Technical staffing specialist SThree PLC (LSE:STEM) said more US and UK companies were moving from hiring on a contract basis rather than permanent roles, leading to a 19% decline in net fees from permanent in the first half of the year.
The FTSE 250-listed science, technology, engineering and mathematic recruiter said this reflected market conditions across all regions, together with companies planning to transition from permanent to contract work, which was particularly apparent in the US and UK.
Overall for the six month to 1 May 2023, group net fees fell 2% year on year on a constant currency basis, while rising 3% on a reported basis thanks to currency swings.
In the second quarter, group net fees fell 7% after a 4% rise in the first.
Contract net fees rose 3% with growth across the majority of regions and contract hiring representing 81% of group net fees from 77% a year ago.
In its largest three markets, the US was down 11%, Germany down 1% and the Netherlands grew 3%.
Chief executive Timo Lehne called it a “robust” performance for the first half and said the uncertain macroeconomic environment had “varied effects across our markets impacting new placements”, though there had been a continued healthy level of extensions to within the contract business.
The shares fell 0.8% to 364p in early trading on Tuesday.