Atkins released a bullish trading update today and said it expects full-year results in June to come in ahead of market expectations.
The update said: “We have continued to adjust our resources across the Group to meet anticipated market demand and we expect to report a year end Group headcount of around 17,500.”
The last trading statement from Atkins in February said year-end staff numbers would be “around 17,700.”
The Middle East business has led an improved performance as workloads picked-up and clients started paying their bills after Atkins suffered from a string of bad debts.
The firm said: “Our UK business continues to navigate challenging market conditions and is performing in line with our expectations.
“The Group has continued to position itself for growth through targeted investment and active deployment of resources.
“With our focused portfolio of businesses across a number of geographic markets, the Group is well placed for the year ahead.”