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Robert Walters has axed hundreds of staff as it battles a slowdown in hiring around the world. The recruitment consultancy said it had axed about 220 roles in the last three months of last year, taking its total headcount down to 3,980. The company reported a 10pc slowdown in fee income as companies around the world have had their hiring plans derailed by higher interest rates. Chief executive Toby Fowlston said: “Despite the challenging macro-economic conditions, the group has delivered a resilient fourth quarter and FY23 profit before tax will be in-line with market expectations.” Robert Walters struggles comes as Britain finds itself in the grip of the longest slump in jobs vacancies on record as higher interest rates knock the labour market. A total of 949,000 positions were advertised in the three months to November, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which was down almost a quarter of a million from the number of posts advertised a year ago. Rival recruiter Hays announced on Tuesday it had axed 650 jobs across its workforce as it tried to offset what it called a “clear slowdown” in the labour market. Read the latest updates below. Tesco has said it is on track for bigger-than-expected profits this year after record sales over Christmas. Bosses at the supermarket giant said its growth was boosted by investment to keep prices low, as it has sought to stop shoppers switching to fast-growing German discount rivals Aldi and Lidl. The retailer said it has cut “nearly 2,700 prices” as part of this strategy to attract customers who have faced a surge in the cost of living. On Tuesday, Tesco said like-for-like retail sales across the group rose by 6pc over the six weeks to January 2024, compared with the same period a year earlier. In the UK, sales across it stores grew by 6.8pc over the Christmas period, with the company hailing a sharp rise in demand for its Finest premium range of food and drink products. It came as the company also reported that like-for-like retail sales grew by 6.6pc over the previous 13 weeks, the quarter to November 25, as it was boosted by strong growth in its UK and Ireland shops. Tesco said it now expects a retail-adjusted operating profit of £2.75bn for the year, up from a previous range of between £2.6bn and £2.7bn. Chief executive Ken Murphy said: Thanks for joining me. Recruitment consultancy Robert Walters has revealed it has axed hundreds of jobs amid the longest slump in job vacancies on record. The company axed about 220 roles in the fourth quarter of 2023, cutting its headcount by 5pc to 3,980. 5 things to start your day 1) American regulator approves Bitcoin funds but warns of risks | Investors should remain cautious about Bitcoin’s dangers, the regulator’s chairman has said 2) The bond vigilantes who could punish Britain’s debt binge | ‘The kindness of strangers’ is set to play a decisive role as a general election looms 3) M&S to edge Waitrose in battle of the middle-class supermarkets | Strong festive sales puts grocer on track to overtake rival 4) Channel 5-owner is takeover target for Silicon Valley billionaire’s heir | A deal would scupper a mega-merger being discussed between Warner Bros and Paramount 5) Claire Coutinho vows to build nuclear energy plant to power six million homes | Energy Secretary heralds ‘biggest expansion’ for 70 years after setting out roadmap What happened overnight Asian stocks rose ahead of US inflation data that could influence the Federal Reserve’s thinking on rate cuts, while the crypto world got a boost after exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to track bitcoin were approved in the United States. Japan’s Nikkei breached 35,000 for the first time since February 1990 in a blistering start to the year, after rising 28pc in 2023, its strongest yearly performance in a decade. The Nikkei closed up 1.8pc, or 608.14 points, to 35,049.86 while the broader Topix index added 1.6pc, or 38.39 points to 2,482.87. Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Seoul, Singapore, Taipei, Manila and Jakarta were also well up. In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average of 30 top American companies rose 0.45pc, to 37,695.73, while the S&P 500 gained 0.57pc, closing at 4,783.45. The tech-laden Nasdaq Composite index added 0.75pc, reaching 14,969.65. The yield on benchmark 10-year US Treasury bonds advanced one basis point to 4.03pc.
Read more: telegraph
