It started with a simple idea from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) graduate Mark S. Ain: there had to be an easier way to record employee time transactions. With a small team of engineers, a hunger for success, and a small office space in an old ironworks building in Brighton, Mass., this idea became Kronos Incorporated on October 31, 1977.

After working through a series of prototypes, it was in 1979 that Kronos delivered and patented the first microprocessor-based time clock which automatically recorded, totaled, and reported employee hours. This time clock facilitated the transformation of an industry that had not seen innovation in many years.

Perseverance paid off and Kronos began to expand. By the mid 1980s, Kronos had opened its first direct office in Chicago to supplement its dealer network, and introduced a PC-based time and attendance product to complement its hardware business.

As sales increased and Kronos added more employees to support the demand for its products, the company relocated to Waltham, Mass.

In the late 1980s, Kronos completed its first of many dealer acquisitions as the company focused on transitioning to a direct sales channel.

During this timeframe, with strong success in North America, Kronos expanded internationally, establishing a presence in the United Kingdom, Mexico, and Australia.

In 2000, Kronos moved its global headquarters to Chelmsford, Mass., where today the company is the city’s largest private employer. During this period, Kronos surpassed $500 million in annual revenue. Kronos’ impressive streak of growth and profitability resulted in recognition such as: Business 2.0 “100 Fastest-Growing Companies”, BusinessWeek “Hot Growth Companies”, and Forbes “Best Small Companies”.

Yet again revolutionizing the way organizations manage their workforce, Kronos introduced an entirely web-based workforce management solution and added employee scheduling, labor analytics, human resources and payroll, and hiring capabilities to its suite of enterprise workforce management software applications.

When Mark Ain turned over the CEO role to his brother Aron Ain in 2005, he had been the longest-running founder leading a technology company in Massachusetts. Mark assumed the role of chairman of the board of directors, a title he still holds today.

The company verticalized its operations in a major go-to-market strategy shift, developing even deeper vertical-specific expertise and product functionality to meet the unique needs of its target markets. Its vertical expertise remains a unique differentiator for the company today.

In 2007, Kronos was acquired by private equity firm Hellman & Friedman, a move which enabled the company to grow more rapidly by investing more funds back into the business. In 2012, Kronos completed its 64th acquisition. The company now employs more than 3,500 “Kronites” around the world and has technology centers in India, Montreal, and the U.S.

Kronos has a fundamental belief that staying competitive is complex, and a company’s workforce management system shouldn’t have to be. With that belief in mind, Kronos has been delivering game-changing products that are easy to use and own.

With its intense focus on continuous innovation, Kronos has facilitated a revolution in how organizations manage their workforce. Harnessing the power and intuitiveness of consumer-based technologies, the company has developed innovative solutions that instantly engage users through a familiar and inviting user experience. This next generation of Kronos workforce management solutions leverages real-time data to guide decision-making for managers. And the solutions enable organizations to manage in the moment, providing on-the-go access and communication between managers and employees.

Kronos now helps organizations in more than 100 countries to control labor costs, minimize compliance risk, and improve workforce productivity. The Kronos steadfast focus on helping customers achieve their objectives has resulted in the company being recognized as an organization that offers exceptional customer service and consistently exceeds customer expectations.

Today, Kronos is widely recognized by industry analysts as the global leader in the workforce management market, with revenues well beyond $800 million. More than 30 million people around the world use a Kronos solution every day.

Kronos. Workforce Innovation That Works.