The European market for online recruitment is growing so rapidly that it is likely to become bigger than the US market within three years, according to Mr Giles Clarke, the founder and chief executive of online recruitment firm StepStone.

Mr Clarke said the latest research from Forrester Research and Jupiter Research estimates that the European online recruitment market will be worth £3 billion (€3.81 billion) by 2003, rising to between £7 billion and £8 billion by 2005. Mr Clarke said the number of online users in Europe is expected to almost double from 64 million in 1999 to 126 million by 2002.

StepStone, which was established in Oslo in 1996, employs 27 people here. They operate as regional sales forces in different parts of the State, including Cork and Limerick as well as from the company's office in Dublin. The company also recently established an office in Belfast. StepStone has been pursuing an extensive acquisition strategy across Europe, including the purchase in May this year of JobFinder, and now claims to be the leading online recruitment portal in Ireland. Overall, StepStone currently employs 1,400 employees in 18 countries throughout Europe and India.

However, Mr Clark says that the nature of StepStone's business means it does not need a headquarters: "We're in the business of providing electronic solutions to our customers. We're a virtual business and our clients are on the Web. We don't need a head office."

The London-based Mr Clarke communicates with his management team mainly through email, Web casting, and monthly face-to-face meetings in different countries where members of management are based.

Mr Clarke said that the market for online recruiting in Ireland and Europe is currently being driven by rising demand for IT jobs. "However, it's not just the IT specialists who are recruiting online, it's a mass market, mainly due to the increased frequency in job changing and growing workforce mobility in the EU."

StepStone is also clearly excited about the "Irish diaspora" factor - the growing numbers of Irish people abroad who want to return to Ireland to work. Around 40 per cent of visitors to the StepStone.ie site since its establishment were either Irish-born or with Irish origins.

The speed with which people are changing jobs has increased dramatically over the last 10 years, according to Mr Clarke. "Ten years ago, the average American spent 10 years in one job. In 1999, the average was two- and-a-half years. In Silicon Valley, it's eight months."

However, despite the Irish market's attractions StepStone is concerned about how Ireland's current high rate of inflation will affect the recruitment business here. "It's more important than anything else to get inflation down," said Mr Clarke, adding that the high inflation makes Ireland uncompetitive. Nevertheless, the fact that Ireland is in the euro was a strong incentive for StepStone to set up here, he said.

Anyone looking at the Irish online recruitment market for the first time is likely to be bewildered by the number of companies in the sector. However, Mr Clarke is confident that the size and high brand recognition of StepStone will help it differentiate itself. "We are 60 per cent bigger than anyone else in Europe. We have three-and-a-half million visitors a month." Mr Clarke said that StepStone has a brand recognition rate as high as 25 per cent in some countries. This may well be due to StepStone's extensive TV and outdoor advertising campaigns, which feature distinctive "@stepping stone" imagery. Mr Clarke said that he expects StepStone to become profitable by 2002, and adds that independent analysts have said that the company will probably achieve this by the fourth quarter of 2001. The company is currently listed on the Oslo and London stock exchanges.

StepStone plans to launch a new education and training service in Ireland, which will offer details of many professional, academic, vocational, and leisure-based courses.