July 25 (Reuters) - Randstad (RAND.AS), the world's biggest staffing firm, on Tuesday flagged weaker demand in a "challenging" jobs market, even as it beat expectations for second-quarter core earnings. "We've had an enormous surge in demand post-COVID ... from there we have sort of gradually seen demand pull back," he added. The company's shares recouped early losses to rise 3.5% by 1013 GMT, as its quarterly core profit beat market forecasts. Underlying earnings before interest, tax and amortisation (EBITA) fell 12% to 271 million euros ($299.8 million), but exceeded the 260 million seen in a company-provided poll. An employer survey from the World Economic Forum earlier this year found that employment could decrease 2% by 2027.

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Persons: Sander van't Noordende, We've, Marc Zwartsenburg, Randstad, van't Noordende, Olivier Sorgho, Jacqueline Wong, Milla Nissi, Emma Rumney Organizations: ING, Economic, Thomson Locations: U.S, Britain, China, North America, Europe, Northern Europe, Asia, Pacific, America, Gdansk