Recruitment firm Hays said a post-election upturn in UK hiring had not materialised after warning earlier this year that employers had become more cautious in the run-up to May’s poll.
The group also said it had scaled back the pace of its own hiring in the run-up to the vote despite seeing a surge in fees and earnings over the past year.
Hays reported an 18% rise in pre-tax profits to £156.1 million for the year to the end of June, in spite of a £9.6 million hit from currency movements.
It was buoyed by a 75% like-for-like increase in net operating profit to £45.7 million in the UK and Ireland, where net fees rose 11%.
Hays said activity levels in this division were “strong and broad-based” with all regions and most specialist areas delivering growth in a generally robust jobs market.
But the group said its consultant headcount in in the UK and Ireland rose by just 2% to 2,203 in the year to the end of June as it “paused investment” in the run-up to May’s poll – down from a 12% rise the year before.
The company said this followed significant investment in the first half of the year as it focused on improvements in consultant productivity.
Recruiters such as Hays are often seen as economic bellwethers reflecting the confidence of wider business in hiring staff.
The firm had warned in April about caution ahead of May’s vote. Last month chief executive Alistair Cox said that in the UK the “clear election outcome” had removed potential uncertainty from the market and the business had performed well.
But on unveiling its latest figures, the group said: “In the UK and Ireland, we continue to see good overall net fee growth, albeit we have not seen a post-election acceleration in activity levels.”
Hays, which has 9,023 employees in 33 countries, saw fees across the group rise 9% on a like-for-like basis to £764.2 million.
Mr Cox said the group was on course to deliver a five-year target to broadly double operating profits by 2018. He said the UK saw “strong fee growth across all regions”.
However the group said movements in foreign currency continued to weigh on it, with a further £1 million hit since its fourth quarter trading update.
In the UK and Ireland, the IT sector delivered fee growth of 22%, with construction and property up 14% and the largest specialism, accountancy and finance, ahead by13%.
Hays said: “Our UK and Ireland business remains strongly placed to take full advantage of the current supportive market conditions.”
The group raised its full-year dividend by 5%. Shares rose 2%.
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