PageGroup PLC (LSE:PAGE) reported a sharp drop in hiring in its latest quarter and said the situation is worsening in its two main markets of France and Germany.
Conversion of interviews to offers is the biggest challenge, the white-collar recruiter said, with clients becoming more risk-averse.
Temporary recruitment is also being affected with this side of the business down 14% in the latest three months while permanent recruitment fell by 13%.
UK revenues fell by 13.6% in the quarter, in line with prevous quarters, though Europe and Asia Pacific saw the biggest drops at 19.1% and 17.4% respectively.
Total gross profit (revenue) fell by 17.2% to £196.7 million for the quarter and for the year so far is down by 16.4% at $842.5 million.
PageGropup said it will continue to review its headcount to help cope with the current conditions.
Nicholas Kirk, PageGroup chief executive, added: "Market conditions remained challenging in the fourth quarter and while most markets were sequentially stable, we experienced a further worsening in Europe, particularly in our two largest markets, France and Germany.
"We continue to review our fee earner headcount, making progress on our strategy by reallocating resources into the areas of the business where we see the most significant long-term structural opportunities, as well as ensuring it remains aligned to activity levels we are seeing in each of our markets.
"Looking ahead, a high degree of macro-economic and geopolitical uncertainty remains across the majority of our markets, notably in France and Germany. “