RECRUITMENT group Michael Page International admitted that hiring freezes and recent turbulence in the financial markets had hit its banking arm.
The firm, which employs more than 1,300 people in the UK including a Liverpool office in Edmund Street, said the strong growth in bank placements in the first six months of 2011 had slowed.
Recent weeks have also seen big job cuts by Lloyds Banking, HSBC, Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland.
The bank sector accounts for 10% of its overall profits, but despite the slowdown and a UK market described as “challenging”, the recruiter said it still expects to make progress this year.
Underlying profits rose by 38% to £45.5m in the half-year to June, with growth in both permanent and temporary placements. Revenues rose by 26% to £502m.
In the UK, profits grew by 8.1% to £10.4m in a market the company described as “tough”, with growth in the private sector offset by the impact of public sector cuts.
