Since the first edition of this report was published in 2002, the online recruitment market has seen significant changes. The economic downturn of 2001-03 markedly affected both revenue streams and the supply structure of the industry. In 2002, for instance, revenues actually fell by nearly 20%, while at the same time record numbers of job seekers were posting resumes to recruitment websites. This began to turn around in 2003, and revenues for 2003 and 2004 are at or above 2001 levels. The revenue outlook is good, as more and more companies and job seekers move their career advertising online. According to industry experts, 96% of Fortune 500 companies now use some sort of online recruitment process. Industry compound annual growth rate through 2008 is expected to be at around 22%.

Since the first edition of this report was published in 2002, the online recruitment market has seen significant changes. The economic downturn of 2001-03 markedly affected both revenue streams and the supply structure of the industry. In 2002, for instance, revenues actually fell by nearly 20%, while at the same time record numbers of job seekers were posting resumes to recruitment websites. This began to turn around in 2003, and revenues for 2003 and 2004 are at or above 2001 levels. The revenue outlook is good, as more and more companies and job seekers move their career advertising online. According to industry experts, 96% of Fortune 500 companies now use some sort of online recruitment process. Industry compound annual growth rate through 2008 is expected to be at around 22%.

The poor economy drove many recruitment sites into bankruptcy or out of business altogether, creating an opportunity for larger players to acquire or affiliate with the remainder. The outcome has been the emergence of an industry dominated by three major players: Monster, CareerBuilder and Yahoo! HotJobs, which together account for about 55% of revenues. The remainder is accounted for by a plethora of smaller, industry- or sector-specific sites that appeal to a specialized clientele--the big three are thus actually losing some ground to these niche sites.

The economy is showing signs of a recovery, though job growth remains slower the corporate growth and unemployment has remained at a relatively fixed rate over the past year. Online recruitment, however, is positioned to grow more quickly than other economic sectors. Jupiter Research has predicted that online advertising overall will exceed $16 billion by 2008, adding more than $10 billion from the industry’s total revenues today. Recruitment advertising will likely be the single largest segment of this sector.

This report uses the terms “e-cruiting,” “e-recruitment” “online recruitment” or “web recruitment” to describe companies within the market. This includes companies that post job listings for a fee and/or advertising revenue, whether the type of employment is for temporary, permanent or contract positions. The format is similar to that of classified sections in print ads. This also includes companies that allow organizations to view resume or profile online databases of potential clients for a fee.

Jobs posted in print are not included. Corporations’ proprietary company websites with job postings are also excluded.