Irish arm of online recruitment platform Indeed saw profits continue to rise in 2022

Company says job openings and annual wage growth falling or slowing from highs set in early 2022

The Irish arm of online recruitment platform Indeed saw its turnover and profit continue to rise in 2022 as hiring remained strong and the global economy bounced back from the pandemic.

But the company also warned that the number of jobs postings on the site was slowing from last year’s growth, with job openings and annual wage growth falling or slowing from the highs set in early 2022.

Indeed Ireland Operations Limited said revenue for the 15-month period January 1st, 2022, to March 31st, 2023, was just under €2.2 billion, compared to €1.1 billion for the 12 months to December 31st. Operating profit was more than €783.1 million, €270.3 million in the prior year. Pretax profit was €748.4 million.

The Irish subsidiary is changing its financial year to align with parent company Recruit Holdings Co, which will see the fiscal year run from April 1st to March 31st. That means the current set of accounts cover a 15-month period as part of the transition.

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The company paid €99 million in tax for the 15-month period, compared to €34 million in 2021. That equated to an effective tax rate of just under 13.3 per cent for the 15 months.

“2022 was a particularly strong year for hiring as the global economy bounced back from the pandemic, and you can see that reflected in these results,” said Daniel Corcoran, Indeed’s vice-president of global strategy and operations.

“Although the labour market remained tight globally the supply and demand mismatch between job seekers and employers continued to ease. Data from our Indeed Hiring Lab showed that job postings on our Irish site were 56 per cent higher than pre-pandemic levels this time last year. However, they are now about 26 per cent higher than those pre-pandemic levels. Due to the uncertain outlook in the HR matching market we’ve made difficult changes to reduce costs over the past 18 months to weather the economic uncertainty ahead.”

Ireland serves all the company’s international markets, a total of 60 outside the US.

“For the revenue performance during the 15-month period covered, our Ireland HQ played an important role for Indeed’s international growth,” Mr Corcoran said.

Indeed established its Irish office in 2012, where it currently employs more than 1,200 people. That figure was down from the 1,481 it employed at the end of March, with the company among those in the tech sector that announced lay-offs earlier in the year as the post-pandemic hiring boom faded. In March the company said it would cut 15 per cent of its workforce worldwide.

Indeed was co-founded by Paul Forster and Rony Kahan in 2004, and acquired by Japanese group Recruit in 2012.

Ciara O'Brien

Ciara O'Brien

Ciara O'Brien is an Irish Times business and technology journalist