Recuiter Pagegroup cuts more staff amid jobs market slowdown
Recruitment company Pagegroup cut more staff in the final months of 2024 as the firm continued to suffer from a subdued jobs market.
Gross profit in the final quarter of 2024 dropped to £196.7m, down from £237.5m in the same period the year before.
It expects full year operating profit to be at the lower end of the market consensus range, of between £49m-58.5m.
During the fourth quarter, the firm cut its fee earner headcount by 130, mainly in Europe and the UK. This followed a series of job cuts earlier in the year when around 250 roles were axed in the first half of the year.
Non-operations headcount, however, increased by 49. “This increase was due to the double running of c. 65 heads as we transitioned our Shared Service Centre from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur,” Pagegroup said.
The firm said it had suffered from “challenging market conditions” which were “further worsening” in Europe, particularly in France and Germany.
Profit in France fell 17 per cent compared to the year before, while in Germany, it slumped 23 per cent.
In the UK, which makes up 12 per cent of Pagegroup’s profit, gross profit fell to £24.3m from £28.1m the year before.
The firm said “subdued levels of clients and candidate confidence” were impacting decision-making.
“The conversion of interviews to accepted offers remains the most significant area of challenge as the ongoing macro-economic uncertainty continues to impact candidate and client confidence, also extending the time-to-hire,” Nicholas Kirk, the firm’s boss said.
Clients’ recruitment budgets have tightened as they have become “more risk averse”, the company said, even though fee levels remain high.
“Looking ahead, a high degree of macro-economic and geopolitical uncertainty remains across the majority of our markets, notably in France and Germany,” Kirk said.
He said the firm had a strong balance sheet and suggested its cost base was under “continuous review”.