Gattaca tumbled 14% as the tech recruitment specialist reported fee income was down 16% in its latest half year with permanent placements hit especially hard.
Permanent fee income is down 38% year-on-year, it said, with the market weakness exacerbated by the end of a large defence outsourcing contract.
Defence remains the biggest market with 9% year-on-year growth, not including the outsourcing contract.
Going forward, Gattaca added it expects a shift towards contract 76%/permanent 24%.
Cash at the end of the half-year was £22.1m.
Shares fell 17.5p to 107.5p.