Executive Summary

The job board industry is at a critical inflection point. Following a fiscal year described by many again as "brutal," 2026 emerges what most hope will be a period of stabilization where efficiency and technological moats are the primary drivers of survival. This paper synthesizes the findings of a roundtable discussion between EU and US job board executives, covering four key strategic topics: the 2025 retrospective, the 2026 economic outlook, the crisis of application quality, and the maturation of Artificial Intelligence.

I. 2025 Retrospective:
Economic Realities and the "Brutal" Shift

While all job boards share similar strategic concerns, the business context of 2025 varied substantially based on local competition, sourcing mixes, and pricing power. Despite these differences, several universal trends emerged.

1. The Revenue and Supply Crunch

For the majority of market players, 2025 was a year of contraction:

• Supply Decline: Most platforms experienced a 10% to 20% drop in supply volumes.

• Revenue Volatility: Pricing tactics helped, but revenues still fluctuated between -15% and +5%, with the average sitting at approximately -10%.

• External Pressures: Growth was stymied by broader GDP trends and aggressive competition from global giants like LinkedIn and Indeed.

• Market Casualties: The year saw significant exits, including the bankruptcy of Monster and the closure of InfoJobs.it.

2. Consumer Behavior and Cost Management

Consumer reactions to this economic uncertainty were polarized, ranging from "frantic shopping around" to "staying put".

• B2C Engagement: Overall, not surprisingly, B2C engagement hit all-time highs, generally again rising +10-20%. In one outlier case, economic pressures drove engagement up by +70%.

• Operational Adjustments: Management teams responded with "cost cuts across the board". Marketing budgets were the first to be reduced—partially because organic B2C engagement was already high—though paid search remained a priority. Personnel cuts were utilized as a final resort.

II. 2026 Outlook:
Pricing Power in a Flat Market

The forecast for 2026 is cautious. While no further "falling off the cliff" is expected, there is no anticipated recovery on the horizon for job boards operating in developed Western economies.

1. Revenue Expectations

Executives expect revenue to remain flat or show a modest increase of 3-5%. This growth is not expected to come from volume, but from price hikes. Those with sufficient market position and pricing power intend to raise rates by 5-10%. (on top of the 2025 increase which sometimes was already +20%).

2. The Evolution of Pricing and Monetization

Pricing is becoming "smarter" and more dynamic. Strategies focus on:

• Dynamic Dimensions: Adjusting prices based on location, job position, and seniority level.

• Product Packaging: A top-of-mind priority to ensure maximum value extraction.

• Discounting: reduce the effective discounts offered

• B2C Monetization: To offset flat B2B revenue, players are looking toward B2C streams. Inspiration is being drawn from online courses, resume builders, and premium visibility for jobseekers.

3. Persistent Margin Pressures

Even with flat revenues, cost pressures are rising due to salary indexations. Consequently, many executives expect further relatively modest cuts in personnel and marketing budgets throughout 2026.

III. The Quality vs. Quantity Dilemma: "AI-to-AI Battlefield"

One of the most pressing issues for 2026 is the surge in application volume and hence the pressure on quality. The rise in application volume is out of proportion vs the (slight) rise in unemployment.

1. The Rise of "EasyApply" Overload

Application volume has risen not just because of supply/demand shifts, but because of AI and EasyApply tools making the process effortless.

Extreme Case: A single job seeker was recorded generating 40,000 applications in one year.

This has sparked an "AI-to-AI battlefield" where candidate bots apply to jobs managed by recruiter bots.

2. The Homogenization of Content

The GIGO (Garbage In, Garbage Out) principle is increasingly prevalent. AI is leading to a homogenization of job texts, cover letters, and resumes. This lack of distinctiveness—a cultural "one-size-fits-all"—makes it very difficult for recruiters to filter out "real application gems".

3. Structural Obstacles to Quality

• Lack of Definition: There is no unified definition of "quality". It is often vaguely defined by recruiters or equated simply to being "shortlisted".

• Gray Zones: While hard criteria (licenses, location) are easily verified, job boards are advised to avoid the "gray zone" of cultural "fit".

• Technical Bottlenecks: Job boards need conversion data to optimize for quality, but this depends on ATS (Applicant Tracking System) integration. Given the hundreds of systems in use, this integration remains a "notorious bottleneck".

IV. AI Integration:
From Novelty to Monetization

AI has moved through a three-year evolution: from novelty (2023), to hype (2024), to a permanent fixture of the industry (2025-2026).

1. Strategic Monetization

The focus has shifted from internal productivity (cost cuts) to creating new products that can be upsold. For example, one job board now offers AI tools like "AI Preselection" as a premium upgrade.

2. Traffic and the "Content Moat"

While traffic from AI Overviews (AIOs) remains in the low single digits, job boards are wary. There is a dual strategy in play:

• Optimization: Ensuring sites are optimized for AI Chatbots and AIOs.

• Protection: Building "moats" around unique job vacancy content to prevent bots from scraping data and causing "transactional disintermediation".

3. Practical Use Cases for 2026

Executives identified several high-impact use cases for AI, for example:

• SEO & Taxonomy: Using LLMs to outline site structures and classify jobs into complex taxonomies.

• Search/Match: Understanding query intent and reranking results based on user actions.

• Extraction: Pulling additional metadata from niche-specific taxonomies.

• Screening: Using external APIs and vision AI to recognize documents like driver's licenses.

• Database Management: Updating candidate databases and structuring data from long-tail, non-standard scraping.
  
  

V. Conclusion:
The Path Forward

As we move through 2026, the industry must pivot from a volume-based mindset to a value-based one. Survival depends on navigating the "AI-to-AI battlefield" by providing recruiters with verified quality rather than just more applications. By building content moats and adopting dynamic, B2C-inclusive pricing models, job boards can maintain their relevance in an increasingly automated ecosystem.