Confidence in the jobs market in the City and Canary Wharf is withering, according to middle management recruiter Michael Page, which could soon start letting go hundreds of its own headhunters.

Page, a specialist in the UK finance and accounting industries, reported a 15% fall in business in the third ­trading quarter with many banks “turning the tap off” for new recruits. Legal, sales and IT recruitment are all down too.
Today's trading statement for the three months to the end of September was Page's most bearish for years.

“The weakness in the banking sector which started over a year is now having a significant impact on other sectors,” the company told investors.
“As confidence erodes, and clients and candidates become more cautious, the recruitment process lengthens.”

The rate of decline in the UK and in the financial jobs market in particular has been rapid.

At the half-year Page had admitted that UK finance and accounting placements had fallen 8% — a collapse in business from the 11% growth it had seen during 2007. “It is all about confidence,” said Page chief executive Steve Ingham. “If you are considering moving jobs and you hear the next wave of bad news you begin to ask: Do I feel safe doing this?'”

With UK business down 8.3% for the quarter — against growth of nearly 20% last year — the recruiter admitted other sectors were hurting. Legal, IT, human resources and ­secretarial placements fell 8%. Marketing, sales and retail recruitment was down 5%.

Ingham said the decline in business would affect his own recruitment. In the three months Page let 76 people go in the UK, but with business expected to drop by more than 10% in the coming months, further losses are expected among Page's nearly 1800 UK staff.

Shares in Michael Page International have halved in the past year. But as a global firm, it is keeping its head above water with gross profits in the third quarter coming in an underlying 3.9% better at £141 million.

Its European business, which accounts for 45% of the group (against the UK which accounts for a third), rose 12.5%. Its Asia-Pacific business, which accounts for 13% of the group, was up by 6%, while the Americas operations, at one-tenth of the group, grew 17%.