Making Business Simple for Hawaiʻi since 1969
1969
In 1969, Bill Guss opened Labor Services Inc. to provide a flexible, on-demand workforce to O‘ahu warehouses, trucking companies, contractors, and naval shipyards. From his office across the street from Waikīkī Beach, he would raise a blue flag to signal to the surfers on dawn patrol that there was work available that day. Each day, people would report to be assigned to a variety of O‘ahu businesses for a day’s work.
1970s
Through the 1970s, we saw growth and expansion for our company. Large companies outside of Hawai‘i were finding it difficult to provide payroll and HR support to their Hawai‘i-based employees. That’s where we came in. Labor Services pioneered the outsourcing of payroll and employment administration in Hawai‘i.
1980s
In the 1980s, Labor Services was still a small business with only five employees. But we looked to the future and soon developed our own software to handle weekly payroll and invoicing, becoming one of the first tech companies in Hawai‘i. We expanded and opened offices on the neighbor islands. As our clients grew, so did their business needs. We established Hawai‘i’s first Professional Employer Organization (PEO), Employee Management Corporation (EMC). EMC provided employment administration and support services to allow Hawai‘i businesses to do what they do best.
1990s
The 1990s were a time to simplify. We brought all our business entities together under one umbrella and became ALTRES—ALTernative RESources for business. Sadly, in 1995, our founder, leader, and friend Bill Guss passed away. Two days before he died, he handed his son, Barron, a scrap of paper. It was an envelope on which he wrote: “Business is the engine of society. Making business simple is our goal.” To this day, ALTRES continues to use these words as a guiding compass for all that we do.
2000s
In the 2000s, we innovated and imagined new ways to make business simple. We expanded to include ALTRES Medical, which supports Hawai‘i’s hospitals and medical facilities with nurses and health care professionals.
We became the first PEO in the nation to provide multiple tiers of services and created simplicityHR, which today offers payroll, benefits, and HR administration to thousands of local businesses.
Throughout this evolution, we knew we had to find new efficiencies for our clients and built HR Symphony®, our award-winning, world-class Human Resources Information System (HRIS) developed right here in Hawai‘i, for Hawai‘i. Since then, ALTRES has evolved to become one of the largest technology companies in the state.
It’s always been important for us to give back to Hawai‘i in any way possible. And in 2018, the ALTRES Foundation was established to provide resources that help the people and communities of Hawai‘i thrive.
Today
We’ve come a long way since 1969 and wouldn’t be where we are today without our people. We have over 300 employees who are open to new ideas, excited to collaborate, and exude positive energy that is inspiring. Being trailblazers requires passion, and that’s what we do here at ALTRES. We put passion to work.
