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On a day when new unemployment claims fall below 400,000 for the first time since April, and Monster reports its strongest quarter since 2008, what happens? The company’s stock opens down and only goes lower.

If this was one of those no-future-for-job boards things, then we might expect to see Wall Street discounting all the publicly held recruitment publishers. But Dice Holdings, which reported its strong quarter Tuesday morning, is up. And the Chinese careers company, 51Job, which has annual revenue that’s less than Monster’s quarterly take, is trading at $64.82, down .2 percent.

Not two hours after the company ended its quarterly financial conference call with analysts, Monster’s stock is selling at $12.06 a share. That’s an 8 percent drop from Wednesday’s $13.14 close.

It doesn’t seem to make sense considering Monster earned 9 cents a share, a penny more than what analysts were expecting. It reported 2nd quarter revenue of $269.7 million, well above expectations and even a bit more than the company’s own best prediction.

Its international business grew 31 percent over the 2nd quarter last year and now rivals its North American revenue, which increased by a not-too-shabby 26 percent to $122.6 million.

With those kinds of numbers, and predictions of a strong 3rd quarter, Monster Chairman, President and CEO Sal Iannuzzi was hardly boasting when he opened his presentation this morning, saying, “We are pleased with our financial performance.” keep reading…

Job board operator Dice Holdings turned in a financial performance in the 2nd quarter that was in line with Wall Street’s expectations.

Reporting this morning before the U.S. markets opened, Dice reported it earned 11 cents a share on revenue of $44.9 million. Dice beat the Street’s high-end revenue prediction by almost $1 million. Revenue was 50 percent higher than in the 2nd quarter last year, due in part to acquisitions last year, as well as a 48 percent increase from eFinancialCareers, especially in the U.K.

For the current quarter, the company said it expected to earn 13 cents a share, which is what analysts were expecting to hear. keep reading…

The two largest, publicly held job boards are scheduled to report their 2nd quarter financials this week, and there are indications that the news will be good.

Tuesday morning, Dice Holdings releases its financials. Two days later, on Thursday, Monster reports. LinkedIn, which may or may not be a job board depending on your point of view, reports on August 4.

Privately held CareerBuilder released some limited numbers last week. One of the two largest career sites in the world, it reported $160 million in revenue from its North American operations. That represents a 15.1 percent increase over the same quarter in 2010, and a 6.67 percent increase over the first quarter of this year. keep reading…

Two weeks ago, Taleo CEO Michael Gregoire was telling The Street he saw growth ahead for his HR technology company.

“We are slowly growing our European operations,” Gregoire told The Street’s market analyst Debra Borchardt.

He must have had his tongue firmly in cheek as he said that, since today Taleo doubled its European operations with the acquisition of HR technology vendor Jobpartners for $38 million. keep reading…

Monster got a boost Friday when investment bank UBS upgraded the company’s stock to a buy.

In its recommendation, UBS said the job board’s North American division will continue to be challenged, but it is more optimistic about its growing international business and the potential revenue boost from the introduction of its 6 Sense search technology overseas.

The 44 percent drop in Monster’s stock price UBS considers overdone;  its 52-week high hit $25.90; today’s price is right around $13.50. However, while recruitment budgets are generally stable, UBS says the North American business, which comes largely from the U.S., has plenty of competition from niche sites.

As if to prove the point, Monster recently launched a recruiting site for expatriate Indians featuring jobs in the homeland. The flashy ReturntoHome channel, part of Monster’s India job board, has a prominent Flash presentation promoting India as “the land of opportunities.” Besides noting the country is now the 4th-largest economy in the world, it enthuses “your family will surely enjoy the same lifestyle in India.” keep reading…

Wall Street investors who spent the day bidding up LinkedIn faster than the last seconds of a hot eBay auction have given the company a $9 billion value as of the end of the trading day in New York.

Not bad for a job board business network that saw its first profit last year.

The stock, which was priced in its first filings with the Security and Exchange Commission at $32-$35, soared to $122.70, before settling back to close the day at $94.25 a share.

Trading as LNKD, the stock was the darling of Wall Street. More than 27 million shares will have changed hands by the time the market closes, several times the 7.84 million share that were part of the initial public offering. More than 200 stories have appeared in the financial trades and online since the stock opened this morning.

The Wall Street Journal wrote an entertaining post pointing out that at LinkedIn’s price at one point, Apple would be worth $3 trillion. It shows, says the Journal, “how bananas the LinkedIn IPO is.” keep reading…

Next week, when LinkedIn is likely to begin offering its stock for sale, the 8-year-old company could find itself worth $3.3 billion.

According to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, a total of 7.84 million shares will be offered to the public at a price estimated to be somewhere between $32 and $35 a share. Of the total, LinkedIn will sell 4,827,804 shares, while existing stockholders, the venture capital investors, will sell the balance.

At the upper end of the price estimate, LinkedIn would be worth more than half again as much as Monster. (Stock held by the founders, other early investors, and executives, totals 89,547,185 and is factored in the total company valuation.) Monster’s market cap today is $2.04 billion.

Now why compare to Monster? Because increasingly LinkedIn is emerging as a social networking job board. keep reading…

Double-digit revenue increases are being reported by the leading U.S. job boards. Dice and Monster, both publicly held, reported their first quarter financial results today.

Dice Holdings brought in $40.1 million, which was 49 percent over revenue during the same period last year. The biggest portion came from its tech board, Dice.com, which saw a 35 percent year-over-year increase. Its eFinancialCareers site grew even more aggressively. Revenue there was up 48 percent, the company reported this morning.

Monster reported its overall revenue was $261.4 million, a 21 percent improvement over the same quarter in 2010. That number includes an adjustment relating to the acquisition of HotJobs. Excluding the one-time charges, Monster’s revenue was $264 million and it earned 5 cents a share, beating the 3 cents per share average of analysts’ estimates.

Dice, too, beat Wall Street, reporting 9 cents a share, versus analysts’ 8 cents per share expectations. The Street expected total revenue to come in at $39.4 million, which Dice also beat.

Monster’s big tell on hiring trends is the 24 percent year-over-year increase in bookings. The $272.5 million is the value of job posting and resume contracts signed during the quarter. It’s a strong sign of continuing improvement in the worldwide economy, and solid evidence that companies expect to continue to increase their hiring. keep reading…

In a deal valued at $290 million, talent management systems provider SuccessFactors will acquire privately-held Plateau, one of the leading learning systems providers in the world. The deal was announced today.

The acquisition follows the purchase of Jambok last month. The startup, a “mobile video and social learning technology” provider, broadened the business collaboration tools that SuccessFactors has been promoting as part of its human capital management offerings, which it brands as business execution software.

Today’s acquisition, the largest the publicly-traded SuccessFactors has ever made, is a powerful addition to the company’s product lineup. Learning has been a weak link in an otherwise strong talent management lineup. Adding Plateau’s enterprise LMS capability now gives SuccessFactors an extensive end-to-end suite. keep reading…

Like businesses all across the globe, SHRM had to dip into its reserves to cover expenses in 2009 when it came up $8.7 million short.

The organization’s recently posted 2009 tax return shows the Society for Human Resource Management spent $89.9 million in 2009, while taking in $81.2 million from dues, conferences, and advertising.

That compares to the $17.1 million deficit the organization ran up in 2008 when it spent $104.8 million, but took in only $87.7 million. In 2007, SHRM found itself with a $23.4 million surplus.

Because the data comes from tax returns (non-profit returns are public), some of the expenses allowed by the IRS such as depreciation aren’t out of pocket. So the actual losses on operations are less. In 2009, depreciation, depletion and amortization came to $3.6 million. However, that still meant a  year end cash deficit of $5.1 million. keep reading…

We are in interesting times with regards to corporate recruiting. This is a Big Inflection Point in the business cycle (arguably the largest one many of us will experience in our lifetimes) and recruiting departments are really stretched.

Part of the challenge corporate recruiting departments face today are a result of not recognizing “False Economies.” A False Economy is when something seems like a great deal or a good idea, but the economics are not what they seem when viewed more holistically or from a different vantage point. This is usually a result of tension between short-term objectives and long-term objectives: value is typically traded between the two. Jack Welch famously remarked about two years ago that “On the face of it, shareholder value is the dumbest idea in the world …”

That is an interesting insight to reflect upon in light of managing a corporate recruiting operation.

There are a host of potential False Economies in corporate recruiting departments — things that seem like they save money or create value, but in reality the true net economic value is substantially less. Identifying and understanding these False Economies will be imperative for staffing leaders to navigate the rough waters ahead.

One timely example is recruiting team capacity … many organizations currently have an insufficient capacity model for the current demand plan. This typically results in overspending that is far greater than the cost of deploying a more sustainable resource model. At the center of the dilemma is the substantial difference between maximum capacity and optimal capacity. Many corporate recruiting departments have been cut so much that they would need to operate at maximum capacity to meet the needs of the business. This is unsustainable, like running your car at redline all the time: sure you can do it, but how long is it going to last? keep reading…

With their stock price zooming today, HR software vendors Taleo and SuccessFactors have got to be enjoying Wall Street’s reaction to their 2010 financial results.

Taleo reported a small profit. SuccessFactors reported a pretty sizable loss. But both companies did better in most areas than financial analysts had expected and both predicted strong first quarters and full-year performance.

SuccessFactors estimated its current quarter would see revenue in the range of $62.5 million to $63.5 million and $265 million-$270 million for the full year. Taleo, which beat Wall Street’s 4th quarter revenue estimate of $67.3 million by just over 5 percent, also expects a strong 2011.

The company’s stock closed today at $35.01, up 16.3 percent on the day.

Kenexa, which saw its share price climb Wednesday, was down about 1 percent today, closing at $24.33. The company beat its own income prediction, coming in at $7.4 million, or half a million above its top-end estimate. It also beat its earnings per share guidance by 1 cent.

Kenexa’s 2011 estimate is for revenue in the $240 million to $248 million and per share earnings of 62 cents to 82 cents. The guidance is in the range of Wall Street’s estimates. keep reading…

Glassdoor is $12 million richer this morning, following a third round of venture financing that brings the total for the employer review site to $22.2 million.

Launched in June 2008, the site today gets about 3.5 million unique monthly visitors who check out the reviews of some 110,000 companies. Most are U.S.-based, but the site has been expanding globally and now has data on companies in 100 countries.

Some of the new investment will be used to grow internationally. The company says 20 percent of its traffic comes from outside the U.S., principally from Canada, India, United Kingdom, Australia, and Singapore.

Glassdoor says it will also be investing in additional employer data and advertising technology.

The site caught the social media wave, using user-generated reviews of their jobs and employers (or former employers) to create ratings and provide employer-specific salary information. Everything is anonymous, leading early critics to complain that the site would be dominated by malcontents and bitter former employees seeking revenge. There’s some of that, but a significant number of reviews — perhaps the majority — appear balanced. keep reading…

Dice had a great day on Wall Street today. Its stock closed at $14.95, up 14.5 percent on the day.

Depending on what expense items are considered, the job board company either met analysts expectations or came in just below. This morning Dice reported earning 8 cents a share on $37.9 million in revenue for the fourth quarter of last year. The revenue beat analysts’ estimate of $36.9, but Yahoo Finance reported the consensus was for the company to earn 10 cents a share.

However, Dice met the estimates when expenses of an acquisition and a stock offering are excluded. (One-time costs typically are not included in Wall Street’s estimates.)

Ignoring Wall Street for the moment, Dice had a great year overall. Its net income for 2010 — $18.9 million — was 17 percent higher than for 2009. For the 4th quarter, net income rose almost 50 percent, $5.7 million from $3.9 million the year before. keep reading…

Cytiva, the Canadian talent acquisition technology company, is being acquired by Taleo.

The $11 million (Canadian; $11.1 million U.S.) deal is expected to close early next quarter. When complete, the purchase will bring Taleo some 250 mid- and small-market employers, strengthening that sector of the company’s business.

Based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Cytiva started in 1995 as a tech-sector job board, introducing its SonicRecruit ATS several years later. Over the years, Cytiva has added modules for onboarding, performance management, and others, retaining its focus on talent acquisition. All Cytiva software is true SaaS.

Michael Boese, Taleo’s SVP of its small- and mid-sized business group, said Cytiva is a good fit for Taleo, in part because both companies are focused on SaaS technology provisioning. And because Cytiva’s focus in the SMB market is where growth opportunities are strongest. keep reading…

Friday was a tough day for the world’s stock markets. Rattled by the events in Egypt, investors worried that the upheaval there could worsen, even spread, and the uncertainty lead to a sell off that drove the Dow down 167 points.

As big a number as that it is, it represents only a 1.39 percent decline.

Monster Worldwide, however, took a 25 percent beating from its closing stock price on Thursday. Today, Monster is improving more than the market as a whole. The stock was up 3.76 percent at midday to $16.55.

Part of the reason was Monster’s financial results for the last quarter of 2010. The company reported that it earned a profit in line with analysts’ estimates. But its revenue came in lower than estimates and both revenue and the dollar value of contracts signed during the quarter were at the low end of what the company had predicted a few months ago.

Meanwhile, LinkedIn filed for an IPO Thursday, its registration statement confirming that it was building its business on recruitment advertising.

It was almost a perfect storm, with the financial results and the IPO announcement coming amidst the growing social media buzz. From the Wall Street Journal to CNBC, and even among bloggers outside the U.S., the talk is that job boards are on the same slope that newspapers were in the 1990s. Newspaper recruitment advertising peaked in 2000, dropping from $8.7 billion then to $786 million in 2009. keep reading…

Bad weather and government budget dalliance underminded Monster’s hopes for a strong finish to 2010 and it’s giving the company a slow start this year.

Though Monster finished 2010 meeting Wall Street’s profit expectations of 6 cents a share, its revenue of $258.3 million was below the $262.5 million analysts estimated. For the year, Monster reported $919 million in revenue and a 7 cent a share loss.

In after-hours trading, Monster’s stock was down about 3.7 percent and selling at $20.60 a share. keep reading…

LinkedIn did the expected today. It announced it was going public.

The privately held company filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission saying it intended to list on either the NASDAQ or the New York Stock Exchange. No initial offering price was listed, nor was the intended number of shares to be sold.

That LinkedIn was preparing for an initial public offering has long been rumored. Earlier this month Reuters said the company had been meeting with financial institutions and would begin offering shares this year.

The company has multiple shareholders, including founder Reid Hoffman and his wife who own 21.4 percent of the private stock, and three venture capital companies.

In its SEC filing LinkedIn reported it has been growing revenue rapidly. For the first nine months of 2010, the company had $161.4 million in revenue, twice the revenue for the first nine months of 2009. It also posted a $10.1 million profit through the end of September versus a loss of $3.4 million for the first nine months of 2009. keep reading…

Fortune magazine is out with its annual list of 100 Best Companies To Work For and the names there are recognizable to anyone keeping track.

SAS, the North Carolina software giant, is No. 1 for the second year in a row. The company, with onsite childcare, healthcare, employee gym, and more — lots more — is a regular. It has made the list for the last 14 years.

Wegman’s Food Markets, and Google, Net App, and Boston Consulting are all still in the top 10.  Zappos, the much-admired shoe company now owned by Amazon, and REI, the camping and outdoor recreation provisioner, are the only newcomers. Zappos is 6th and REI 9th on the 2011 list. keep reading…

Reuters is reporting that LinkedIn is moving ahead with plans to go public this year and has already picked the banks it will work with.

Citing three sources, Reuters says the financial institutions include Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, and JPMorgan. The company supposedly heard presentations about IPO prospects in November.

Based on individual sales of the private company’s shares, as reported by SharesPost, LinkedIn is currently valued at around $2.1 billion. Speculation is that the company has revenues of $200 million and has been cash flow positive for at least two years. It makes money by selling premium services to its 85 million registered users, providing access and job postings to recruiters, and through advertising. keep reading…