Dip in recruitment demand sees profits fall at Indeed

Revenue and operating profit at the Irish arm of recruitment company Indeed declined as hiring demand fell from the pandemic-era boom.
The company recorded revenues of almost €2.2 billion in the 12 months between April 1st, 2023, and March 31st, 2024.
However, its prior reporting period covered 15 months from January 1st, 2022, to March 31st, 2023, as the company brought its financial year in line with that of its parent company, Recruit Holdings.
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On an annualised basis, revenues were down 6 per cent.
Its operating profit was €600 million, compared to €783.1 million for the 15-month period to the end of March 2023. Gross profit for the year was €1.58 billion, while pretax profit was €647.2 million. The company paid €87 million in tax.
“With few exceptions among advanced economies, job openings and job postings have largely fallen from pandemic-era highs, while wage growth has slowed as the inflation rate fell,” said Indeed’s Daniel Corcoran, vice-president of corporate strategy.
“Consequently, we saw hiring demand slow during the reporting period to March 2024 as the labour market normalised after the post-pandemic hiring boom.”
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“We continue our efforts to drive company growth, in part by leveraging AI to connect employers with quality candidates, and improving monetisation of our products. With over 580 million jobseeker profiles, people in more than 60 countries across 28 languages come to Indeed to search for jobs, post CVs and research companies.”
Indeed, which was established in Ireland in 2012, currently employs more than 1,100 people at its Dublin headquarters. The company has had two rounds of jobs cuts in recent years.
Earlier this year, it sought up to 70 redundancies as it simplified its structure, while a separate round of cuts reduced headcount by about 220 as part of a wider cost-cutting exercise.
The company had a wage bill of more than €132 million, with additional social security, pension and severance costs bringing the total to more than €173 million.
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Despite the recent cutbacks, the company affirmed its commitment to the Dublin office.
“Our headquarters in Dublin is our engine for such international growth – serving every Indeed market outside of the US – and it continues to play a crucial role in helping to deliver on our mission to help people get jobs,” Mr Corcoran said.