London hosted one of the most well-known gatherings in the recruitment advertising space, Job Boards Connect Unplugged 2025, on May 15th.

The event was more than a traditional conference; it was a genuine meeting of minds, bringing together job board founders, technologists, marketers, and industry veterans for an honest conversation about where the job board sector stands now and, more importantly, where it is headed next.

What set this Job Boards Connect Unplugged apart wasn’t just the hype around Artificial Intelligence or the speaker line-up. It was the attendees’ openness to discussing difficult questions and sharing current pain points. Attendees also debated threats and opportunities waiting on the horizon, and in this article, we are pointing out some of the most important ones.

A safety car moment – How AI has hit reset on the whole industry

Our CEO Martin Lenz delivered the phrase that seemed to stick with everyone present:

“AI and changing user behaviours are reshaping how job seekers find, trust, and engage with job boards.”

In a breakout session alongside  Lou Goodman (former VP B2B Marketing at Monster / CareerBuilder), Martin leaned into an unusual but powerful analogy for the impact of artificial intelligence on the job board sector.

He explained that we’re living through a “Safety Car” moment, drawing on car racing jargon: “The AI boom is a reset moment, like a safety car in racing. Even companies with major AI investments are now lining up again as powerful tools become widely accessible to all job boards.”

The metaphor resonated with the audience.

In racing, introducing a safety car doesn’t just slow everyone down; it also bunches up the field, erasing previous gaps and giving every competitor, regardless of their earlier lead, a new chance at victory. Likewise, in recruitment tech, the rapid democratisation of AI tools has levelled the playing field.

When it comes to AI innovation, both giants and smaller companies now face off side by side, with access to similarly powerful digital tools and data processing capabilities.
Martin Lenz made it clear: the days of gaining a lasting edge through proprietary AI alone are over. The field is being reset. It’s what job boards and their leaders do now, with data, networks, and branding, that will truly make the difference in the future.

The real differentiators: data, networks, and brand

Both Martin Lenz and Lou Goodman drove home the point that getting ahead today isn’t about chasing one tech buzzword after another. A true and lasting competitive advantage will stem from harnessing three timeless pillars:

• Smart data usage,

• Deep networks and relationships,

• A bold, memorable brand.

But brand, as the conversation underscored, is so much more than a logo, a font, or a colour scheme. “A brand is more than how you look. It represents the collective perception of your company, shaped by your values, tone of voice, visual identity, and the experiences you deliver. It’s how you live in people’s minds.”

What makes a job board memorable nowadays? Beyond credible design, it’s about delivering on the promise of value at every touchpoint:

• clear communication with candidates,

• transparency to clients,

• high-quality job matches,

• consistent user experiences, both on desktop and mobile.

Arguably, in a fast-changing industry, the brand increasingly becomes the most important anchor. It’s the reputation that job boards build over time.

And at the foundation of the brand lies actionable, high-quality data.

If job boards can’t use the candidate and clients’ insights, they will struggle to deliver unique value that keeps users (and advertisers) coming back.

The social media and Gen Z impact

One of the most interesting insights was this: “Gen Zs spend 54% more time on social platforms than average.”

Younger generations have fundamentally different expectations when it comes to job search. They aren’t just visiting job boards and submitting CVs; they’re looking for opportunities on TikTok, on Instagram, and evaluating employer reputations from viral posts and interactions.

While social media has been a disruptor for quite some time in other industries, now it takes centre stage in recruitment advertising as well.

Social platforms are no longer secondary channels. For many job seekers, especially digital natives, they’re the primary way to discover, research, and apply to new jobs.

As social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok became the primary way for candidates to discover jobs, and most of the attention is focused on these platforms, job boards must consider them in their advertising efforts.

Jobiqo offers the solution to effortlessly generate and manage eye-catching images and video ads that extend the reach of job boards through the Jobiqo AIR product.

By leveraging Jobiqo AIR‘s potential, job boards can supercharge their marketing efforts with ease.

From clicks to influence – the new age of SEO

The traditional approach to SEO,simply driving web traffic through keyword optimisation, is being replaced by something bigger. As the group of job boards discussed, “SEO is becoming about influence, not just traffic.”
Search algorithms are still gatekeepers, but with the advent of AI and large language models, the goal is shifting. Now, being the authoritative, trusted source that informs AI-generated content is just as valuable as ranking on the first page of Google. SEO strategies now prioritise creating content that is both human and AI-readable, structured for clarity, and considering search crawlers.

Sometimes the “win” isn’t just a click, but the silent influence the brand or content exerts behind the scenes.

Three main challenges in recruitment advertising: the economy, the speed of change, and the AI effect

At Job Boards Connect, conversations continued around the industry’s challenges:

• The broader economic climate,
• The relentless disruption of AI,
• The accelerated pace of change.

Many attendees, from large companies and established brands to small niche job boards, agreed that it’s a struggle simply to keep up with these challenges.

AI’s influence is undeniable. While some attendees considered AI to be a risk, some shared practical deployments, mentioning that they are including AI for tasks like:

• Drafting sales or customer success communications,

• Generating internal documentation or knowledge base articles,

• Streamlining client communication,

• Building and analysing sales statistics,

• Candidate matching and scoring.

The consensus? In every instance, the real impact comes when AI works with people, not instead of them. Attendees highlighted that combining human judgement with AI’s speed offers the greatest productivity gains, especially for cost-efficient content creation and improving personalisation at scale.

As the industry evolves rapidly, with the economic situation still fragile, the competition in the market increases significantly. Many job boards recognise that developing technology solutions from the ground up is both challenging and inefficient in terms of cost and resources.

For small and medium-sized teams, balancing brand growth, sales activities, and the demands of technological innovation can be overwhelming.

By partnering with dedicated technology providers like Jobiqo, job boards can refocus their internal resources to core business functions while entrusting the complexities of technical development and innovation to experts in the field, like Jobiqo.

This focused approach allows job boards to stay competitive and agile without overextending their resources.

The classic question: Are job boards dead?

It wouldn’t be a job board conference without someone asking the tired and blunt question: “Are job boards dead?” The answer, delivered repeatedly and with conviction, was a clear “No.” However, there’s no denying the industry is changing rapidly.

Attendees discussed a clear trend toward market consolidation. Larger platforms are getting bigger, sometimes by acquisition, sometimes by out-innovating the competition, while many smaller boards are niching down or pivoting to survive.
What will separate the survivors from those who get left behind? A deep understanding of their specific audience and a smart, sustainable approach to monetising data.

A common frustration: job boards that fail to develop strategies for effectively monetising their hard-earned candidate data are left constantly chasing new user acquisition at notable cost.

The smarter boards are now focused on lifetime value, building ongoing relationships with job seekers and employers alike, rather than always starting fresh.

AI agents: A problem on the horizon?

The AI is a controversial subject. One of the day’s more spirited debates revolved around the emergence of AI agents applying for jobs. Some attendees see it as a rare phenomenon (at least for now) while others argue it’s already a problem that’s quietly growing.
As AI tools become more sophisticated, job boards will need to evolve their verification processes, application screening tools, and bot detection measures to ensure the integrity of applications, especially as the stakes rise for both employers and candidates. This is currently not a priority, as fake applications are still being ignored as of now.

Business model innovation: No silver bullet, but many opportunities

Attendees discussed various business models, but they agreed on one thing: There’s no single way forward.

Various groups discussed evolving revenue streams and business models. Among the options actively being tested or deployed are:

• Google ads display,

• Flat rate subscription products,

• Employer branding subscriptions,

• Complex job posting products,

• Performance-based offerings

Each model comes with its own set of advantages and challenges. Flat-rate subscriptions keep budgeting simple for employers, while employer branding subscriptions ensure ongoing visibility.

But let’s face it – performance-based and complex posting models can demand advanced tracking, extra transparency, and a bit more patience from employers learning the ropes. Testing out all these options is no small feat; it takes serious time and resources.

That’s why Jobiqo offers one platform that lets job boards easily experiment with and implement a wide array of business models without a hassle.

Continuous experimentation: startups within

A particularly interesting subject came from those running internal “startups” within their established businesses. These dedicated teams function like independent labs, having their funding, rapid feedback cycles, and clear objectives. The goal is not just to innovate for innovation’s sake, but to regularly validate (or invalidate) hypotheses, so that only proven concepts earn full-scale rollout.

One attendee summed up the approach: “These teams validate hypotheses fast and then they decide what to build and what not to build, depending on what they learn during these experiments.”

The result is a company culture more ready for fast technological change, and far less likely to throw significant spend behind projects that the market doesn’t need or wants.

Surviving and thriving in a world of change

With so much change happening, the attendees at the conference repeatedly came back to the need for discipline, focus, and true understanding of one’s unique place in the market. Success won’t come from chasing hype, but from smart, targeted use of AI to enhance the candidate experience and drive value.

Attendees gravitated to this idea of doing fewer things better, of building strong reputations for reliability, of staying tuned to the changing needs of both candidates and employers.

If job boards know their audience, play to their strengths, and show up for their job seekers and customers every day, then they will have a place in the future job board universe.

Looking forward: People at the heart of tech.

Ultimately, Job Boards Connect Unplugged 2025 was about more than the rapid pace of technological development. It crystallised two points: first, that AI and data will be levers for only those who use them thoughtfully, with a clear, values-driven sense of purpose.

Second, no clever algorithm can ever replace the need for compassion, transparency, and user-centricity.

The leaders who prevail in this new era will do so by embracing the “Safety Car” reset, focusing on brand, actionable data, networks, and most crucially, on the job seekers and employers who rely on their platforms every day.

Job Boards Connect Unplugged 2025 was frank, practical, and it was united by a shared belief that the future belongs to those who adapt.

As we move forward, job boards that balance experimentation with empathy and data with trust will remain at the very centre of how people connect with opportunity.

The recruitment advertising industry is changing at a rapid pace. Maybe at the most accelerated pace in decades. At RecBuzz Vienna 2025, leading experts revealed their insights on how AI, Automation and candidates’ expectations are creating new opportunities.

This comprehensive report highlights the most important trends, challenges, and opportunities emerging in the recruiting advertising industry, as they were presented at Recbuzz.

We are experiencing a rapid change in this industry, which is more accelerated than ever before. Various technological advancements and changes in human behaviour and interaction with technology are contributing to these changes. What was once a relationship-driven process, dominated by intuition and understanding of human behaviour, is now being transformed by big data, algorithms, AI, and predictive analytics.

At Recbuzz 2025, several key trends became apparent:

• AI disruption is here. While it is still not perfect and implementation challenges remain, Artificial Intelligence seems more than just a fading hype.
• Job boards face significant challenges. The time to adapt, innovate, and strategise is now, not next month, not next year or in the future, but now.
• Candidate experience is evolving. With more and more people focusing on social media, consumption switched from text-based content to video content, and the candidates’ expectations are also different.
• Data is the new currency in this industry as well. Collecting and understanding data before and after the application provides complete and deeper insights.
• Monetisation models are shifting. With the amount of data available, powerful new algorithms, and innovative tech, performance-based business models are gaining traction.

Now let’s explore all these areas in depth.

The AI disruption is Recrutiment

Alexander Chukovski’s presentation revealed a paradox: while 92% of companies plan to increase spending in generative AI for recruitment (McKinsey 2025), only 1% of them report achieving mature, measurable ROI from these implementations.

This is mainly caused by various challenges that these companies face with Artificial Intelligence. The first is AI hallucinations and biases. When governmental agencies’ (eg, Austria’s public employment agency) expensive solutions show gender and racial biases in the job recommendations, people react. Poor candidate experience, while optimising the recruitment process is a valid business case for AI, we’ve seen that various interview tools frequently freeze, misunderstand responses, or ask irrelevant questions. Technical limitations, Many companies are stuck in pilot phases, unable to scale AI solutions effectively. 

Despite these challenges, companies in the industry show promising results:

Indeed’s AI matching engine, uses a large number of job attributes for precision matching whilst achieving a high application rate through personalised outreach this results in more data leads to better matches, which attracts more users.

Automated job description tools, generate compliant, unbiased job postings in minutes, including salary predictions and benefit recommendations, reducing the time-to-post from hours to minutes

Alexander Chukovski outlined a five-stage maturity model for AI-powered matching:

1. Basic search – based on keywords and full text search
2. Taxonomies- based on business rules, metadata extraction, synonyms, and taxonomies
3. Query intent understanding – semantic query parsing, semantic knowledge graph, clustering, embeddings
4. User activity-based tuning – signal boosting, active learning, A/B tests
5. Fully automated matching – all previous steps happen without a human overseeing them

Alexander recommended that, going forward, job board owners should:

• Invest in domain-specific taxonomies
• Prioritise candidate feedback loops
• Maintain human oversight to catch biases

The changing role of job boards

By analysing financial indicators, Malcolm Myers identified a captivating story, summarised in a few points:

• Job boards capture just 10% of the recruitment market, estimated to be at $450 billion 
• LinkedIn continues its domination when it comes to passive candidate engagement
• AI-powered products enable direct employer-candidate matching

Through his presentation and also afterwards in various discussions, various job board strategies were debated. Some of these strategies include:

• Vertical specialisation – While generalist job boards are struggling against large players like Indeed and LinkedIn, niche platforms can thrive

• Value-added services – Job boards have the flexibility to explore various other services like employer branding, recruitment marketing, and event hosting. 

• Technology partnerships – job boards should consider the integration with ATS providers and adopt AI matching technologies.

Job boards should also reconsider their monetisation models. Peter Hoogendijk presented three models that job boards can get inspiration from.

• Pay per Performance – including pay per application and pay per click
• Subscription-based access –  for CV databases and employer branding
• Hybrid models – including a base fee plus performance bonus, or tiered visibility packages.

The candidate experience evolution

Jubin Honarfar’s Whatchado demonstrated how recruitment is experiencing a shift towards video content, similar to social media. According to Jubin:

• 82% of recruiters say that content creation is their biggest challenge
• Mobile users spend 110 minutes daily on social platforms
• Video job posts achieve 3-5 times higher engagement than text-based posts

Whatchado takes a different approach, using AI to extract key details from the job descriptions. Then these are automatically transformed into TikTok-style reels and distributed across social media channels with tracking.

A new landscape in the recruiting industry

Chris Forman introduced a few interesting concepts like the “Bang,” which is the Apply event. The “Left of the Bang” includes all the data and processes before the apply event, and the “Right of the Bang” includes data and processes after the apply event occurred. 

According to Chris, a large investment goes to the left of the bang, while the value lies on the right of the bang, where disposition data is.

What the future brings

While listening to various experts in the field, a few possible future trends appear.

According to some, by 2026, we should expect to see AI as colleagues. Artificial intelligence agents should be able to handle the initial screening of candidates, automated bots should be able to schedule meetings, and predictive analytics could be used for retention.

While automation and AI handle the transactional tasks, recruiters will shift focus on improving the employee experience, work on strategic planning, and employer branding.

Conclusion: Navigating the transformation in the recruiting industry

The recruitment industry is transforming. Companies that successfully implement AI thoughtfully, reimagine candidate engagement, monetise through value-added services, and leverage data will thrive. In contrast, those who cling to outdated models risk becoming obsolete.

The accelerated transformation of the recruitment industry might feel overwhelming – new technologies, shifting business models, and evolving candidate expectations can make the future look uncertain. 

But for job board owners, this is not the time for hesitation. It is an opportunity to adapt and thrive.

The key to unlocking future opportunities lies in strategic partnerships. By collaborating with specialized tech providers like Jobiqo, job board owners can:

• Offload technical innovation to experts, freeing up internal resources

• Double down on their core strength – experimentation, content, relationship, and value-added services
• Stay competitive without bearing the full burden of research and development.

This approach creates a powerful synergy – cutting-edge technology meets deep industry expertise.  Modern platforms, data-driven insights, and smart monetisation strategies combine to future-proof businesses in disruptive times.

While it’s no secret that 2024 was challenging and 2025 will likely continue to be, actionable pathways to success remain in the online job market. Globally, the job market faces increasing competition for employer advertising budgets and rising operational costs. However, the unique nature of recruitment—being highly nuanced, regionally specific, and reliant on trusted brands—ensures that opportunities remain for specialised job platforms. Jobiqo is here to help you seize those opportunities and thrive in this dynamic environment.

As we look ahead to 2025, it’s clear that the online job market offers numerous avenues for growth and innovation. Despite the challenges of rising operational costs and increased competition, there are significant opportunities for job boards to differentiate themselves, capitalise on emerging technologies, and meet the evolving needs of employers and job seekers. Let’s explore the key areas where job platforms can thrive in the year ahead.

1. Strategic Integration and Vertical Innovation

The market has seen a growing trend toward vertical integration, exemplified by companies like Textkernel (Bullhorn) and Indeed entering staffing to expand their total addressable market. At Jobiqo, we remain committed to driving customer success with our comprehensive technology suite. Our offerings include the Jobiqo White Label Job Board Solution, Jobiqo AIR, and Jobiqo Search & Match, enabling scalable, AI-driven services across the recruitment funnel. These tools empower job boards to stay competitive, innovate their operations, and offer unparalleled value to their users.

2. Social Media’s Growing Role

Social recruiting is set to remain a game changer in 2025, offering access to both active and passive candidates while boosting ad performance. Platforms like Duunitori in Northern Europe, HeyJobs in Germany or Whatchado in Austria demonstrate how combining programmatic job advertising with social media can disrupt large markets. By effectively targeting passive candidates, these platforms enhance reach and engagement. Jobiqo enables customers to build fully integrated solutions, leveraging these new opportunities to drive growth and improve the performance of their job boards. Learn more about Jobiqo’ market leading social media recruitment automation tool: Jobiqo AIR.

3. Profitability and Monetisation

With rising pressure to deliver measurable results, profitability and monetisation strategies are critical for job boards. Jobiqo’s flexible ad product tools, combined with efficiency-driven reach services like Jobiqo AIR and SEO innovations, help job boards improve margins and identify new revenue opportunities. Integrations with social media and programmatic advertising further enhance these possibilities. Success in the job board business requires more than just a website-building tool. At Jobiqo, we aim to understand your business priorities, providing a best-in-class job board product suite to enable profitable growth.

4. AI Between Efficiency and Compliance

Artificial intelligence became a cornerstone in 2024, enabling advancements such as fraud detection, AI-generated job ads, and automated social media ad creation. These technologies reduce costs and increase scalability, making them essential for competitive success. At Jobiqo, we continue to prioritise transparency and security, ensuring our AI tools are effective and compliant with emerging regulations like the EU AI Act.

Looking Ahead

Despite the challenges of 2024, the trends for 2025 highlight significant opportunities for growth and innovation. Social media, advanced monetisation strategies, and AI-powered technologies are transforming the online job market, enabling job boards to differentiate themselves and capture new value. Jobiqo remains a trusted partner, committed to helping our customers adapt to these changes and excel in the competitive landscape.

The online recruiting industry is an exciting and dynamic landscape to work in. Despite the rising fear of recession and geopolitical uncertainty, the industry has been steadily growing in demand for specialised solutions in a fragmented market. Additionally, the potential of leveraging ecosystem partners and AI to provide smarter, faster, and more efficient solutions for job seekers and recruiters alike is an exciting prospect.

With the right approach, online recruiting can provide a powerful tool for employers to build the teams they need to succeed and for candidates to find meaningful work. The industry is ripe with opportunities for those with the right skills and drive to make a difference.

In 2023 we foresee the following trends

• Growing demand despite economic headwinds
• Opportunity for job ad price adjustments
• The (slow) rise of programmatic job advertising
• Ecosystem partners and competitors to watch
• Incorporating Artificial Intelligence: ChatGPT & Co

#1. Growing demand despite economic headwinds

The European Commission has projected the EU as a whole will see a growth rate of 0.8% in 2023 therefore “narrowly” avoiding the plunge into recession. This will create growing optimism for the broader economic context. Sectors will still be impacted, some more than others. Based on SIA research, the shortage of talent has peaked in 2022 and will continue to stay high for many sectors. 75% of companies were reporting difficulty in finding the talent they need. This highlights that job boards will continue to play an important role in helping employers find candidates.

Although we see an ongoing consolidation of players in the market, online recruiting continues to stay fragmented across geographies and industry verticals, which leads to a growing need and potential for specialised regional or industry-specific job platforms.

#2. Opportunity for job ad price adjustments

Our leading job board owners have experienced a slower growth of job ads posted, but prices per job may increase. Adding employer branding products will shape the unique value proposition of job boards to help clients as they become the “trusted advisor” to employers in need.

It is a good timing for price adjustments, but be careful not to use it for simply increasing margins. The competitors’ landscape in the job board industry globally is growing and to remain competitive you must continuously invest into the branding and the marketing of your job board. You can find more insights on 6 common business models and pricing strategies for job board business in one of our white papers: Job Board Playbook.

#3. The (slow) rise of programmatic job advertising

Programmatic advertising and performance based reach have received a lot of media coverage this year. The promise to disrupt the recruitment industry has been overestimated but depending on the sector, job level or volume, it will add an interesting extension of your product offering. The industry will try to improve the quality and conversion rate of performance based traffic acquisition, meaning that more providers will arise in Europe to offer its services. Taking advantage of performance based reach to ensure the balance of quantity and quality of candidates and applications will help you to thrive in 2023.

#4. Ecosystem partners and competitors to watch

Google and Meta will be important sources of traffic to look to. Both brands have positioned themselves as ecosystem partners for sourcing candidates. Google has sunsetted some of its HR products like Google hire and also seems to pull back on its multilingual Google Job Cloud solutions, while it heavily invests in making Google for Job a better experience. Facebook also shut down Facebook Jobs at the end of 2022 in the US and Canada and will instead remain a partner for running paid campaigns for passive candidates. Indeed and Linkedin on the other hand have recruitment advertising at the core of their business and will be important competitors to follow as their market penetration grows to the majority of countries globally. Together these two platforms contributed to almost 50% of the overall online recruitment revenue generated in 2022. However, shaping your unique value proposition, is more important than to imitate these competitors (Indeed, Linkedin), as we explain in our Job Board Strategy Debunk. Spending a good amount of focus on SEO and branding options will help you to take advantage of the ecosystem that your job board is in.

#5. Incorporating Artificial Intelligence: ChatGPT & Co

AI, especially subsets like Machine Learning or Deep Learning have not replaced any of the incumbent providers yet. Having expertise and our own AI-powered matching technology as part of our platform offering, we see AI and its applications as tools to improve your service. From automated classification of jobs to boosting programmatic reach. AI will help to save cost while getting better search results for candidates improving the overall UX. The rise of ChatGPT on the other hand promises to be a game changer in many industries. For job boards, it could be potentially used to improve job descriptions according to some experts’ opinions in the market, as “the job ad is almost always something that can be improved”. Putting legal concerns aside, the vision of creating a better experience for candidates by applying AI and the ease of access to AI applications with the likes of ChatGPT will drive many ideas in our market in 2023.

Conclusion

2023 promises to be an exciting year for online recruitment and job boards. Despite economic headwinds, the demand for specialised solutions in a fragmented market remains strong. Job boards will have the opportunity to adjust pricing and add employer branding products to their value proposition. Programmatic advertising and performance based reach will add an interesting extension of service options, while the emergence of AI applications such as ChatGPT offer the potential to improve job descriptions and the overall UX. To stay competitive, job boards should invest in SEO and marketing, and leverage ecosystem partners such as Google and Meta. With the right approach, job boards can provide a powerful tool for employers to build the teams they need to succeed and for candidates to find meaningful work.

These are exciting times ahead.