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Monster Worldwide (MWW) |
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WIKI ANALYSIS
Monster Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE:MWW) owns Monster.com, the number three visited online job recruitment website in the U.S. with 1.1 million job listing and over 40 million resumes. Unlike its competitors, Gannett and McClatchy's CareerBuilder, Monster has other free services including educational and financial guidance. [1] Monster.com generates revenues from employers paying to post job listings and look at resumes. Advertisers also pay Monster to advertise on its websites. The company earned $905 million in revenue and $19 million in net income in 2009.[2]
Because the stagnation of the U.S. economy led fewer employers to post job-listings, the company's revenue fell 32.6% in 2009.[2][3] In addition, the decrease in North American revenues comes from competition with CareerBuilder and other online job recruitment sites. CareerBuilder provides more ways of connecting employers and jobseekers because it posts resumes on 1000 different local newspapers and media websites; therefore, giving people more chances to be hired. The company has offset the declining US job market by building up its international segment with international web domains.
Company Overview
Business Segments[4]
Monster Worldwide has three business segments: Careers-North America, Careers-International, and Internet Advertising and Fees.
- Careers - North American Segment (45% of total revenue): The Careers segments make money through employers looking to recruit. Jobseekers use the site for free. Employers are charged between $100-400 for 30-day listings depending on the local market and number of listings, and memberships for viewing the resumes posted cost between $1000-$2000.
- Careers - International Segment (40% of total revenue): The company also has websites for jobseekers in different countries. After the US, Germany has the highest revenue making up 10% of the total revenue.
- Advertisement and Fees Segment (15% of total revenue):
The Advertisement and Fees segment includes sites like FastWeb.com and Military.com. The sites target students through scholarship opportunities, IQ tests, personality quizzes, and jobs with the military. These websites puts ads on these free sites to sell consumers services like a degree from an online university. Unfortunately, even with a plan to attract more of the $30 billion internet advertisement market, the segment is not profitable.
Acquisition of HotJobs[5]
In February 2010, Monster entered into an Asset Purchase Agreement with Yahoo! (YHOO) in which it has agreed to acquire Yahoo's HotJobs for $225 million. HotJobs was previously one of Monster's primary competitors.
Business Growth
FY 2009 (ended December 31, 2009)[2]
- Net revenue fell 32.6% to $905 million. This includes a negative impact of $42.5 million from foreign exchange. Revenue from the company's Careers - North America and International segments fell 36.2% and 36.5% respectively.
- Net income fell 84% to $19 million despite a 22% decrease in operating expenses.
Trend and Forces
A Sluggish Economy Hampers Monster's Growth
Monster is affected by changes in GDP and unemployment. In the a slow economic environment, fewer employers look to hire. On the other hand, the number of resumes posted increased because more people were looking for jobs. Unfortunately, Monster doesn’t generate revenues from jobseekers; they come from employers. Because there are fewer jobs available, the demand for Monster's services decrease leading to negative growth, which means less revenue for the company. In 2009, due to the sluggish global economy, the company's revenue decreased 32.6%.[2]
Social networking sites pose a threat
Craigslist, a social networking community with a growing unique audience of 3 million, charges nothing for job postings (except for the maximum of $75 in heavily populated cities). [6] Online social networking threatens online job search engines because it provides a free and more direct way of connecting jobseekers and employers. Even with 220 enhancements on the sites to keep its customers, Monster fears losing revenues from 1) advertisers if more consumers turn to social networking sites and 2) employers as they look for workers on these free sites.
Competition
Online job recruitment sites use their competitive prices, brand recognition through their advertisements, their user-friendly sites, and supplementary free services to attract resumes. Though Monster has similar pricings, it is behind CareerBuilder in market share. However, after the company's acquisition of large competitor HotJobs, the company's marketshare will increase. Monster has free educational and financial services that none of the other have. The competition, however, has a few advantages of its own, as isted below:
- CareerBuilder: is ranked the number one job search website with 1.5 million listings and 13 million resumes; has more than 1000 partnerships with media agencies and newspapers; which unlike other employment sites, helps listings reach more people and charges a flat rate of $389 for a 30-day post; Microsoft joined as one of the parent companies, along with Gannett (GCI), McClatchy Company (MNI), and Tribune Company (TRB).
- Dice.com: is the premium job board vendor for technology related jobs. Dice is listed in NASDAQ under ticket Dice Holdings Inc (DHX).
Free Job Boards
A whole slew of free job board sprung up few years back to take on Monster. So far Monster seems to hold of really well against the free job boards. Following are the top free job baord leaders.
Upcoming Competitors
- LinkedIn - Recently LinkedIn has greatly morphed into a job board/recruitment tool. Based on their recent SEC fillings, more than half of their revenue is from recruitment services.
- Gigma- Even though Gigma is not a job board, its service would have a greater impact on Monster if it catches on with employers. Apparently, Gigma uses sophisticated algorithm to rank and filter candidates. In other words, it works like FICO credit score - Gigma calls it Applicant Score.
References
- ↑ Monster Worldwide About Us
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 MWW 2009 10-K "Selected Financial Data" pg. 18
- ↑ Seeking Alpha "Monster Worldwide feeling the impact of an economic slowdown"
- ↑ MWW 2009 10-K "Our Services" pg. 2-3
- ↑ MWW 2009 10-K "Agreement to Acquire HotJobs Business from Yahoo! Inc" pg. 1
- ↑ Craigslist vs. Monster vs. CareerBuilder
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