Recruit Holdings just dropped its Q3 FY2025 results, and if there’s one takeaway, it’s this: the HR Technology segment—home to global giants Indeed and Glassdoor—is doing some heavy lifting.
While global markets have seen their fair share of turbulence, Recruit’s strategic focus on the U.S. and advanced monetization is clearly paying off. Here’s a quick breakdown of why the U.S. results are turning heads.
The U.S. Performance: Defying the “Softer” Market
The U.S. labor market has been characterized as “stabilizing” or even “softer” lately, with job postings declining from their post-pandemic peaks. However, Recruit’s U.S. revenue tells a different story:
- Revenue Surge: U.S. HR Technology revenue grew 10.1% year-over-year in dollar terms this quarter.
- The Secret Sauce (ARPJ): The real star of the show is US ARPJ (Average Revenue Per Job Posting), which jumped 18%. Essentially, Recruit is making significantly more money per posting by leveraging high-value solutions like Premium Sponsored Jobs.
- Outlook Boost: Confidence is high enough that the company revised its full-year U.S. revenue outlook for this segment upward to $5.23 billion (a 7.2% annual increase).
HR Technology: The Profit Powerhouse
The broader HR Technology segment isn’t just growing; it’s becoming leaner and more profitable.
- Margin Expansion: The segment’s EBITDA+S margin is now projected at a robust 36.6% for the full year.
- Efficiency Gains: Profitability has been bolstered by a pivot toward AI-driven operations and a strategic workforce reduction earlier in the year aimed at long-term agility.
- Strategic Transfer: To streamline operations, Recruit moved its HR Solutions business into the HR Technology segment this year, further consolidating its matching power.
Why it Matters
Recruit isn’t just waiting for the job market to boom; they are actively changing how they monetize the existing demand. By focusing on “monetization development” and AI, they’ve managed to turn a period of declining job volumes into a period of record-breaking profitability.
With a fresh 250 billion yen share repurchase program underway, it’s clear the company is betting big on its own continued tech-driven transformation.
