PageGroup and Hays both report next week after a downbeat assessment of the global recruitment market from rival Robert Walters.
Trends overall are little changed, according to Walters, with the US, UK, China still difficult and Europe proving more resilient.
Expect PageGroup to echo those comments while, like Walters, it has been trimming headcount but not by too much in case of a sudden improvement in sentiment.
A trading update in April had highlighted a dip in hiring but pointed to operating profits of £140mln for 2023 and any change to that will be something to note.
Shares at 406p are down over 12% year to date, while Robert Walters is down 19% and Hays almost 17%.
But back in April, Hays had reported record fees for its fiscal third quarter, driven by strong growth in Germany and robust demand for temporary staff.
Fees in Germany climbed by 23%, a new record, with temp and contracting up 25%, while in the UK & Ireland, fees fell 2% with modest growth on the temp side offset by an 8% fall in permanent placements.
Australia & New Zealand fees fell 8%, Asia decreased by 4% but the Americas slipped 15% and were described as “challenging”.