Kronos History

An inspiring history of innovation spanning four decades.

Building on a spirit of vision, purpose, and engagement

With a dedicated focus on continuous innovation over the years, Kronos has facilitated a revolution in how organizations manage their workforce. That focus not only empowers our employees, but also powers our success and has helped us become a top place to work. Learn more about our company and what has inspired our success.

The Early Years

1977 – 1986

It started with a simple idea from Mark S. Ain: there had to be an easier way to record employee time transactions. With a team of engineers and a hunger for success, his idea came to life with the first patented microprocessor-based time clock. The time clock automatically recorded, totaled, and reported employee hours, transforming an industry that had not seen innovation in many years.

1977 – Kronos Incorporated founded by MIT alum Mark Ain
1979 – Delivered industry’s first microprocessor-based time clock
1983 – Relocated corporate headquarters to Waltham, Mass.
1985 – Introduced PC-based product, Timekeeper Central
1986 – Established presence in Canada

Growth and Going Public

1987 – 1996

In the late 80's, we completed the first of many dealer acquisitions as the company focused on transitioning to a direct sales channel. With strong success in North America, we began to expand internationally.

1990 – Established presence in United Kingdom
1992 – Filed IPO and began trading on Nasdaq
1995 – Established presence in Mexico
Annual revenues exceeded $100 million
1996 – Introduced client-server product
Established presence in Australia

Market Leadership

1997 – 2006

To meet the unique needs of our customers, we verticalized our operations in a major go-to-market strategy shift, developing even deeper industry-specific expertise and product functionality.

1998 – Introduced web-based product
2000 – Relocated world headquarters to Chelmsford, Mass.
2001 – Delivered Workforce Central product suite
2002 – Introduced Kronos 4500 time clock
2003 – Completed 40th acquisition
2005 – Aron Ain assumed role of CEO
Reported 100th consecutive quarter of revenue growth and surpassed $500 million in revenue
2006 – Established presence in China

Workforce Management Doesn’t Have to Be So Hard

2007 – 2015

Kronos disrupted the workforce management industry, yet again. After many years of being a public company, we went private with a renewed focus on innovation and a heavy investment in mobile, cloud-based solutions. Cloud continued to be the fastest growing part of the business with 90 percent of all new customers choosing cloud solutions.

2007 – Became private-equity owned company
Established presence in India
Launched The Workforce Institute at Kronos
2011 – Introduced Kronos InTouch time clock
2012 – CEO Aron Ain named “Entrepreneur of the Year” by E&Y
Delivered Workforce Ready cloud human capital management product suite
2014 – Surpassed $1 billion in annual revenue
Named the top (Large) place to work in Massachusetts by The Boston Globe
Surpassed products being used in 100 countries
2015 – Shipped one-millionth time clock

Workforce Innovation that Works

2016 – Present

Due to our continued growth and expansion, we announced our world headquarters move to Lowell, Mass. to a building with state-of-the art technology and amenities aimed to inspire employees. We are proud to employ more than 5,000 “Kronites” in 70 offices and 16 countries around the world. Today, we are recognized by industry analysts as the global leader in workforce management and human capital management.

2015 – Shipped one-millionth time clock
2016 – CEO Aron Ain named “Highest-rated CEO” by Glassdoor
Surpassed 30,000 customers worldwide
Surpassed 5,000 Kronites worldwide
2017 – Relocated world headquarters to Lowell, Mass.
Kronos completes 71^st acquisition
Surpassed 22,000 customers in the cloud
Introduced Workforce Dimensions, a revolutionary workforce management solution

Products

Business Needs

Industries

Product Suites

Why Kronos

Human Capital Management

Workforce Management

Our Customers

Customers by Industry

YMCA of Greater Boston

Hannaford Supermarkets

Services

Services

Customer First

Customer Success

Resources & Insights

Resources by Industry

Featured Resources

MGM Resorts

CHRISTUS Health

About Us

Kronos Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

1 in 100 Million