Page Group: Recruitment specialists caution over trading condition as profits slump
Recruiter Page Group has cautioned over ongoing tough trading across many of its key markets as first-quarter gross profits slumped by nearly 10 per cent in the UK.
The group reported a 9.4 per cent drop in UK gross profits for the first three months of 2023, which comes after a 1.9 per cent decline in the final three months of last year.
Page added it was also seeing challenging trading conditions continue in Asia and North America, where gross profits tumbled by 21 per cent and 14 per cent respectively in the quarter.
Overall, group gross profits dropped 2.4 per cent on a constant currency basis in the first quarter.
Nicholas Kirk, chief executive of Page Group, said: “The challenging conditions we saw towards the end of 2022 continued into 2023, with lower levels of both candidate and client confidence resulting in delays in decision-making and candidates being more reluctant to accept offers.
“Reflecting the uncertainty, temporary recruitment outperformed permanent as clients sought more flexible options.”
Page revealed it has trimmed its fee earning team by 4.4 per cent in the quarter amid the more difficult job market conditions, with 304 fewer roles and reductions across all regions.
Press Association