Hays says jobs market still under pressure as it counts on new year hiring boost

Hays has revealed a 10% drop in recruitment fees over the final quarter of the year as the jobs market remained under pressure, and it banks on a new year boost to hiring activity.

The global recruiter said permanent hiring was still a challenge, with it taking longer to get people into roles.

Permanent recruitment fees dropped by 14% on a net basis over the final three months of 2025, compared with the same period last year, while temporary and contracting fees fell by 8%.

In the UK and Ireland, the public sector faced an even tougher climate, with recruitment fees tumbling by 16% year-on-year, compared with a 5% decline within the private sector, Hays revealed.

However, fees collected from technology jobs grew year-on-year for the first time since mid-2023.

Recruitment agencies like Hays make money by charging companies a fee to find and place candidates in jobs.

The company has been impacted by a slowdown in hiring and a weaker jobs market over the past year, with many companies making cutbacks in response to a tougher economic environment.

Hays said a new year “return to work” trend will be particularly important over the 2026 financial year, so it will be monitoring activity levels closely.

Chief executive Dirk Hahn said: “Amidst ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty, challenging perm (permanent hiring) conditions, and weaker average hours worked in Germany, we are executing well against our strategy and continue to make significant operational progress.”

He added that the recruiter was sharpening its focus on “long-term growth markets” and making sure it was prioritising the job categories that are most in-demand, that require higher skilled and higher paid roles, growing industries and its biggest enterprise clients.

This focus, along with cost-saving efforts, will help it return to previous peak profits of £250 million, the firm said.

Hays is expecting to make a profit over the first half of its financial year of around £20 million.

Shares in Hays were down by more than 3% on Wednesday morning.