Fourth-quarter revenue fell 27.2% at The Caldwell Partners International Inc. (TSX:CWL), a Toronto-based provider of executive search and other services. The firm cited a slowdown in hiring.

“Fiscal 2023 was a challenging year,” CEO John Wallace said in a press release. “We are a talent acquisition services firm fueled by hiring demand, and we saw a significant pullback in hiring at our clients that impacted both of our businesses.”

Still, Caldwell’s executive search team continues to push through a slower market, Wallace said. The company looks to leveraging its all-time high partner count when hiring returns to historically normal levels.

He also commented on the company’s IQTalent segment, which provides on-demand talent acquisition augmentation as a managed service to clients.

“In our on-demand talent acquisition support segment, IQTalent had the dual challenge of being an on-demand business with a heavy weighting in the technology sector, which has been the hardest hit sector during this negative economic cycle,” Wallace said.

The company noted restructuring expenses of C$10.6 million (US$7.8 million) in the fourth quarter. They included C$2.3 million (US$1.7 million) in severance expenses for staff reductions at IQTalent and a charge of C$8.1 million (US$5.9 million) related to the decision to sublease IQTalent’s Nashville location in the fourth quarter.

Wallace said the company is reducing its space in Nashville by two-thirds through subleasing. It’s also negotiating to terminate its lease in its entirety.

The fourth quarter also includes a gain of C$1.6 million (US$1.2 million) related to the spinoff of IQTalent’s software business into IQRecruit Inc., which was effective March 1.

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Share price and market cap

Shares in The Caldwell Partners were up 10.61% to C$0.73 (US$0.54) as of 10:58 a.m. Eastern time today in Toronto. They were 12.31% above their 52-week low.