Traffic for nearly all the job Web sites is up markedly from last year. Similarly, HotJobs visitors mushroomed from 513,000 in December 1999 to 2.7 million in December 2000. Although JobsOnline holds the top slot on many of the Web measurement lists, the company falters when it comes to holding visitors at the site. According to Jupiter Media Metrix, the average time a visitor spent at JobsOnline during the month of December was about 2.6 minutes. The increased traffic doesn't translate directly into revenues, but attracting job seekers is key to drawing in paying customers, the companies say.
Employers pay to post jobs and search the resume database.
HotJobs makes 70 percent of its revenues from recruiters and corporate hiring managers. The site, which is free of headhunters, has about 12,000 corporate recruiters using the service, said Chief Executive Richard Johnson. It also makes money through ad sales, job fairs and some single ad postings. Industry executives say the traffic surges are the result of widespread layoffs at Internet companies, as well as the high turnover rates associated with the fast-paced work style of the New Economy. Staff cutbacks have touched the smallest tech companies to the largest media conglomerates.