International recruiter Hays to resume dividends on upbeat jobs outlook

It has been aided by many main markets easing Covid restrictions and progressing their vaccine rollouts.

Hays is benefiting from "being able to charge top dollar for finding good candidates" especially in the backdrop of a shortage of skilled staff, analysts said.

International recruitment giant Hays is to resume paying shareholder dividends later this year on the back of optimism over a stronger-than-expected recovery in the global job market.

Hays reported a 31% drop in annual operating profit – for the 12 months to the end of June – to £95.1m (€111m) and an 8% fall in net fee income to just over £918m. Full-year fee income for its operations in Ireland were down 11%, despite a decent rise in the fourth quarter.

But, overall, Hays said it had seen a pick-up in recruitment trends in the second half of its financial year.

That has been aided by many main markets easing Covid restrictions and progressing their vaccine rollouts.

"Overall, the strength of the recovery has been dramatic," Hays CEO Alistair Cox said. 

"We now see a clear route back to, and then exceeding, pre-pandemic levels of profit, faster than we envisaged even six months ago," he said.

Hays said its latest financial year had played out against "arguably the toughest macroeconomic backdrop" it ever faced as hiring slowed because of the Covid crisis.

Hays is benefiting from "being able to charge top dollar for finding good candidates" especially in the backdrop of a shortage of skilled staff, analysts said.

The new possibilities created by remote work are spurring many companies to scout for talent outside their home countries, Mr Cox said. 

Hays shares rose by over 3%.

- additional reporting Reuters