Brace for more consolidation in online HR space: Experts

More consolidation is expected in the online recruitment sector, with job portals losing marketshare to social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, experts say.
The global job industry is rapidly transforming because of wide technological advances. Over the last couple of years, online job portals have lost a significant ground to social media platforms as a talent sourcing channel, according to HR experts.
"Lines of business are blurring and if one doesn't keep pace with same, one has to face redundancy or consolidation," staffing services company TeamLease Co-founder and Senior VP Rituparna Chakraborty said.
Referring to the recent Randstad-Monster deal, she said "To begin with, one should expect more such mergers to happen in this space."

Going forward, innovations in the areas of building reach, engaging and keeping track of 'passive users' and how one runs background analytics are expected, HR experts say.
"There are three key elements to this business - Reach, Engage and Match," Chakraborty said, adding "if we fail to evolve in any of these aspects, given the changing preference of individuals and employers and given the penetration of smartphones and usage, we would eventually lose our relevance."

Human resource experts are of the opinion that online job sites are losing marketshare in recent times to social, mobile and analytical platforms in recruitment.

"They are. Because the problem of sourcing is already solved. Earlier Naukri.Com, monster.Com used to be the sites where one could find people. Now one can find people on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, CoCubes and the like," assessment platform CoCubes Technologies Co-Founder and CEO Harpreet Singh Grover said.
Grover believes that "in the short run, one might not see an impact but as synergies between LinkedIn and Microsoft increase, this could get more and more people on LinkedIn, which then could be a threat to other online recruitment sites."
Global executive recruitment firm Antal International India Managing Director Joseph Devasia noted that "job sites are surely facing stiff competition from the new-age social, mobile recruiting platforms, hence they probably need to evolve faster."

Devasia further noted these deals are "very strategic moves for those businesses who could not capitalise on their customer base and create a social relevant business".