Hiring squeeze hits job portals

Internet-based job sites are bleeding as companies trim employee intake amid the global economic downturn, the portals' latest financial reports showed.

New Zealand-based Seek Corporate, the largest shareholder of zhaopin.com, the third biggest recruitment site by market share in China, said it lost 17.25 million Australian dollars between July 1 last year and June 30 this year, and Zhaopin.com itself is suffering at least a 150-million yuan loss.

New York-based Monster's second quarter report revealed its subsidiary Chinahr.com, the second largest Internet-based job site in China with a 22.4-percent market share, has still to break even. In 2008, Chinahr.com reported losses of 175 million yuan.