August 2007: U.S. Jobing.com buys CanJobs.com, a Canadian network of 140 local job boards – October 2007: onTargetjobs acquires Canadian board Jobloft.com – November 2007: Beyond.com announced its first Canadian acquisition with Jobanimal.com.
In four months, three U.S. job board networks have acquired Canadian job boards… And yet, U.S. e-recruiting players appeared uninterested in their Northern neighbours up until that point. We saw Hotjob try to penetrate the Canadian market in vain, Monster and Career Builder struggle against the big Canadawide general boards and meta-engines Indeed and Simply Hired launch Canadian versions. Would 2007 be ripe for U.S. job sites to once again be preparing to launch a Canadian offensive
“In fact, it’s a global movement,” explains Peter Weddle, Executive Director of IAEWS*. Many job boards now rely on international acquisitions to revive their growth. Beyond.com CEO Rich Milgram stresses that Canada is often just a stepping stone: “Our expansion into Canada marks the first phase of growing our network.” U.S. sites are also looking towards Europe, Australia and even Asia, just as European sites are eyeing the Canadian and U.S. markets. We’ve seen this before with the purchase of Canadian board JobShark by Jobserve in early 2007. “I think that the Canadian leaders, Workopolis and Working, are also looking at making some acquisitions abroad” says Peter Weddle.
With increasing competition, internal growth is starting to reach its limits, especially in the U.S., and borders no longer deter potential buyers. Quite the contrary, as an international network would be a major asset in wooing multinational clients, who can use the same network to post job ads for their various subsidiaries. The preferred method of setting up shop abroad is now to buy local sites that have already proven successful. The Monster-based exporting model is no longer the rule, with the result that cross-border acquisitions are on the rise.
Note that these acquisitions are often of specialized boards by large general sites. The former are enjoying growing success and account for much of the market’s growth. Making their appearance after the general job boards, they are attracting increasing numbers of recruiters because of their relevance. Transaction amounts can be impressive: the U.S. Dice network acquired U.K. site eFinancialCareers for US$91 million in November 2006, an unprecedented amount for a specialized board. For the big general boards, acquiring niche boards allows them to position themselves in this growing segment by building on already proven expertise. Many attempt to constitute a diversified network of target sites to complete their generalist board. The coming year promises to be full of twists and turns in the tumultuous world of job boards
*International Association of Employment Web Sites