With the recent outpour of new products and additions to Monster.com, it almost appears as if the company is still at the top of the recruitment world. Most would be surprised to know that Monster.com shares are down nearly 70 percent this year… with the majority of the drop occurring since July.

In what was once boasted as a multi-billion dollar market, how has monster become worth less then $1 billion?

Well there is no doubt that the slowing U.S and European economies have impacted the entire recruitment world, however Monster seems to be taking a harder hit then most.

Just when you think a recession is as bad as it gets, throw in the ever evolving and expanding world of Social Media. Now that’s trouble.

Monster isn’t the only victim to sites like LinkedIn and Facebook. It seems the entire recruitment world is shaken-up from this shift.

LinkdIn’s Hiring Solution Business which is forecasted to reach $384 million in revenue next year (that’s only half of their sales) will without a doubt hurt Monster and CareerBuilder’s combined $2 billion annual revenue.

According to Doug Berg, founder of Jobs2Web.com, “The revenue impact will be so substantial that they (Monster) could go into a tailspin”.

More and more companies are building their own career sites and utilizing the easy access of information on LinkedIn and Facebook to target people at a competitor with the same title.

While LinkedIn and other leading social media sites have impacted the recruitment world, there is no denying that these systems still possess flaws. The fear of scammers, ‘friending’ and unreliable profiles, makes job boards like Monster a reliable source for many recruiters.