Adecco says flexible jobs continue to outpace permanent roles

By Bernadette Hogg and John Revill

May 13 (Reuters) - Hiring temporary staff remained more popular than permanent recruitment in the first quarter, tracking the trends seen in 2025, the chief of Adecco Group ADEN.S said on Wednesday.

Permanent recruitment was down around 7% for both of the staffing group's units, Adecco and LHH, CEO Denis Machuel said during a call with press.

"It's linked to the uncertainty and explains also why flexible placement is quite active, because the overall economy is pretty good," Machuel said, adding that most of the group's clients "don't dare" to recruit on a permanent basis but need the work to be done.

The results of staffing companies like Adecco reflect the health of the broader economy. Employers typically look to hire more temporary staff rather than permanent workers in periods of uncertainty.

Machuel highlighted Spain, Latin America and Asia Pacific as the markets where permanent recruitment had bucked this trend, growing by up to a double-digit percentage in the quarter that ended on March 31.

The group's overall results were also better than expected, as the Adecco brand booked double-digit growth in Iberia, the Nordics, North America, Latin America and Asia.

The Swiss recruiter said its revenue hit 5.66 billion euros ($6.64 billion) in the quarter, beating analysts' forecast of 5.56 billion euros in a company-compiled consensus.

NO IMPACT FROM MIDDLE EAST CONFLICT

The conflict in the Middle East did not have a notable impact on the job market in the quarter, a fact Machuel said he was "quite amazed" by.

The group has not seen a disruption in its Middle East operations, he added, saying that the economies in the region were still resilient for now.

Adecco said it expected its gross margin to be marginally lower in the second quarter than in the first due to the effects of seasonality. It expects selling, general and administrative expenses to be marginally higher quarter-on-quarter, excluding one-offs.

($1 = 0.8523 euros)