- Temporary hiring proves more resilient
- Profit guidance down by one-third
Recruitment specialist PageGroup (PAGE) had some unwelcome news for investors in the form of its second profit warning of 2024. “The conversion of interviews to accepted offers is the most significant area of challenge, as candidate and client confidence remain subdued,” said chief executive Nicholas Kirk in a statement.
The company’s gross profit declined 12 per cent at constant currency in the second quarter, with management attributing this to difficult conditions in many of its key markets. In another reflection of ongoing uncertainty, temporary recruitment outperformed permanent hiring. Gross profit from the former fell nearly 10 per cent to £59mn, while the latter dropped by around 13 per cent to £165mn.