In recent months the ongoing niche creation by Germany’s big job sites took on an interesting new character. Monster.de, Jobware.de and Stepstone.de all announced steps to focus on new sub-segments. Two didn’t merely unveil new sections on their portals, but took the idea of nicheing a step further by launching brand new, freestanding portals for their chosen sub-segments. 

Most recently Stepstone.de, the job portal minority-owned by the Axel Springer Verlag, unveiled a new sub-segment on its portal for workers in the pharmaceutical, medical and biotechnology sectors. Earlier this year the job portal Jobware.de, owned by Ludwigshafen-based Medien Union stable and aimed at professionals and senior managers, launched a separate portal for graduates and career starters, or “the professionals and senior managers of tomorrow” as Jobware called the sub-segment (Go-jobware.de). In November Monster.de launched a separate portal for workers in Germany’s health sector (Werpflegtwen.de). 

Stepstone said it had noticed a doubling of visits in the past two years by workers in the pharmaceutical sector (including the career fields chemistry, pharmaceutics, medical technique and biotechnology) to 15 percent of the 5 million monthly visitors on Stepstone.de. This trend and the success of its existing niche sections (engineering, financial sector, sales and marketing, IT and telecommunications, management and career starters) have moved Stepstone to launch the new sub-segment. 

As on Go-Jobware and Werpflegtwen, the new section on Stepstone contains sector-specific information for jobseekers apart from sector-specific jobs. But, that’s where the similarities end. The separate portals Go-Jobware and Werpflegtwen are nothing less than social networks with communities frequenting the portals for sector-specific information, discussions and blogs – where jobs are (almost) of secondary interest.