It seems that the Internet has changed
just about everything in the world of business: investing, banking, entrepreneurship
- even searching for employees in the businness world has evolved because of the
Internet revolution.
Newspaper classified advertisements were once the
tried and true method of searching for employees. But today many employers have
left print ads behind, and find that the Internet is the best place to hire. In
fact, some experts are saying the Internet will eliminate classifieds altogether.
Employers want low costs, quick results and no hassle, and many believe the Internet
has the newspaper beat, hands down.
In a recent study on newspaper and Internet
classifieds released by the Forrester Research, experts predict that classified
advertisers are shifting their money online and newspaper classifieds will drop
dramatically over the next five years, with as much as $4.7 billion in revenue
loss. Why such a change?
The Forrester study found that classified advertisers
are flocking to the Internet because it is a more cost-effective recruiting method
than print media.
"In two years, we have received 140,000 resumes via the
web, made 1,900 offers and 1,600 hires," said one of the recruiters interviewed
in the report. "Hires run at a cost of $10,000 in print - that's $16 million in
savings."
Advertisers also like the power of the Internet; the speed, broader
exposure and depth of the ads that they can place online make the Internet more
effective than the average classified ad in a newspaper.
"The web improves
our cycle time," noted a recruiter in the study. "One candidate told us that we
made an offer before other firms had even acknowledged receiving a resume."
The
Forrester study is also forecasting a substantial change in the budgets of advertisers.
They predict that online spending by employers will grow from $105 million in
1998 to $1.7 billion in 2003, and that the number of companies recruiting online
will be eight times what it is today.
As the business world progresses
in the electronic age, job seekers and employers alike will continue to find a
more effective means of career development services online. Advertisers will pour
billions of dollars more into the online career site industry, and both employers
and employees will save time and money by achieving faster, more successful placements
with the Net as their new "classified ad" of choice.