One of the largest employment vertical, online partners to the print world has just announced it is cutting jobs in-house, to maintain revenue to cost ratios. The partner I am speaking of is Monster.com.

To me, this is fascinating news, as we have seen so many print publishers create advertising partnerships, with the likes of Monster, Workopolis, Career Builder, etc…. These relationships were built because the online entities, mentioned above, were supposed to be the leverage point that would allow print publishers to keep their Employer/Advertiser databases strong. Sales leaders at newspapers would create special packages, giving their customers placement in the newspaper and website, as well as provide a presence on the global network owned by their ‘well known’, online employment partner. A brilliant plan, provided you had the right sales force, to keep market penetration numbers up. Those who understood new media vantage points, recognized they were being the conduit for their clients to other media forms, as opposed to being left out of the clients purchasing strategy, completely. This downsizing announcement however, makes one think that some of the online only companies, print publishers have joined forces with, may not be much better off than they.

As Monster made clear that it will cut 15% (800 jobs) of its work force to keep investors happy, at the end of the day publishers already in bed with the elephant will need to be aware of the changes to staffing and how that may affect their business.

The challenge the reduction of staff brings to both Monster and their partnering publishers, is the question of service and reliability. Will something be lost in the shuffle? Keep in mind Monster has a relationship with approximately 59 newspapers, which means that there is a lot at stake here. Press releases indicate that the greatest reduction of staff will be here in North America, as it is here that the revenue growth has been noticeably slowed.

I hope Monster has a formidable transition plan or further reduction in North American market share may be their faith.

This is definitely a story we will be watching closely.

written by Beverly Crandon