There should be no real surprise that Hays’ UK business, about a quarter of all group fee income, should have suffered its second quarter of contraction, even if there are tentative signs that things are turning up again. The uncertainty over Brexit after the referendum means that employers are less willing to take on staff.
A 10 per cent fall in UK and Ireland fee income in the second quarter entirely matched the fall in the first, in the immediate aftermath of the vote. The slowdown was most marked in the public sector, with a fall of 13 per cent in net fees and the private sector was off 9 per cent.
There is, as ever with headhunters, no forward visibility of business and