Recruit Holdings Co. Ltd., one of the world’s largest staffing firms, reported revenue rose 23.2% in its fiscal second quarter ended Sept. 30. Revenue in its “HR technology” segment — which includes Indeed and Glassdoor — rose 107.3% year over year in the second quarter. As measured in US dollars, the increase was 100.1%.

“The limited supply of job seekers looking for work combined with significant hiring demand continued to increase competition for talent on Indeed and Glassdoor, and that competition was a significant driver of revenue growth in Q2 FY2021,” Recruit reported.

The Tokyo-based firm also reported increased demand for temporary staff in Europe, the US and Australia as economic activity improved. It noted the recovery in Japan was gradual.

Revenue in Recruit’s staffing division rose 12.4% year over year in the second quarter with the increase at 9.4% excluding the exchange rate impact.

Revenue by segment

Recruit forecast the imbalance of labor in the US market to lessen over the second half of its fiscal year.

Guidance

Recruit forecast revenue for its full 2021 fiscal year would be up between 19.0% and 23.4%.

Looking at just the second half of the fiscal year, the HR technology segment is expected to rise between 60% and 70% on a US-dollar basis. Staffing revenue in Europe, the US and Australia is expected to rise by approximately 5% year over year and staffing revenue from Japan is expected to rise by approximately 3% year over year.

Share price and market cap

Shares in Recruit closed up 1.23% today to ¥8,071 (US$70.84); they reached a new 52-week high during the day’s trading when they hit a share price of ¥8,180 (US$71.80), according to FT.com. The company had a market cap of ¥13.52 trillion (US$118.67 billion).