It has been a tough start to 2025 for investors in recruitment firms, and particular for those holding Robert Walters (RWA), with the shares down exactly one third at the time of writing, at a 10-year low of 210p.

The fact the stock is trading even lower than it did during the pandemic sell-off in 2020 suggests the outlook for the staffing sector is worse than it has been for a long time.

In March, both Robert Walters and rival Pagegroup (PAGE) warned economic uncertainty was impacting both client and candidate confidence leading to lower net fee income and profits.

In April, the firm reported another quarter of double-digit decline in net fee income for the three months to March due to the weak sentiment in 2024 extending into this year, while cautioning the increased uncertainty in global trade flows following Liberation Day would likely be ‘a further headwind to confidence, limiting visibility on the outlook for the balance of the year’.

The company is due to publish its second-quarter trading update in mid-July, and unless trading has improved a great deal in the interim – which at this stage seems unlikely – we suspect the shares will to continue to drift. 

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