Former Job Search Giants Go Bust

Monster and Career Builder, former giants of online job hunting, merged in September, but it didn't revive their fortunes. The combined CareerBuilder + Monster entity has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, CNN reports. The company announced Tuesday that it will sell off major segments of its business through a court-supervised process. The flagship job boards—long the main draw for job seekers—are being sold to JobGet, a platform focused on gig and hourly work.

Monster Government Services, which develops software for state and federal agencies, will go to Valsoft Corp., a Canadian firm. The companies' media division, which includes Military.com and FastWeb.com, is set to be acquired by Canadian media company Valnet. All deals are pending court approval and could be superseded by higher offers. Jeff Furman, CEO of the combined entity, said the company is "making difficult but necessary decisions to reduce costs and help ensure a seamless transition of our businesses."

Monster and CareerBuilder were dominant players in the late 1990s and early 2000s, with marketing efforts like Super Bowl commercials. Their influence faded in recent years as job seekers flocked to newer competitors like Indeed, Glassdoor, and LinkedIn. Some CareerBuilder + Monster employees might be checking out those sites this week—Furman said the company is trying to preserve jobs, but there will be some layoffs. The Washington Post reports that online job recruitment sites are struggling to deal with people using AI to mass-apply for jobs—and with a surge in scam job postings.