Recruiter Robert Walters has revealed plunging profits due to woes in the global jobs market and warned conditions are unlikely to improve until the end of the year.

The firm saw profits nearly wiped out, slumping to £500,000 from £20.8 million in 2023, as net fee income slumped 14%.

Toby Fowlston, chief executive of Robert Walters, said trading had continued to be “muted” in the first few weeks of the year and cautioned that “improvement in end markets is unlikely to be seen before the latter part of 2025”.

Robert Walters cut its own workforce by 17%, or nearly 700 roles, over the year to 3,294 as it looked to cut costs in the face of challenging job markets, and Mr Fowlston said the firm would “ensure its cost base is appropriate for the current conditions” over the year ahead.

Rival PageGroup also revealed separately on Thursday a sharp fall in earnings last year, with pre-tax profits down 58% to £49.1 million in 2024 as gross profits fell 12.8%.

Page stripped nearly 500 roles out of the business last year, ending 2024 with 8% fewer workers at 7,361, as it also slashed costs to weather tough trading and confirmed it would keep staff numbers under review.

Nicholas Kirk, chief executive at PageGroup, said: “Market conditions remained challenging across all regions in 2024, with worsening sentiment and reduced confidence in Europe during the second half of the year.”

“The conversion of interviews to accepted offers remains the most significant area of challenge as ongoing macro-economic uncertainty continues to impact candidate and client confidence, which extends the time-to-hire.

“We saw a slower end to 2024, which has continued into January and February, albeit they are two of the smallest months of the year from a trading perspective.”

He added: “Looking ahead, a high degree of macro-economic and geopolitical uncertainty remains across the majority of our markets, notably in the UK, France and Germany.”