Ahead of a Hays PLC (LSE:HAS) quarterly update next Friday, the shares are down by more than a third so far this year, sinking below 60p last month for the first time since late 2008.
After profit warning and a dividend cut in June, results in August in line with expectations came with news that trading had not really improved, requiring new cost savings.
Expectations are therefore pretty low as the recruiter prepares to update on first-quarter trading.
"If the last financial year offered any glimmer of light it came in the shape of lesser rates of decline in net fee income from temporary posts," said analysts at AJ Bell.
"If employers start to feel less gloomy, they may turn to temporary hires first before any blossoming of confidence leads to more permanent hires."
Attention in the Q1 update will be on group net fees, which declined 9% year-on-year in the fourth quarter of last year, the same rate of fall as the previous three months, as recruitment activity failed to improve.
A slower pace of decline could be taken positively.
Net fee income has fallen for nine straight quarters at group level, and for eleven in the UK & Ireland, though the rate of decline eased in Germany and Australia in the June quarter.
Temporary hires, which make up two-thirds of fee income, remain more resilient than permanent placements, offering a potential early sign of stabilisation.