Proactive Investors - FTSE 250-listed recruitment firm PageGroup PLC (LON:PAGE)’s delivered no friendly surprises in its half-year report, with profit before tax collapsing by more than 56% on a year-on-year basis.
Stalled hiring trends caused negative growth across all regions, with the UK the worst performer followed by APAC.
In a sign of a nervousness among hiring firms, grup-wide revenues in the permanent segment fell nearly 14% compared to 8.6% in the temporary segment.
Employers are less likely to fill permanent positions if the macroeconomic outlook is less optimistic.
Pagegroup has been trying to arrest declining profits through stringent cost-saving measures, including shedding 3.6% (or 283 roles) from its workforce in the period.
"The Group experienced challenging market conditions across all regions in H1,” conceded chief executive Nicholas Kirk,
“The conversion of interviews to accepted offers continues to be a significant area of challenge, as candidate and client confidence remains subdued, reflecting the macroeconomic uncertainty in the majority of our markets.
“Permanent recruitment continues to be impacted more than temporary, as clients seek more flexible options and permanent candidates remain reluctant to move jobs.”
Pagegroup’s share price took another 1.6% on Thursday, bringing year-to-date losses above 16%.