You are given a text that consists of multiple sentences. Your task is to perform abstractive summarization on this text. Use your understanding of the content to express the main ideas and crucial details in a shorter, coherent, and natural sounding text. 
Text: It's been six months since the pandemic was officially declared and I think the world is at the beginning of an Ironman Triathlon.
It's not just a marathon but a triathlon of endurance, agility, change.
In fact, I think over the next two years, we're going to see more change than we've seen in the past 10.
Change will circle humanity.
And in business, different work will need to get done and work will need to get done differently.
Almost every company on the planet is going to have to reimagine their business, whether that's rethinking their organizational atmosphere, their structure, roles, responsibilities, how they compensate, how they engage, how they develop their workforce.
There is -- change is going to be all around us.
They're going to need to hire learning, agile, diverse talent, and do so in a more inclusive ethos and in an increasingly digital world and that's the essence of Korn Ferry's business, to enable people and organizations to exceed their potential, to be more of them.
In early March, we were announcing the best results in our history.
Record fee revenue and the continued transformation from a monoline firm to an organizational consultancy.
And then the world temporarily paused.
Certainly that pause temporarily impacted our business.
During the first quarter of our fiscal year, we generated about $344 million in fee revenue, which was down about 28% in constant currency.
But I think the key word is temporary.
As we alluded on our last call, we're continuing to see green shoots, with July new business better than June, June better than May, and May better than April.
Trailing new business for the three months ended August was down about 13% year-over-year combined, which is obviously more positive than we saw in our first quarter in what we saw when the world stopped in April.
In fact, August new business was only down about 6% year-over-year.
So really good news.
July new business was up 34% over June.
So again, green shoots that we're seeing.
And I think I'm -- more than anything I'm proud, proud of our organization and motivated by how we've positioned ourselves for the opportunity ahead, and we face this crisis from a position of strength, not only when you consider the breadth and depth of our solutions, but when you consider our balance sheet.
And the foundation of the firm has been to ground it in [Phonetic] IT [Phonetic] and data.
And that continues to be the backbone of Korn Ferry.
We've got rewards data on over 20 million people, 25,000 companies, we've done almost 70 million assessments, we have thousands of organizational benchmark data, we've got thousands of success profiles, every year we train and develop 1 million professionals a year, and certainly last but not least is we place a candidate at each business hour, every three minutes.
And so we're using this time of change not only to have an impact with our clients, but also to reimagine our own business.
And that includes moving from analog to digital including in our assessment and learning business, which today it's almost 25% of the company and we're certainly shifting that business.
We've done more virtual sessions in the last couple of months than we've done in the last many, many months.
The pipeline is good.
We pivoted very quickly.
I can't be prouder of our team.
And when you look at the uptick here month over month in both our Consulting and Digital new business, you can see that something is working.
And on the recruiting side, that's another place where we are reimagining that business as well through AI technology and a lot of the platform that we use in RPO.
We've taken this IP.
We've taken it out to the marketplace.
I'm very proud in terms of the stance we have taken.
I think our biggest opportunity as a company is to recast the Korn Ferry brand.
We recently launched Leadership U, a curriculum that helps leaders taking on today's challenges.
And more importantly, amid all the calls for change, we're amplifying our voice, not only on diversity, but also in equity and inclusion, both within Korn Ferry and among our clients.
And we know from our research that diversity is a fact, engagement is an emotion, but inclusion is a behavior.
And so, our focus on D&I, it's about -- actually it's about eight years ago almost -- actually it was two days ago eight-year anniversary of us making an investment in a company at that time was called Global Novations.
We've turned that into what I consider to believe the absolute best D&I consulting business in the world.
And as I mentioned, our July Consulting new business was the fourth highest month in our history.
And I think that was driven in part by the strong voice we've taken not only around the pandemic, but also around D&I.
And I'm also proud and pleased to say that we're launching Leadership U for Humanity and that's a non-profit venture of the Korn Ferry charitable foundation, focused on developing the total mosaic inside communities and within corporations.
One of our partners will be the Executive Leadership Council, an absolute preeminent organization.
Their mission is to develop/increase the number of successful Black executives around the goals -- around the globe.
And our goal is to develop 1 million new leaders from diverse backgrounds using our Korn Ferry Advance and Leadership U platforms.
And so not only I think we demonstrated that we say what we mean, but we're not just talking about it, we're being about it and providing a systemic solution to a systemic issue.
And so out of tomorrow's change, a new order is emerging, and Korn Ferry is going to help drive that change, helping people and organizations be more of them.
With that, I am joined here by Bob Rozek and Gregg Kvochak.
Before I jump into the first quarter results, I want to just elaborate on a couple of points that Gary talked about.
I think he's absolutely right, concerning the amount of change that will take place in the next two, even three or four years.
We're already seeing it in our clients.
I truly believe that Korn Ferry is uniquely positioned to lead companies through this change.
The data, IP and know-how that Gary talked about, really sits at the center of our organization and permeates all of our solutions.
And that provides a common harmonized language for talent that's really core to our One Korn Ferry integrated approach to helping clients solve their thorniest business issues through the most valuable asset, which obviously is the people.
Again, I believe we're uniquely positioned because we're the only firm that has the end-to-end data, IP and know-how to address every aspect of an employee's engagement with his or her employer.
Not only do we have first-mover advantage, but in my opinion, our position and our collection of assets is virtually impossible to replicate.
So as I sit here today in the midst of this wave of change with the collection of assets and solutions we've assembled, my optimism for Korn Ferry's future growth prospects have never been higher.
Now let me turn my attention to the first quarter.
I'll start with a few highlights before turning it over to Gregg, and then I'll come back on and address recent business trends.
For the first quarter of fiscal year '21, our fee revenue was $344 million, down about 28% in constant currency.
More importantly, our monthly fee revenue trends within the quarter showed signs of stabilization.
Consolidated fee revenue in May was down about 34% year-over-year, while June and July were down 27% and 26%, respectively.
For each of our service offerings, we saw fee revenue slowing at different rates, which really was in line with our expectation and reflects the diversification and mix shifts that we've been communicating.
Specifically, fee revenue in the first quarter, measured at constant currency, was down 37% for Executive Search, 35% for Professional Search, our Consulting was down 26%, RPO was down 22%, and Digital was down 2%.
Driven by the revenue contraction, our consolidated adjusted EBITDA for the first quarter was $10.6 million with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 3.1%, and our adjusted fully diluted loss per share was $0.19.
Our balance sheet and liquidity remained strong.
At the end of the first quarter, cash and marketable securities totaled $733 million.
Excluding amounts reserved for deferred comp and for accrued bonuses and actually net of the funds used to rightsize the firms, our investable cash balance at the end of the first quarter was about $511 million, and that's up about $150 million year-over-year.
We continue to have undrawn capacity of $645 million on our revolver.
So altogether, we have close to $1.2 billion in liquidity to manage our way through the COVID-19 crisis and to invest back into the business through the recovery.
Last, we had about $400 million in outstanding debt at the end of the quarter.
Finally, during the quarter, we completed our restructuring actions to size the firm for the anticipated current levels of revenue.
As you will recall, in April, just before the end of our fiscal fourth quarter of FY '20, we announced a number of cost actions targeted at both compensation expense, which included layoffs, furloughs and across the board salary cuts, as well as other actions focused on the reduction of G&A.
Combined with the actions completed in the first quarter, we have initially reduced our cost base by about $321 million annually.
Starting with our Digital segment.
Global fee revenue for KF Digital was $56 million in the first quarter and down approximately $2 million or 2% year-over-year measured at constant currency.
The subscription and licensing component of KF Digital fee revenue in the first quarter was approximately $21 million, which was up $6 million year-over-year and flat sequentially.
New business in the first quarter for the Digital segment was down approximately 3% globally year-over-year at constant currency with the subscription and licensing component up approximately 40%.
Adjusted EBITDA in the first quarter for KF Digital was $7.9 million with a 14.2% adjusted EBITDA margin.
Now turning to Consulting.
In the first quarter, Consulting generated $99 million of fee revenue, which was down approximately 26% year-over-year at constant currency.
As clients have settled into their new work from home protocols and have become more familiar with our virtual delivery capabilities, new business for our Consulting services has begun to improve.
Measured year-over-year at constant currency, new business in the first quarter for our Consulting segment was down approximately 4%, led by North America, where new business was up 11% year-over-year.
Adjusted EBITDA for Consulting in the first quarter was $6.6 million with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 6.6%.
RPO and Professional Search generated global fee revenue of $68 million in the first quarter, which was down 27% year-over-year at constant currency.
RPO fee revenue was down approximately 22%, and Professional Search fee revenue was down approximately 35% year-over-year measured at constant currency.
Adjusted EBITDA for RPO and Professional Search in the first quarter was $6 million with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 8.8%.
Finally, for the Executive Search, global fee revenue in the first quarter of fiscal '21 was approximately $120 million, which compared year-over-year and measured at constant currency was down approximately 37%.
At constant currency, North America was down 38%, while both EMEA and APAC were down 35%.
The total number of dedicated Executive Search consultants worldwide at the end of the first quarter was 510, down 59 year-over-year and down 46 sequentially.
Annualized fee revenue production per consultant in the first quarter was $900,000 and the number of new assignments opened worldwide in the first quarter was 1,115, which was down approximately 34% year-over-year, but up 9% sequentially.
Adjusted EBITDA for Executive Search in the first quarter was approximately $8.1 million with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 6.7%.
Globally, year-over-year declines in monthly new business exiting fiscal year '21 Q1 and entering the second quarter continued to stabilize.
Excluding new business awards for RPO, global new business measured year-over-year was down approximately 31% in May, down 25% in June, rebounding to down 5% in July.
Measured sequentially, June new business was up 17% over May and July new business was up 34% compared to June.
With summer vacations, August is a seasonally slow month and normally is lower relative to July.
Measured year-over-year, August new business was stable and down about 6%, which is in line with what we saw in July.
Monthly new business trends have varied by segment and have, in some cases, been choppy month-to-month.
Digital new business was up 3% year-over-year in June, down 5% year-over-year in July and up 10% in August.
Likewise, Consulting new business was down 28% year-over-year in June, rebounding to up 34% in July and up 10% in August.
For Executive Search, new business was down 34% year-over-year in June, improving to down 27% in July and was down 19% in August.
And finally, Professional Search new business was down 15% year-over-year, falling to down 23% in July and August.
With regards to RPO, a strong quarter of new business with $56 million of global awards and that was comprised of $32 million of new clients and $24 million of renewals and extensions.
And we continue to have a strong pipeline of new business in the RPO world [Phonetic].
Approximately two months have passed since our last earnings call, yet there remains significant uncertainty about the ultimate impact of COVID-19 on society and global economies.
Currently, governments are struggling to balance reopening and reengaging in an effective way against the maintenance of an environment that fosters the health and safety of everyone.
There really is no playbook.
This effort takes on many forms, and there's not a clear path to success.
Further, it's unclear whether certain governmental a programs that were put in place to provide financial assistance to impact the businesses and individuals, whether they will remain in place or for how long.
The unprecedented nature of the current environment, combined with many unanswered questions and rapidly changing data points, like the recent acceleration of corporate layoffs and the potential outcome of the US presidential election, that really continues to cloud the near-term predictability of our business.
And consistent with our approach in the last two earnings calls, we will not issue any specific revenue or earnings guidance for the second quarter of fiscal year '21.
We're glad to take any questions you may have.

user
q1 adjusted loss per share $0.19.
will not issue any specific revenue or earnings guidance for q2 of fy'21.

assistant