Recruit Holdings Co. Ltd. (6098:TYO), one of the world’s largest staffing firms and owner of job board Indeed, reported revenue fell 2.1% in constant currency to JPY 850.8 billion (USD 5.89 billion) in its fiscal first quarter ended 30 June. Revenue declined at Indeed, which saw paid job ads fall by 50%. Recruit also reported a decline in staffing revenue from Europe, the US and Australia, though staffing revenue rose in Japan. Recruit also saw revenue increase in its “matching and solutions” business, which includes nonstaffing publishing operations. 

The Tokyo-based company also reported it expects revenue to fall this fiscal year amid a deteriorating economic environment in the US and Europe. It’s not providing guidance for the full fiscal year, but Recruit said it expects second-quarter revenue to be down by between 3.2% and 6.1% year over year.

HR technology

Jobs websites Indeed and Glassdoor are part of Recruit’s “HR technology” segment, where first-quarter revenue fell by 9.1% year over year. The company noted that US revenue in HR technology fell by 13.7%, but that was partially offset by a 4.0% increase in revenue from outside the US.

On a US dollar basis, HR technology revenue fell 14.2% year over year in the first quarter.

“The supply and demand mismatch between job seekers and employers continued to ease, with global labor markets normalizing, particularly in the US,” according to a statement by the company. 

“Total job postings on Indeed, composed of free and sponsored jobs postings, declined year over year in many countries where HR technology operates, including the US, while job seeker activity as measured by traffic to, and applies on, Indeed and Glassdoor increased year over year,” according to the company.

In the US, HR technology revenue decreased by 18.6% on a US dollar basis amid a decline in demand for sponsored jobs. 

Job openings fell by 19% year over year on Indeed during the first quarter. In March, Indeed laid off 2,200 people, 15% of its workforce.

“The decline in paid job ads can be attributed to the easing of supply and demand in the labor market and pricing model changes designed to deliver more value to our clients,” Junichi Arai, senior VP, corporate strategy and investor relations, said in a conference call. 

“Pay per application, or PPA, and pay per started application, or PPSA, are pay-for-performance pricing models which only charge employers when job seekers complete an application or start the application process,” Arai said. “In particular, under the PPSA model which was expanded in the first quarter, jobs that only receive clicks but no applications or started applications are no longer counted as paid jobs.”

The changes attracted some criticism in the market, especially in the way the company communicated the changes to its clients.

These changes contributed to the 50% decrease in the number of paid job ads in the US, Arai said. However, he added that the value to job seekers and employers has increased and led to a higher average revenue per job ad.

As a result, US revenue declined just 18.6% year over year, he said.

Looking past the first quarter, HR technology revenue fell 17% year over year in July on a US dollar basis and is expected to decline between 16% and 20% year over year in the second quarter.

Staffing

In constant currency, staffing revenue rose by 1.2% year over year in the first quarter, but the increase was all in Recruit’s Japan staffing business, where revenue rose 12.7% to JPY 186.1 billion (USD 1.29 billion).

Recruit’s staffing operations in Europe, the US and Australia saw revenue fall 2.4% year over year to JPY 215.2 billion (USD 1.49 billion). The company noted a decline in demand amid an uncertain economic situation.

Staffing revenue in Europe, the US and Australia is expected to fall 7% year over year in the second quarter.

Matching and solutions

Matching and solutions revenue rose by 10.8% year over year. This segment includes revenue from non-staffing publishing businesses in housing and real estate, travel and other subjects.

Share price

Shares in Recruit closed down 2.79% to JPY 4,707 (USD 32.82) on Thursday in Japan; they were 9.74% below their 52-week high, according to FT.com.