Taleo has new plans to join Facebook as a way to give small- and medium-sized business customers the ability to network and source passive candidates.
Taleo says it decided to integrate with the social networking site’s recently launched “Facebook Platform” to help recruiters tap into the 70-million strong Gen Y market to find good talent.
The new development platform, in essence, allows companies to gain access to these millions of loyal Facebook fans.
Facebook clearly appeals to the Gen Y demographic: it presently counts more than 35 million active users and is the sixth-most trafficked website in the United States.
The average age among Facebook users is 18 to 24, according to comScore research.
And while Facebook membership was once limited to college students only, comScore notes that its recently enacted “open membership” has led to a 181% growth among members between 25 and 34 years old.
But Scott Karp, editor of Publishing 2.0, thinks “it’s time to call another Facebook foul — the notion that Facebook is suddenly a killer app for business that will unseat LinkedIn, simply because Facebook opened its doors to everyone.”
Still, Taleo is betting that Facebook users — who will be able to post jobs listed by Taleo Business Edition customers to their Facebook profile by downloading a free software application — represent a good segment of tomorrow’s workforce.
Dublin, California-based Taleo says jobs listed within the application will link back to the appropriate employer’s website and will appear in order of proximity to the Facebook user.
In addition, Taleo says Business Edition customers can track candidates sourced through the application.
But the privacy limitations of Facebook mean users have to “friend” one another in order to access their profiles.
As Karp points out, “What if I want to interact with someone on Facebook for business development? Do I have to become their ‘Friend’ forever? LinkedIn is far better for that.”