Job seekers turn to the web

Growth in online job ads is at the expense of national and regional newspapers

The number of job vacancies listed on the leading online job websites has increased by a fifth so far this year, according to figures from the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC).

The REC believes that the growth is coming at the expense of job advertising in national and regional newspapers.

It reports that national press advertising of jobs has fallen 50 per cent since its peak in September 2000, despite a slowly rising overall job market.

Gareth Osborne, managing director at the REC, said: "The decline of print advertising can be linked to a partial shift towards web-based advertising by recruiters and employers.

"The other key factor is the increasing use by employers of recruitment agencies that can lead proactive recruitment campaigns on their behalf.

"In an increasingly tight labour market, simply placing a job advert in the paper or online is no guarantee of attracting the right calibre of candidate."

Johnston Press, a publisher of regional newspapers, reported a nine per cent decline in employment advertising in its recent interim results.

Not surprisingly newspaper groups have invested in online activities or created online job sites themselves.

Newsquest Media, Northcliffe Newspapers Group, Trinity Mirror and Guardian Media Group jointly developed fish4jobs.com, now the second largest online jobs service.

But it is a little known fact that the government is one of the biggest players in the online job market. The most visited jobs website last month is run by government agency Jobcentre Plus, according to figures from Hitwise, which measures unique users on UK sites.

Andy Randall, chief executive at online recruitment technology provider i-Grasp, said: " Candidates know that they can go directly to an employer's website and get so much more than they can via a newspaper ad.

"For a start, they don't have to wade through ads for employers they're not interested in with a hope for finding a role that fits them. The probability of finding the right job with the right company is minuscule.

"Compare that with the ability to go direct to British Airways, Cadbury Schweppes, Centrica or Norwich Union and see all their jobs."

Worldwide online jobs market leader Monster.com said that its online job listings rose three per cent last month.