LEADING RECRUITMENT specialist Hays will join those warning of tougher times ahead in the jobs market when its new chief executive Alistair Cox rolls out annual results on Tuesday.

The group, which has been cutting employment in its own UK offices, is expected to confirm a sharp slowdown in demand in recent weeks and will say that a majority of clients are now playing safe by hiring temps rather than permanent staff.

At the same time, it will disclose that company bosses have been taking advantage of the jobs shortage by trimming wage rates so that pay inflation is currently running at only around 3%, down from 5% a few months ago and well below current inflation rates.

Hays is still expected to announce a lift in profits for the year to the end of June from £211 million to around £242m, with figures boosted by a strong showing by overseas businesses which now account for almost half of the total.

But analysts warn of particularly tough times in the construction and property sectors, and a slowdown in some continental countries, and the team at ABN Amro believe pre-tax returns could tumble to as little as £192m in the current period.

Despite the general gloom, Hays reports that some Scottish accountants have been able to take advantage of the situation and says that it has seen a 10% lift in those actually seeking temporary placements rather than full-time jobs.

In many cases, they have been able to negotiate increases of up to 50% on their usual pay rates, although there must be concern that this could prove a high-risk strategy.

Pub operator JD Wetherspoon, which has more than 40 of its giant outlets in Scotland, should show some recovery from a dismal first half on Friday when analysts expect to hear of annual profits of around £55m, down from a previous £62m.

The group is expected to claim that it is gaining customers from more expensive rivals and has managed to stem a previous fall in like-for-like sales in recent weeks, although margins are still suffering from higher prices for energy, food, labour and tax.

Chairman Tim Martin has spent more than £1.3m in buying shares since the early summer and now owns just less than 25% of the company, raising speculation that he could mount a buyout of the business at some stage.

Transport group Go-Ahead, which makes most of its money from trains and buses servicing London commuters, is expected to report a surge in annual profits from £97m to approaching £120m on Friday.

The group, which recently took over the Gatwick Express service, will join the likes of Scotland's Stagecoach and FirstGroup by reporting a surge in demand for its services from motorists driven off the road by higher fuel prices.

It has already taken steps to minimise its own costs and has hedged 100% of next year's diesel requirements at just 43p a litre and 2010 requirements at 52p a litre.

Analysts expect a further profits increase to around £126m in the current year although there are concerns about the possible effects of job losses in London's financial centre.

Anglo-American jewellery chain Signet, which moves its domicile to Bermuda on September 11, could promise better times ahead as a result of the stronger dollar and US price rises when its produces an interim trading update on Wednesday.

Overall sales will show a 4.5% decrease on a like-for-like basis for the first half, despite a resilient performance by the UK's H.Samuel and Ernest Jones chains, but directors could report some recent improvement in margins.

Even so, analysts at Seymour Pierce have a sell note on the shares ahead of their move to a primary New York listing, predicting a slide in full- year profits to £143m from £168m.

Wave technology group Renewable Energy Holdings is set to be one of the first of its pioneering sector to make a breakthrough into profit on Wednesday when followers expect to hear that it made around £1m pre-tax at its half-year stage.

The figures benefited from a £1.6m licensing fee for rights to use its technology in the southern hemisphere as well as income from its portfolio of other activities, which range from a wind farm in Germany to a bio-mass plant in Wales.