Online Recruitment Grows in US and Europe

The Monster Employment Index, which measures online recruitment activity, continues to show rapid growth. The European index is now 113 - up from 94 last December, while the US index is 143 - its highest ever level, and 29 points higher than a year ago.

Europe
The European Index, which is based on millions of job postings from more than 1,400 web sites, rose in October across all five countries measured. France led the way with a ten-point rise in October (to 108). The Netherlands and the UK saw three-point rises (to 111 and 106 respectively), while the indexes for Germany and Sweden rose by one point each. Monster's Head of Marketing Communications Kai Deininger explains that the rise is helped by a strong Euro against the dollar, which makes Europe's goods cheaper overseas.

Five of the nine occupational categories tracked by the Index saw increases across Europe in October. In France, there were rises in all categories, while the UK saw an increase in vacancies for eight of the nine sectors.

The biggest growth across Europe was for legislators, senior officials, technicians and clerks. Online job availability for professionals in sales, marketing and PR also grew, with a particular rise in sales vacancies.

The IT sector saw online recruitment rise in all five countries, with the strongest growth in France, Sweden and the Netherlands. The volume of online job offers in the research & development (R&D) sector also increased significantly in October.

Demand for service and shop workers remained flat across Europe, while the only decline in demand was for skilled agricultural and fishery workers.

Peter Dolphin, CEO, Monster Worldwide Europe describes the findings as 'very encouraging'. He says the French index's ten-point jump last month was unexpected, but that the findings mirror the latest statistics from the National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE), which show that French business confidence rose to its highest level in eight months during October.

USA
The US Index rebounded from the slight decline in September, thought to be a result of Hurricane Katrina and gas price rises. All nine US regions and most of the industries and occupational categories tracked saw increased online job availability in October.

Online recruitment activity was highest in the construction industry, reflecting the continued strength of the US housing market, as well as post-Katrina reconstruction efforts. Strong growth was also measured in the manufacturing, arts, entertainment, recreation and retail industries.

In terms of occupations, the highest increase was for military-related jobs. Other occupation types that saw significant increases this month included architecture and engineering; computer and mathematical; and installation, maintenance and repair.

Online demand for workers increased across all nine US Census Bureau regions in October, led by the West South Central region, where the Index rose seven points to 149.

The US index was launched in April 2004 with data collected since October 2003. The European version was launched in June this year, with data collected since December 2004. The indexes are compiled by online careers and recruitment resource Monster, based on reviews of more than 1,500 job sites in the US, and more than 1,400 in Europe. The Index is independently audited by US-based ARC Research. More information is available at www.monsterworldwide.com.

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.