Things are STILL mostly looking up: revenue roundup, part 2

Last week I gathered revenue updates from a number of publicly held job boards to see if there was a common thread. This revenue roundup seemed to indicate there was – it seems that revenue is up (even for beleaguered DHI!).  But I noted that several big names were left out – and of course many of those have now reported their results. Will the upward track be broken? Let’s take a look:

• Recruit revenue is up – a lot: Recruit Holdings, which owns Indeed and Glassdoor, reported revenue rose 39.8% year over year in its fiscal first quarter ended June 30. HR technology revenue (which includes the two job boards) jumped 148.9% amid what the company said was a broad surge in demand for sponsored job advertising. Recruit forecast revenue will be up between 14.6% and 19.0% for the full fiscal year. HR technology segment revenue is expected to increase between 65% and 75% on a US-dollar basis for the full year. That’s pretty positive guidance from the company, especially since one of its job boards is the largest in the world.
• Doximity revenue is up: Well, this is one way to start your life as a publicly-held job board: Doximity, the physicians networking site recently valued at $12.5 billion, reported a first quarter with a 100% y-o-y revenue gain and a 36% profit margin. Dubbed LinkedIn for doctors, Doximity had revenue of $72.7 million for Q2 2021 versus $36.4 million a year earlier. Like LinkedIn, Doximity makes most of its revenue through recruitment marketing and targeted ads in user feeds. Hmm, I wonder if any other recently public job boards have reported their earnings? Oh yeah, here we go….
• ZipRecruiter revenue is up: ZipRecruiter reported second-quarter revenue rose 108.7% to a record level for the Santa Monica, California-based company. The revenue of $183.0 million exceeded the high point of the company’s guidance. ZipRecruiter forecast third-quarter revenue will rise between 77% and 83% year over year. The company also raised its revenue growth forecast for the full year to between 56% and 59% from the earlier forecast of between 39% and 44%. That’s pretty healthy guidance!
• Ringier Axel Spring Poland revenue is down: Ringier Axel Springer Poland saw sales revenue decrease 7.3% while its net profit dropped by 19% in FY2020. Ringier Axel Springer was established in 2010 as a joint venture between Ringier and Axel Springer to combine their international operations in Central and Eastern Europe. Its classifieds portfolio includes recruitment sites NoFluffJobs.pl and StepStone.pl. On the positive side, the company’s revenue from its online segment increased by 5.7% to PLN 307.5 million ($79 U.S.) from PLN 291 million last year. So not exactly all bad news – and from my perspective, good news on the job board side.
• Freelancer.com revenue down:  Australian marketplace Freelancer.com has posted a 5.7% dip in revenue for H1 2021 versus the same period of last year, to stand at AU$ 27.8 million ($20.4 million U.S.). H1 revenue for the company’s freelancing marketplace alone saw an even steeper fall of 11.5% year-on-year. The company had many excuses – officials blamed the result on a strong Australian dollar (over 70% of company revenue is in USD), the site’s global presence, a declining website ranking, falling membership income, and efforts to tackle “spammy bids” and attract more profitable clients. Maybe those explain the drop – but the contrast between Freelancer’s situation and Upwork’s significant growth is sharp.

So there you have it – a (slightly) mixed revenue roundup, but in terms of company size and impact, all of the larger players are doing quite well in the Delta era. I will be curious – as I am sure you will be – how things look as we near the end of the year. One thing is certain (or at least it seems so to me) – increasing demand for workers plus fewer workers equals an ongoing need for job boards.

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