International recruitment business Robert Walters Plc went from a record year in 2022 to a warning this morning that its 2023 profit will be “significantly” lower than market forecasts.

The company said weaker confidence among job-seekers and slower hiring procedures — trends it first identified in the second half of 2022 — haven’t improved. In a trading update Wednesday, the company reported a 10% constant currency drop year-on-year in net fee income for the first two months of the second quarter.

Shares in Robert Walters fell 15% in London.

However, the recruiter added that job flow, candidate shortages, and wage inflation all remain solid market trends, and said it hopes for a return to growth “when market confidence recovers.”

The chief executive officer of Reed, another recruitment company, issued a cautious note last week following a decline in job postings in the UK, adding that recessionary “alarm bells” are ringing.

Britain’s labor market tightened further in April, with wages surging and unemployment falling unexpectedly to 3.8% in the three months through April, adding to existing inflationary pressures.