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Latest comment: 10 days ago by ~2026-40304-24 in topic New request to update history section (1970s–1980s)

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Request to update the History section

[edit]

Hi, this is Justin again from ADP. I've been working off and on for the past few weeks on putting together some updates for the ADP article (beyond the infobox one I already posted).

This request is about the History section. The current History section is quite short, given that the company is 77 years old, and many of the factual claims are not supported by citations so it's not clear if that information is correct. There's also an entire subsection about acquisitions, which is mostly fine but there's no context about why these deals were important and how they reflected ADP's expansion into different service areas. There's also a lot of duplicative material that's covered again in the Divisions and spinoffs section.

I tried to combine the History section, Acquisitions subsection, and Divisions and spinoffs section into a cohesive historical treatment that is split into different eras:

Throughout the draft above, I tried to fill in chronological gaps and contextualize specific acquisitions and business developments, all based on coverage in major news outlets (e.g. The New York Times, Reuters, The Herald-News, MarketWatch, TechCrunch, etc.) and relevant books about the industry. I also cut out some passages that could be considered promotional (e.g. "[ADP] has earned recognition from DiversityInc as one of the top companies for diversity and inclusion in the United States for 11 consecutive years" and "winner of AutoSuccess magazine's 2005 'Innovative Company of the Year' award").

Some additional information about each subsection:

  • Founding and early history
    • This section covers the founding of the company in 1949 to the establishment of the dealer services business in 1973. I added citations to claims that are currently unsourced in the current article.
  • Expansion and growth
    • This section everything from 1975 (when Frank Lautenberg became CEO) to 1985 (when ADP's annual revenues exceeded $1 billion for the first time).
  • Consolidation
    • This section covers acquisitions and related expansions from the early 1990s to around 2008. Some of this material is currently covered in the Acquisitions subsection and Divisions and spinoffs, but I've consolidated all of these claims, placed them in chronological order, and added important context (as reflected in the cited sources).
  • 2010 to present
    • This one is pretty self-explanatory. I moved most of the material about CDK Global LLC to this section (it's currently in the Divisions and spinoffs section). I left all of the claims that could be considered "critical" (e.g., "Both S&P and Moody's downgraded ADP to AA in April 2014, after the dealer services unit was spun off").

I know that I'm coming here as a representative of ADP asking for substantial changes to the article, but my goal with these updates is simply to make the article more accurate and encyclopedic. Again, I removed several passages from the current text that could be perceived as promotional. I also added citations to support previously unsourced claims.

I'm only asking about updating the History section right now, but I posted a full draft of all of my proposed changes on my user page for reference.

Please let me know if you have any questions. I know there's a lot here to digest! Justin at ADP (talk) 18:16, 2 February 2026 (UTC)Reply

@Justin at ADP: I've come here from the Teahouse. As you've seen from the other responses to your requests, small, discrete changes like updating infobox details are far more manageable than large ones like these. I hope you've already read Wikipedia:Simple conflict of interest edit request § Guide to effective COI edit requests. Keep in mind that the volunteer editors are here not to represent the interests of any company, but to summarise information that is of lasting encylopaedic value. Instead of the two large requests that remain open here, it might be better to split them into an edit request for each sub-section, so that editors can assess each on its own merits. ClaudineChionh (she/her · talk · email · global) 06:29, 18 April 2026 (UTC)Reply
This is extremely useful feedback, ClaudineChionh. I will work on a smaller request. Justin at ADP (talk) 20:09, 20 April 2026 (UTC)Reply
@Justin at ADP: It appears that this request has been superseded by a new request below. I will close this one, so that editors can find their way to the new one. (If that's not right, reopen this request.) Fiske (talk) 22:30, 23 May 2026 (UTC)Reply

Request to add the Business model and operations section

[edit]

Hi, this is Justin again from ADP. I have a new request for editors to review, this time about a new Business model and operations section that would summarize basic operational and products information. This new section would fold in some of the existing content, including the Employment data section.

Let me note here that I made some minor updates to the Employment data section, namely adding a different source for the claim that "In 2022, it was redesigned in collaboration with Stanford's Digital Economy Lab" and adding a line at the end stating that "ADP began issuing the NER Pulse, a weekly preliminary U.S. estimate of the ADP National Employment Report."

Please let me know if you have any questions. Justin at ADP (talk) 20:40, 6 March 2026 (UTC)Reply

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.


Reply 20-MAY-2026

[edit]

  Request closed for inactivity  

  • The above edit request has not received any responses over the past 3 weeks (22 days in total).
  • Discussion is often a key component to implementing edits, and requests may be adversely affected when they fail to garner input from either reviewing or requesting editors. In light of this — and as a safeguard — this request has been declined as needing more discussion.[1]
  • The COI editor is urged to revive stalled communications by making contact with local editors on those editor's own talk pages, and then by moving those discussions back to this talk page.
  • The COI editor may also wish to broadcast requests for edits at the talk pages of the WikiProjects which govern this article. Those projects are usually listed at the top of an article's talk page.

Regards,  Spintendo  18:27, 20 May 2026 (UTC)Reply

I'm puzzled by this action. I have already reached out to multiple editors (e.g., IsCat, Quackslikeaduck, Suriname0) and posted about these requests at the Teahouse. I have also continued to engage with editors about these requests on this Talk page. The COI edit request queue is currently around 500 and the template says to "be extremely patient." I have tried to follow this advice! Is there a Wikipedia guideline somewhere that states that requests should be closed for "inactivity"? Could you point me towards that page so I can learn more? Justin at ADP (talk) 10:58, 21 May 2026 (UTC)Reply
Yeah I'm not sure what this means. I would just reopen the request, personally. @Spintendo: care to shed any light on this? Suriname0 (talk) 15:06, 21 May 2026 (UTC)Reply
For the record, I've never seen a response like this to an edit request. —In solidarity with Wiki Workers United · ClaudineChionh (she/her · talk · email) 00:38, 22 May 2026 (UTC)Reply
I've reopened both requests. User:ClaudineChionh, feel free to tweak the closures as appropriate. Suriname0 (talk) 20:01, 22 May 2026 (UTC)Reply
I performed the edit request, with some minor adjustments. Axolitl (talk | contribs) 21:00, 25 June 2026 (UTC)Reply

References

  1. "Wikipedia:COI edit requests - Declined requests". Wikipedia. 22 April 2026. If your request is denied, analyze the discussion or the reason why it was declined and make the relevant changes to the request or follow the advice in the thread if any and if appropriate. You may be directed to seek consensus, which means that your request is probably unclear or needs more discussion.
The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Small update for the infobox

[edit]

Hi this is Justin again from ADP. I have a very small request that I'm hoping can be completed by an editor: Can the Key people category in the infobox can be updated to replace John C. Ayala with the company's new COO Joe DeSilva? This is confirmed by the [https://www.sec.gov/ix?doc=/Archives/edgar/data/8670/000000867025000037/adp- 20250630.htm 2025 10-K], which is already listed as a footnote for the infobox. Please let me know if you have any questions. Justin at ADP (talk) 12:18, 23 March 2026 (UTC)Reply

 Done Chattenoir (talk) 21:53, 17 April 2026 (UTC)Reply
Thank you for helping me out with this, Chattenoir. Justin at ADP (talk) 20:07, 20 April 2026 (UTC)Reply

New request to update early history passages

[edit]

After considering the helpful feedback from ClaudineChionh, I'm posting a shorter History request, this time focused only on the early years of ADP:

The passages above cover the founding of the company in 1949 to the establishment of the dealer services business in 1973. I added citations to claims that are currently unsourced in the current article. You can see a before-and-after comparison here:

I hope this shorter request is easier to review & implement. Thank you! Justin at ADP (talk) 17:40, 21 April 2026 (UTC)Reply

Thank you again for your help with my infobox request above, Chattenoir. Would you be able to review this short update request for the Early history? Justin at ADP (talk) 18:11, 1 May 2026 (UTC)Reply
 Done, with minor adjustments. Axolitl (talk | contribs) 20:58, 25 June 2026 (UTC)Reply
Thank you so much @Axolitl! Justin at ADP (talk) 16:59, 26 June 2026 (UTC)Reply

New request to update history section (1970s–1980s)

[edit]

Hello again. I'm posting another shorter History section request, this time focused only on the period from the mid-1970s to the late 1980s.

This section covers the period of rapid expansion and growth that begins with Frank Lautenberg becoming CEO in 1975 and ends with ADP's annual revenues exceeding $1 billion for the first time in the late 1980s. This period receives only a cursory treatment in the existing History section despite being arguably the most impactful era in ADP's history, as documented by numerous sources. You can see a before-and-after comparison here:

My draft also addresses the acquisitions of Time Sharing Limited and Cyphernetics currently covered in the Acquisitions section and accompanied by a citation needed tag. My draft includes reliable sourcing for both deals. As noted in one of my earlier posts here, my goal with these history drafts is to consolidate historical material from other sections and make the article easier to follow.

Once again, I hope this shorter request is easier to review & implement. Thank you! Justin at ADP (talk) 16:44, 26 June 2026 (UTC)Reply

Reply 16-JUL-2026

[edit]

  Edit request declined  

  • The newer text in this proposal appears to be a rote repitition of how many clients they had and how much money they made. The stated reasoning for these changes is that this section covers the period of rapid expansion and growth that begins with Frank Lautenberg becoming CEO in 1975 and ends with ADP's annual revenues exceeding $1 billion for the first time in the late 1980s. Were there any other factors which affected this growth? Could it have been ADP's international expansion which occurred in this timeframe? Could it have been ADP rolling out new automated tracking and timekeeping divisions helping them to make inroads in the brokerage and insurance claims industries?[a] Could it have been the initiation of stock dividend payments in 1974? Readers won't know the answers to these questions, but they will know ADP made a lot of money. This is not satisfactory.
  • I'm glad to see that the previous edit request was implemented. My stock response was made at that time under the impression that the COI editor was already working with a reviewer who had failed to respond to their inquiry, a mischaracterization that ClaudineChionh was quick to correct ("my earlier comments were only about making requests more manageable, and did not discuss the content at all") In any event, I'm glad to see that it worked out in the end.

Regards,  Spintendo  06:05, 17 July 2026 (UTC)Reply

need to have kentucky state tax taken out ~2026-40304-24 (talk) 19:32, 17 July 2026 (UTC)Reply

Notes

  1. The proposed text mentions ADP acquired the online computer services company Time Sharing Limited (TSL) in 1974 and Cyphernetics in 1975. Are these the automated tracking and timekeeping divisions that could have played a role in the mid 70s expansion? The proposed text does not say for certain. Also, it's unclear what is meant by "online computer services" in 1974, practically 10+ years before the formation of what is today the internet, what readers would surmise as being "online".