(Reuters) -British recruitment firm Robert Walters on Tuesday reported a 22% jump in its third-quarter gross profit, as hiring stayed robust amid intense competition to fill up vacancies.
The jobs market has been driven by talent shortages recently, with companies scrambling to hire more employees while trying to limit their expenses — at a time when the economic outlook has been clouded by recession and inflation worries.
"Nevertheless, the job flow remained largely strong, candidate shortages remained acute, wage inflation continued to grow; and the Group net fee income increased by 18% year-on-year," Robert Walters, CEO of the eponymous company said, while referring to the growth on a constant currency basis.
The company's gross profit rose to 112 million pounds ($123.5 million) for the quarter ended Sept. 30, compared with 91.8 million pounds a year earlier.
Its quarterly gross profit for UK, however, fell 6%, owing to more challenging market conditions across technology recruitment and resource solutions.
Peers PageGroup and Hays (LON:HAYS), which have also seen a combination of talent shortages and wage hike leading to sharp increase in their net fees, are expected to report their quarterly results this week.
Robert Walters, which forecast its annual profit to be in line with current market expectations, also named Leslie Van de Walle as non-executive chair.
($1 = 0.9069 pounds)