• Employers "Got" the Efficiency of Niche Job Sites
  Now employers understand, too.  If you're a corporate recruiter making 30 hires, do you wade through 10,000 resumes from a general site or select from among 100 collected from a targeted site.  With more sophisticated tracking and another year of experience under their belts, employers changed their behavior more this year than ever before, looking farther afield for quality niche sites.  The news here is that employers learned for themselves something many in the recruiting industry have been saying, and seeking to prove, for a long time.

• The Importance of Employment Ad Agencies Grew
  Forget about disintermediation.  With employers demanding a "flight to quality" as well as a larger portfolio of job boards, the stock of employment ad agencies grew in 2006.  If an employer needs to look farther afield, who better than the agencies to research the best options out there, and identify new, compelling entrants worthy of a try.  Agencies also save their clients time, a precious commodity these days.

• TMP Was Spun Off
  Independence day had agency employees dancing in the aisles.  The number #1 sales objection ("how can you be objective if you're owned by the number #1 job board?") was removed.  

• Employers Reacted to Aging Workforce Issues
  Employers stepped up efforts to make their workplaces age friendly, and spent record sums to attract workers over age 50.  They allocated funds to researching their exposure and developed relationships with career sites dedicated to this demographic. 

• The Government Got Out of the Job Board Business
  The government decided to shut operations of its job board, America's Job Bank. 

• Referral Recruiting Businesses Developed Traction
  Jobster and H3.com took the lead in creating web solutions for this recruiting category.

• India to Indiana
  Faced with a backlash from customers, U.S. companies repatriated large swaths of jobs it had outsourced to countries such as India.  Most notable among these was customer service jobs.

• Newspaper Companies' Online Units Became Strategic
  Talk about a reversal.  Now, industry bigs are upselling their offline properties, not the other way around.  Why?  No surprise, that's where the growth is.  Now, the online division heads are driving the bus.

• Careerbuilder Delivered
  Once again, the management team known for its ability to execute, executed.  Winning is usually about doing what you say you're going to do, and then some.  Quite a bit of "and then some" emanating out of Chicago these days.  CB became #1 in U.S. revenues among job boards.

• Recruiting 2.0.
  With a sense of optimism returned to the industry after a few years, many of the industry's old guards are back.  Rested and brimming with energy, these individuals are passionate, experienced and they're creating Recruiting 2.0.

 The series so far:

2006 in Review

• Amitai Givertz : Top 10 in 2006 (v1)

• David Hurst : Top 10 in 2006 (v2)

• Scott Dow : Top 10 in 2006 (v3)

• Kevin Wheeler : Top 10 in 2006 (v4)

• Hank Stringer : Top 10 in 2006 (v5)

• Tim Driver : Top 10 in 2006 (v6)