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The parent company for the websites CareerBuilder.com and Monster.com filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Tuesday (June 24), according to court filings from Delaware obtained by the Washington Post.
CareerBuilder + Monster is selling core components of its business, which includes its job board, with three buyers set to take over unless higher bidders emerge, according to a news release. The job board is in line to be sold to JobGet Inc., a Boston-based employment service.
CareerBuilder + Monster, which merged almost one year ago, is estimated to have assets ranging from $50 million to $100 million, while liabilities are estimated to be between $100 million and $500 million, according to the bankruptcy court filings. The company was unable to amass a large number of users over time and benefit from network effects, according to Hatim Rahman, a Northwestern University associate professor of management and organizations and sociology via the Washington Post.
“You have to continue to innovate and scale or perish,” Rahman said. “Digital platforms face fierce competition.” Rahman said.
Monster, which had a public market valuation that reached up to $8 billion by 2000, and CareerBuilder initially found success in the 1990s, but both have struggled to stay competitive in the job-recruitment industry following the internet bubble burst following the launch of stronger competitors such as Indeed.com.