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Latest NewsJob creation and lossesLabour marketUK

Robert Walters cuts jobs in tough UK hiring market

by Kavitha Sivasubramaniam 15 Oct 2024
by Kavitha Sivasubramaniam 15 Oct 2024 Shutterstock / Studio Romantic
Shutterstock / Studio Romantic

Robert Walters has slashed more than 700 jobs in the past year due to falling job vacancies.

The recruiter admitted it had cut more than 159 roles in the past three months alone, blaming challenging global hiring markets.

In total, 734 job losses have been made at the firm so far, while its income has dropped by 17% so far in 2024. The latest quarter showed UK trade had been especially weak, shrinking by 19% to £12.5 million.

The London-listed firm said UK activity had been particularly affected as clients paused hiring ahead of the autumn Budget announcement set for 30 October.

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Chief executive Toby Fowlston said: “Global hiring markets remained challenging during the third quarter, bringing the period of rebasing following the 2022 post-pandemic peak to around two years.

“As set out at our half-year results in August, our assumption continues to be that material improvement in client and candidate confidence levels will be gradual and not likely to commence until 2025.

“Though market conditions mean second half fee income is unlikely to exceed that seen during the first half, the programme of actions underway mean we continue to aim for a profitable full-year outcome.”

The news from Robert Walters comes as Office for National Statistics data showed the estimated number of vacancies in the UK fell by 34,000 to 841,000 in three months to September – a decline on the quarter for the twenty-seventh consecutive period and the lowest level since March to May 2021.

The company’s shares were down 2.3%, while its net fee income reduced by 12% to £79.9m in the third quarter compared to last year. So far this year, it is down 13% to £246m.

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Kavitha Sivasubramaniam

Kavitha Sivasubramaniam is an experienced journalist, editor and communications professional who has been working in B2B publishing for more than 17 years. After graduating from Bournemouth University with a degree in Multi Media Journalism, Kavitha started her career in local and regional newspapers, before moving to consumer magazines and later trade titles, as well as PR. Specialising in pay and reward, she has been editor of a number of HR publications including Pay & Benefits, Employee Benefits, Benefits Expert, Reward and CIPP’s membership magazine, Professional. In June 2024, she won Pay, Reward and Employee Benefits Journalist of the Year at the Willis Towers Watson media awards. She was also named one of Each Person’s top 20 influential HR bloggers and managed a highly commended content team of the year in 2019.

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