The recruitment industry, which previously benefited from an uptick in demand for staff from economic reopenings, is now seeing signs of a slowdown as sky-high inflation and recession fears push employers to be cautious about their hiring plans.

"Looking forward, there remains a high level of global macroeconomic and political uncertainty in majority of our markets," Chief Executive Officer Nicholas Kirk said.

The company saw its fourth-quarter gross profit in Greater China fall by 41% and a slide of 52% in Mainland China amid COVID-19 lockdowns in the region.

PageGroup results are in-line with peer Robert Walters, which warned on its profit on Tuesday.

The London-listed company, which helps in hiring executives, professionals and clerical staff, expects annual operating profit of around 195 million pounds ($237.20 million), down from a previous forecast of 204 million pounds.

($1 = 0.8221 pounds)

(Reporting by Amna Karimi, Sinchita Mitra and Radhika Anilkumar in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh.V)