No future for tempjobs.com

UK recruitment firm Reed Executive announced on Monday that it has decided to close www.tempjobs.com, after the company warned investors that profits for the last financial year had fallen by nearly a quarter.

When it launched the tempjobs brand, Reed claimed that it would offer a "revolutionary global service to both temps and employers", by bringing its 40 years of recruitment experience to the Internet. However, on the day that it announced its financial results for the year 2000 the company was forced to admit that the experiment has failed.

"Our experience was that Internet-only recruitment did not work for the temporary staffing sector, and as a consequence we have ceased further investment," admitted chief executive James Reed in a statement. Surfers who try to visit www.tempjobs.com are now redirected to Reed's main Web site.

Reed invested heavily in its Internet operations during 2000, spending £9m on its various online offerings. The impact on its bottom line is clear, with pre-tax profits down nearly 25 percent at £15.4m, compared to just over £20m in 1999.

The company is still confident that its online business is performing well, and is positive about the outlook ahead.

"The profile and importance of www.reed.co.uk grew considerably during the year, and now receives over half a million unique visitors and six million page impressions every month," said Reed. "The investments that have been made, and the growth delivered, in 2000 means we are well placed to move our company forward significantly in the future," he added.

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