Robert Walters PLC (LSE:RWA) said the jobs market is under pressure globally though the UK and US are catching the brunt of the downturn due to inflation and a tech shake-out.
The recruiter flagged last month that fee income would be down by around 10% in the three months to end June 2023 with the total confirmed today at £99.9mln from £112mln a year ago.
Within that, UK revenue dropped by 21% to £16mln, which the company said reflected the country’s high inflation, high-interest rate environment plus tech and financial sector lay-offs.
Asia Pacific, Robert Walters’ largest area, dropped 8% to 43.8mln, while other international, which includes the US, was 26% lower at £7.8mln. Europe was flat at £32mln.
The company added that China had yet to see a recruitment bounce following the recent Covid lockdown, while US fees slumped by 47% due to the tech slowdown.
For the half year to end June, fee income was down 5% at £202mln.
Toby Fowlston, chief executive, commented: "As reported in our June trading update, candidate confidence and time to hire are not yet showing the anticipated signs of sustained improvement.
Robert Walters had seen tough times before, he said, adding: “Structural recruitment market fundamentals including job vacancy levels, salary inflation and candidate shortages are still holding strong."
That would suggest that when market confidence recovers there will likely be an increase in demand and candidate movement across all recruitment areas, he added.