracking (ATS). Its NAICS code is 561311 and its SIC code is 7361.