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Highlights:
- Trends in the recruitment market seem to be changing, with employers ghosting candidates.
- The situation seems to be different from a few months ago when employers went the extra mile to hire candidates amid a shortage.
Until recently, a tight labour market showed how employers are going the extra mile to hire candidates by offering higher salaries or more perks. These trends indicated a labour shortage, and employers wanted them at any cost. Economic uncertainties also pushed employees to stay in their current jobs and not look out. However, new data has emerged that shows the trend reversing.
Earlier, "ghosting" was more common from the candidates' side as they would accept interviews or even job offers and wouldn't appear. However, data from the jobs platform Glassdoor shows that employers are now doing the same. The number of people reporting ghosting in their interview reviews for a country has been rising on the platform.
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This comes as an expected move as companies across the world have been slashing their workforces under economic headwinds. Recently, major companies like Microsoft, Salesforce, Meta, Netflix, TikTok, etc., have announced layoffs. Several real estate companies have also announced similar moves amid the tanking housing market.
Similarly, firms working in the financial services sector, like Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase, are heading in the same direction. Retailers, too, have warned about lower profits during the holiday season and dropped their hiring plans.
Kalkine Media® explores some LSE-listed recruitment stocks that investors can look at amid the above information.
Hays Plc (LON: HAS)
The temporary and permanent recruitment services provider belongs to the FTSE 250 index with a market cap of £1,814.97 million. Its stock has given a negative return to investors over the past year at -31.64% and the year-to-date (YTD) return, too, stands at -22.57%. Hays Plc has an EPS of 0.09, and its shares traded at GBX 113.10, down 0.09% as of 8:19 am GMT+1 on 7 November.
Robert Walters Plc (LON: RWA)
Another British recruitment firm is Robert Walters, which belongs to the FTSE All-Share index. The company provides temporary and permanent placement services to many sectors. With a market cap of £389.18 million, the stock holds an EPS of 0.46 as of 7 November. Its 12-month return is in the negative at -37.53%, while on a YTD basis, it has slipped by nearly 33%. The share price stood at GBX 520.00 as of 8:32 am GMT+1 on Monday.
SThree Plc (LON:STHR)
The British staffing services provider operates in several regions and belongs to the FTSE All-Share index. With a market cap of £527.01 million, SThree Plc has an EPS of 0.32. The SThree Plc stock has witnessed negative returns of -30.78% in the past year. STEM shares were up 1.53% at GBX 398.00 as of 8:39 am GMT+1 on Monday.
Note: The above content constitutes a very preliminary observation or view based on market trends and is of limited scope without any in-depth fundamental valuation or technical analysis. Any interest in stocks or sectors should be thoroughly evaluated, taking into consideration the associated risks.
