[London, ENGLAND] Online careers site Monster.com
announced Thursday its acquisition of luxjob.lu,
the largest recruitment site in the EU’s smallest
state, Luxembourg.
Founded in 1998, luxjob.lu is said to be “already
profitable,” like Monster.com itself, and has
many international blue chip companies as clients.
Strictly speaking, the deal is between Monster.com’s
parent TMP Worldwide and luxjob.lu’s parent Synapse.
Neither company has issued exact figures, but the
acquisition is said to have been completed by an
exchange of shares.
The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg does not often figure
in reports about the Internet from Europe, unless
grouped among the so-called “Benelux” countries
with Belgium and The Netherlands. Only 999 square
miles in area, it nonetheless has a thriving
economy and a GDP of around US $14 billion.
“Luxembourg represents a very dynamic employment
environment which needs to attract professionals
from the other European financial centers like
London, Paris, Frankfurt or Dublin,” said Andrew
Wilkinson, managing director, Monster.com Europe.
In fact, around a third of the people who live
in Luxembourg are “foreigners” from other European
countries — and this percentage is likely to
rise in the future. In the new Europe, Luxembourg
has a distinct advantage in being a cosmopolitan
society, where even the nationals are of mixed
Celtic stock with French and German ancestry.
Luxjob.lu has been working with Monster.com
since the middle of last year, publishing the
vacancies of Luxembourg companies on Monster’s
international sites.
“This partnership has made clear that both companies
share the same vision – to provide the consumer with a
complete career management tool, well beyond a simple
job posting,” said Marc Neuen, managing director
of luxjob.lu.
Whether luxjob.lu will change dramatically as a
result of the takeover remains to be seen. Despite
its role in European integration, Luxembourg’s
own national motto is: “We want to remain what we are.”
