Recruiter Robert Walters suffers amid international jobs hunch – however UK earnings rise on accountant hiring growth

Global recruitment firm Robert Walters has reported a significant drop in its fees, but flagged signs of recovery in the UK jobs market.

The recruiter reported a 14 per cent fall in the fees it collected for filling roles in the three months to 31 December. 

It said strong growth in the UK, Spain, Australia and New Zealand was offset by continued weakness across northern Europe, where regulatory and macro uncertainty is weighing on hiring.

The UK market, which makes up 17 per cent of the firm’s fees, reported growth of 25 per cent. 

This was driven by London hiring, which saw fees rise 20 per cent. Temporary roles also performed particularly well.

The UK regions also returned to growth for the first time in three years, with fees up 40 per cent, as Robert Walters placed more qualified accountants into roles.

Robert Walters boss Toby Fowlston said specialist recruitment is recovering in the UK

The Bank of England’s most recent data found employment fell by 1.8 per cent in November.

Chief executive Toby Fowlston said: ‘In specialist recruitment, we have stronger conviction that recovery is increasingly well-entrenched in the UK, which grew strongly.’

Net fee income per fee earner increased 3 per cent, while Robert Walters also made progress on cutting costs, with the monthly cost run rate reduced to below £24million.

Headcount declined 12 per cent year-on-year, and it reported net cash of £26million.

Robert Walters expects net fee income in 2026 to be slightly below last year, as it grapples with continued uncertainty in hiring markets.

‘As 2026 begins, we are acting at pace and with purpose to position the group as strongly as possible as markets continue to gradually recover,’ said Fowlston. 

‘Whilst our capacity to execute our plans to the levels required is better than it was a year ago, the timing of any overall top-line inflexion clearly remains somewhat dependent on how recovery develops in global hiring markets.’

Recruiter Hays also pointed to some green shoots in the UK jobs market this week, as tech hiring returned to growth for the first time in two years.

However, its group net fees declined by 10 per cent in three months to December, led by a big fall in permanent roles.