//
Hays said that 250 jobs are to be axed in the UK following a fall in fee income of almost one-third (31 per cent).
According to Paul Venables, financial director at Hays, up to 20 per cent of registered recruitment companies in the UK could disappear over the next few years.
He added that the rate at which people sign up to jobs has accelerated since the economic downturn took hold.
"They used to take about two weeks," he commented, adding: "Now, it's much more like four hours. You just sign it because you want the job."
A recent survey by High Fliers Research found that overall graduate vacancies for 2009 have been reduced by 17 per cent.
Only the public sector has seen an increase in positions.
