How many job boards are there in the UK? 100? 200? 3,500?
The answer is a great deal, and there are new job boards arriving in the market every week! Some of the newly launched boards offer unique services and provide market innovation, while others simply provide a service to a niche sector that has not yet received a choice of dedicated job boards.
The question I have been asked, and seen on Twitter, is "Why are people launching new Job Boards? It is a saturated market."
I guess if you have been operating a job board over the last 18 months it will feel a market with minimal potential. This is caused by the recession. However I feel that there is a silver lining to our economic climate. It has forced recruiters to evaluate every penny they spend and has accelerated the inevitable migration of recruitment advertising from Print to Online.
I am very sorry to say it, but any print publishers out there should not be fooling themselves that their advertising drop is cyclical. It is not, it is lost revenue which won't just walk back. It is due to a change in media consumption behaviour and response driven advertising models which started 10 years ago.
The value of the job board market has been growing. It may not feel like it during recession but as we exit recession and fully recover over the next few years the growth will be more visible.
Recession has reduced the overall recruitment market, but the % of advertising spend with Job Board vs Print Publications has increased. This trend still has significant potential with Print Recruitment Advertising still being worth hundreds of millions of pounds per year.
As with any expanding market, we are seeing an increase in suppliers. The number of Job Boards will continue to grow during 2010 and 2011. I expect a great deal more niche boards, as many sectors are still not catered for with suitable jobseeker choice.
The difficulty with this scenario is life for the jobseeker will get increasingly difficult. Fortunately the job Search Engines will help the jobseeker find the most suitable Job Board. Allthetopbananas.com will continue to support the jobseeker in this demanding role.