Glimmer of cheer at Hays

7th Jan 2010 07:20

Business is finally stabilising all over the world for recruitment firm Hays, while Asia Pacific has seen a modest quarter on quarter improvement in demand.While the quarter on quarter picture is looking better, the year on year comparisons continue to make miserable reading.Net fees in the final quarter of 2009 – the second quarter of the company’s financial year – were down 24% from a year earlier, and 30% lower on a like for like (lfl) basis. The temps market is holding up better than the permanent recruitment sector; net fees in the permanent sector were down 33% (-39% lfl) but were just 16% lower (-22% lfl) in the temporary sector.Hays said it had seen an improvement in net fees in the fourth quarter from the preceding one in the private sector, but this was broadly offset by a tail-off in demand from the public sector.‘Although specialist recruitment markets continue to be very challenging, candidate and client sentiment have improved over recent months and this is encouraging for future trends in the business,’ chief executive Alistair Cox said.