Hays, Britain’s largest recruitment agency, unveiled a 10 per cent plunge in revenues this morning as it reported slumping demand for its services around the world.

The group said the need for permanent placements was weakening in Britain and Australia and had recently begun to fall in a number of other countries in which it operates.

Chief Executive Alistair Cox said the group was operating in “an increasingly difficult economic environment” but said that its performance in the three months to December 31 had remained resilient.

In a trading update, Mr Cox said a number of the group’s international businesses had continued to expand despite the economic downturn while its public sector business, which now generates about 30 percent of revenue in the UK, was still in good shape.

With over 8,900 staff in 27 countries, Hays placed 68,000 people in permanent jobs last year, and each week paid 46,000 temporary workers. Around 70 per cent of revenues were produced in the UK.

Another recruitment firm, Michael Page, also published fresh figures this morning reflecting the worsening conditions in the recruitment sector.

It said gross profit fell by 7.3 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2008.

The group, which last year rejected a bid approach from Swiss rival Adecco, earned a gross profit of £119 million in the fourth quarter of 2008, compared with £128 million in the same quarter of 2007.

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