- PageGroup reduced its fee earner headcount by a further 100 to 5,751
- The firm has slashed more than 1,300 positions since peaking in 2022
PageGroup continued to axe jobs at the start of 2024 amid a challenging market backdrop across most territories.
The Surrey-based company reduced its fee earner headcount by a further 100, or 1.7 per cent, to 5,751 in the first three months of this year.
It means the firm has slashed more than 1,300 positions since its employee numbers peaked at 7,071 at the end of the third quarter of 2022.
Not hiring: Surrey-based PageGroup reduced its fee earner headcount by a further 100, or 1.7 per cent, to 5,751 in the first three months of this year
British recruitment businesses have cut their own staff levels over the past two years as the global jobs market has slowed, partly due to central banks hiking interest rates to dampen rising inflation.
It has also followed massive redundancies by the technology sector, which has been further hit by people spending less time online following the end of Covid-related restrictions.
Tech companies have announced over 480,000 job losses since the beginning of 2022, including 60,000 this year alone, according to industry tracker Layoffs.fyi.
However, PageGroup’s chief executive, Nicholas Kirk, said the firm intends to keep headcount ‘broadly at existing levels’ so it can capitalise when market sentiment and confidence improve.
PageGroup’s gross profits decreased by 12.8 per cent on a constant currency basis to £219.7million in the first quarter and by 18 per cent in March, although this also reflected Easter occurring during the month.
Poor trading in Continental Europe drove the earnings slump, with France, Germany, and the Benelux countries all posting double-digit percentage falls.
Profitability was also impacted by employers taking longer to make permanent hires given the uncertain economic conditions, including the UK, where PageGroup’s profits slumped by 19.2 per cent to £27.1million.
Temporary recruitment has held up more strongly, but profits from this segment still declined by 6.7 per cent to £60million.
PageGroup shares were the worst performer of any FTSE 250 firm by Monday afternoon, shrinking 6.8 per cent to 451.2p.
Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said PageGroup’s performance ‘paints a picture of a company being hit by gusts of wind from every angle’.
He added: ‘There isn’t a single territory showing profit progression, and both permanent and temporary jobs are proving to be tough terrain.
‘Against this chaotic backdrop, the company has to make cutbacks of its own accord. That means fewer recruitment consultants in the business.’
Fellow recruiter Robert Walters is due to announce a trading update on Tuesday, with Hays following the day after.
