(Reuters) - Recruitment firm PageGroup said on Wednesday it would lay off another 250 staff in April and cut directors' pay by 20%, as the company and its peer Robert Walters (L:RWA) reported double-digit falls in gross fees in the first quarter and braced for more pain to come.
London's group of stock-exchange listed global recruiters have been battening down the hatches for weeks in expectation of a collapse in revenue due to the coronavirus crisis, and analysts and industry players have said harder staffing cuts looked unavoidable. The company, which operates in 36 countries and helps hire executives, professionals and clerical staff, joined peers including (L:HAYS) and SThree (L:STEMS) in cancelling dividend payouts and suspending financial forecasts due to the coronavirus crisis.
PageGroup said it had already laid off 104 fee earners and 28 operational support staff in the first quarter, and saw net fees plunged by one-fourth in March, normally its busiest month.
Separately, smaller operator Robert Walters reported an 11% cut and reductions in board pay while saying it had reduced its workforce by 2% - or 92 jobs - in the first quarter compared to the end of 2019.
"With Europe and the Americas recently following much of the Asia Pacific region into varying stages of lockdown, we are expecting the second quarter to be more challenging," founder and chief executive Robert Walters said.