June 15 (Reuters) - British recruiting firm SThree reported a 7% fall in half-year net fees on Monday, www.google.com as the novel coronavirus outbreak forced businesses around the world to put a freeze on hiring activity.

SThree, which hires employees for finance, energy, banking, pharmaceutical, engineering and tech sectors, said net fees earned for the six months to May 31 was 151.2 million pounds ($188.41 million) compared with 163 million pounds reported a year ago. ($1 = 0.8025 pounds) (Reporting by Indranil Sarkar in Bengaluru; Editing by Amy Caren Daniel)