Robert Walters cuts headcount further amid increased uncertainty
Shares in the London-listed recruitment firm dropped in early trading on Tuesday as a result.
Bosses at the business also cautioned that they do not expect to see a 'material improvement in hiring markets in the near term'.
Robert Walters said it cut its headcount by a further 2%, or 77 roles, to 3,125 employees by the end of June due to continued weakness.
The company has axed 500 jobs across its business over the past year.
It came as Robert Walters reported that group net fee income fell by 13% in the latest quarter, as it highlighted 'more pronounced' macroeconomic uncertainty in the period after the US launched new tariff policies.
This included a particularly sharp fall in mainland Europe, where income fell 22% to £21.5 million.
Meanwhile, there was an 8% fall in UK income to £12.1 million for the quarter.
Toby Fowlston, chief executive of Robert Walters, said: 'Whilst net fees were higher than in the first quarter, macroeconomic uncertainty was more pronounced in Q2, with forward indicators in specialist recruitment slightly weaker as a result relative to the end of Q1.
'With the external environment continuing to constrain client and candidate confidence, our planning assumption remains that there will be no material improvement in hiring markets in the near term.
'However, we continue to have high conviction in our disciplined entrepreneurialism strategy and therefore took further strategic action during the quarter to drive greater efficiency.'
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