Americas chief Boone leaves Korn/Ferry

It gave no further explanation and did not say what Boone's future plans were. He also chaired Korn/Ferry's global operating committee.

Paul Reilly, Korn/Ferry's chairman and CEO, said Boone's responsibilities will be assumed by the regional heads of the Americas. He said: "Jim helped lead Korn/Ferry through one of the toughest recruitment markets in history.......he led us through the high growth of the late 90s, and also played a key role in re-sizing our organisation for the current environment."

Korn/Ferry has made a number of senior management changes this year and reduced the number of consultants and administrative staff by 900 people in the year to June 2002.

Weak hiring markets have also played havoc with its share price, which was hovering around $7.02 on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Friday August 30. It hit a low of $5.78 last month and a high of $13.05 in April.