Ziprecruiter Inc (ZIP) 2022 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good day. My name is Savannah, and I will be your conference operator for today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the ZipRecruiter, Inc. Q1 2022 Earnings Call. Today's call is being recorded.

再會。我叫薩凡納，今天我將擔任你們的會議操作員。現在，我歡迎大家參加 ZipRecruiter, Inc. 2022 年第一季度財報電話會議。今天的通話正在錄音。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Thank you. And I would now like to turn the conference over to Amy Garefis, Chief Accounting Officer. Please go ahead.

謝謝。現在我想將會議交給首席會計官艾米·加雷菲斯 (Amy Garefis)。請繼續。

Thank you, operator, and good afternoon. Thank you for joining us in our earnings conference call during which we will discuss ZipRecruiter's performance for the quarter ended March 31, 2022, and guidance for the second quarter and full year 2022. Joining me on the call today are Ian Siegel, Co-Founder and CEO; David Travers, President; and Tim Yarbrough, CFO.

謝謝您，接線員，下午好。感謝您參加我們的收益電話會議，會議期間我們將討論ZipRecruiter 截至2022 年3 月31 日的季度的業績，以及2022 年第二季度和全年的指導。今天與我一起參加電話會議的是聯合創始人Ian Siegel和首席執行官；大衛·特拉弗斯，總裁；和首席財務官蒂姆·亞伯勒(Tim Yarbrough)。

Before we begin, please be reminded that forward-looking statements made today are subject to risks and uncertainties relating to future events and/or the future financial performance of ZipRecruiter. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements. A discussion of some of the risk factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from any forward-looking statements can be found in ZipRecruiter's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021, which is available on our investor website and the SEC's website and on our quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the 3 months ended March 31, 2022, that we will file with the SEC.

在我們開始之前，請注意，今天做出的前瞻性陳述受到與未來事件和/或 ZipRecruiter 未來財務業績相關的風險和不確定性的影響。實際結果可能與這些前瞻性陳述中的預期存在重大差異。有關可能導致實際結果與任何前瞻性陳述存在重大差異的一些風險因素的討論，請參閱 ZipRecruiter 截至 2021 年 12 月 31 日的 10-K 表格年度報告，該報告可在我們的投資者網站上找到以及SEC 網站以及我們將向SEC 提交的截至2022 年3 月31 日的三個月的10-Q 表格季度報告。

The forward-looking statements in this conference call are based on the current expectations as of today, and ZipRecruiter assumes no obligation to update or revise them, whether as a result of new developments or otherwise.

本次電話會議中的前瞻性陳述基於截至今天的當前預期，ZipRecruiter 不承擔更新或修改這些陳述的義務，無論是由於新的發展還是其他原因。

In addition, during today's call, we will discuss non-GAAP financial measures. These non-GAAP financial measures should be considered in addition to, not as a substitution for, or in isolation from GAAP results. Reconciliations of the non-GAAP metrics to the nearest GAAP metrics are included in ZipRecruiter's shareholder letter and in our Form 10-Q.

此外，在今天的電話會議中，我們將討論非公認會計準則財務指標。這些非公認會計原則財務指標應作為公認會計原則結果的補充，而不是替代或孤立於公認會計原則結果之外。非 GAAP 指標與最接近的 GAAP 指標的調節包含在 ZipRecruiter 的股東信函和我們的 10-Q 表格中。

And now I will turn the call over to Ian.

現在我將把電話轉給伊恩。

Thank you, Amy, and good afternoon to everyone joining us today. Q1 2022 was another exceptional quarter for ZipRecruiter. Revenue grew to $227 million, an 81% increase over the first quarter of 2021. We saw continued strength on both sides of our marketplace and are delighted to raise our full year guidance for 2022. In a few minutes, Dave will detail the progress we've made against our strategic growth pillars. Later, Tim will walk you through our results for Q1 as well as guidance for Q2 and the full year of 2022.

謝謝艾米，今天加入我們的大家下午好。 2022 年第一季度對於 ZipRecruiter 來說又是一個特殊的季度。收入增長至 2.27 億美元，比 2021 年第一季度增長 81%。我們看到市場雙方持續強勁，並很高興提高 2022 年全年指引。幾分鐘後，戴夫將詳細介紹我們的進展違背了我們的戰略增長支柱。隨後，蒂姆將向您介紹我們第一季度的業績以及第二季度和 2022 年全年的指導。

First, I'd like to provide an update on the macroeconomic environment we are currently experiencing. We finished the first quarter as the U.S. labor market continues its record-setting run. The U.S. economy added over 400,000 new jobs for the past 11 months in a row. We are also experiencing the tightest labor market in history with approximately 1 unemployed person for every 2 job openings. Employers are struggling to find talent and need all the help they can get to widen the reach of their job postings and find great matches.

首先，我想介紹一下我們當前面臨的宏觀經濟環境的最新情況。隨著美國勞動力市場繼續創紀錄的運行，我們結束了第一季度。美國經濟過去11個月連續新增就業崗位超過40萬個。我們還經歷著歷史上最緊張的勞動力市場，每 2 個職位空缺就有大約 1 人失業。雇主們正在努力尋找人才，並且需要盡可能多的幫助來擴大職位發布的範圍並找到合適的人選。

We're also witnessing high turnover in the U.S. labor force with over 4 million workers quitting their jobs every month for the past 9 months. Job seekers are looking for better matches, higher wages and more flexible schedules in a market with over 60% more job openings than before the pandemic. This creates an opportunity for employers to use the best technology to find talent. While rising labor costs, inflation rates and global tensions remain a concern among employers, we believe that the combination of surging demand for talent, high turnover and low unemployment, these hiring will remain a top priority for employers in the months to come.

我們還看到美國勞動力流動率很高，過去 9 個月每月有超過 400 萬工人辭職。求職者正在尋找更好的匹配、更高的工資和更靈活的工作時間，而市場上的職位空缺比疫情之前增加了 60% 以上。這為雇主創造了使用最好的技術來尋找人才的機會。儘管勞動力成本上升、通貨膨脹率和全球緊張局勢仍然是雇主關注的問題，但我們認為，人才需求激增、高流動率和低失業率的結合，這些招聘仍將是雇主未來幾個月的首要任務。

As demonstrated by the record high revenue per employer this quarter, the ZipRecruiter marketplace has never been so highly valued by our customers. We're excited about the progress we made over the course of Q1 and the increased revenue and adjusted EBITDA guidance provided here. These are unique times and ZipRecruiter remains well equipped to succeed. The technology and brand investments we've been making for years continue to pay off and we believe ZipRecruiter is perfectly positioned to achieve our mission to actively connect people to their next great opportunity.

正如本季度每個雇主創紀錄的高收入所證明的那樣，ZipRecruiter 市場從未受到我們客戶的高度重視。我們對第一季度取得的進展以及此處提供的收入增加和調整後 EBITDA 指導感到興奮。這是一個獨特的時代，ZipRecruiter 仍然有能力取得成功。我們多年來進行的技術和品牌投資不斷獲得回報，我們相信 ZipRecruiter 完全有能力實現我們的使命，即積極地將人們與下一個偉大的機會聯繫起來。

Now I'll turn it over to our President, David Travers, to talk through some of the progress we've made against the 3 pillars of our marketplace strategy.

現在我將把它交給我們的總裁戴維·特拉弗斯（David Travers），讓他談談我們在市場戰略的三大支柱方面取得的一些進展。

Thank you, Ian, and good afternoon, everyone. ZipRecruiter continued execution against our 3 strategic pillars keeps us well positioned to win. We made great progress in the first quarter, and I'm excited to share some highlights with you.

謝謝伊恩，大家下午好。 ZipRecruiter 持續執行我們的 3 個戰略支柱，使我們處於獲勝的有利位置。我們在第一季度取得了巨大進展，我很高興與您分享一些亮點。

We will start with our first strategic pillar, which is increasing the number of employers in our marketplace. Total paid employees increased to 150,000 in Q1 '22, up from 147,000 in the prior quarter. Employer hiring needs remain at record levels, and with continued growth on our sales team and investment in high-performing marketing, we were able to grow paid employers from Q4 to Q1. This is in contrast with prior pre-pandemic years in which we typically see a modest seasonal decline.

我們將從第一個戰略支柱開始，即增加我們市場上的雇主數量。 22 年第一季度，帶薪員工總數從上一季度的 147,000 人增至 150,000 人。雇主的招聘需求仍保持在創紀錄的水平，隨著我們銷售團隊的持續增長和對高效營銷的投資，我們能夠從第四季度到第一季度增加帶薪雇主。這與大流行前幾年形成鮮明對比，在前幾年，我們通常會看到適度的季節性下降。

Revenue per paid employer was in all-time high at $1,513 in Q1 '22, up 38% year-over-year. ZipRecruiter allows employers to pay more to get more with employers able to choose from a variety of premium options where they can opt-in to getting more value from the ZipRecruiter marketplace. We have a multiyear track record of increasing revenue per paid employer, and we believe this trend will continue.

2022 年第一季度，每個受薪雇主的收入創歷史新高，達到 1,513 美元，同比增長 38%。 ZipRecruiter 允許雇主支付更多費用以獲得更多收益，雇主可以從各種高級選項中進行選擇，他們可以選擇從 ZipRecruiter 市場獲得更多價值。我們在增加每位受薪雇主的收入方面擁有多年的記錄，並且我們相信這一趨勢將持續下去。

Now I'll discuss our second pillar, increasing the number of job seekers in our marketplace. 2021 ended as one of the tightest labor markets in U.S. history. Q1 '22 continued the strength with only 0.5 unemployed persons for every job opening. Given this unique labor market backdrop, it's more important than ever to understand how job seekers feel about their employment prospects.

現在我將討論我們的第二個支柱，即增加市場中求職者的數量。 2021 年是美國歷史上勞動力市場最緊張的一年。 22 年第一季度繼續保持強勁勢頭，每個職位空缺僅對應 0.5 名失業人員。鑑於這種獨特的勞動力市場背景，了解求職者對其就業前景的看法比以往任何時候都更加重要。

In Q1 '22, we launched the ZipRecruiter Job Seeker confidence survey. This nationally representative survey of U.S. job seekers measures how optimistic or pessimistic they are about their ability to land jobs they want. Initial results indicate that job seeker confidence remains high even as inflation climbs and interest rates rise. The survey is now available on our website, and we plan to provide updates on a monthly basis. We believe it will be a valuable resource as we continue to track the labor market in 2022 and beyond.

在 22 年第一季度，我們啟動了 ZipRecruiter 求職者信心調查。這項針對美國求職者的全國代表性調查衡量了他們對找到自己想要的工作的能力持樂觀或悲觀的態度。初步結果表明，即使通脹攀升和利率上升，求職者的信心仍然很高。該調查現已在我們的網站上提供，我們計劃每月提供更新。我們相信，隨著我們繼續跟踪 2022 年及以後的勞動力市場，這將是一種寶貴的資源。

To compete in this new macroeconomic reality, ZipRecruiter has a simple product philosophy. We are a personal matchmaker. The personification of this philosophy is Phil, an AI-driven personal recruiter who works with every job seeker. To learn who you are, curates great opportunities for you to consider and even pitches you to employers so they can recruit you.

為了在新的宏觀經濟現實中競爭，ZipRecruiter 擁有簡單的產品理念。我們是私人媒人。這一理念的化身是 Phil，他是一位人工智能驅動的個人招聘人員，與每一位求職者合作。為了了解你是誰，為你提供考慮的絕佳機會，甚至將你推薦給雇主，以便他們可以招聘你。

Our last letter described the growing impact of Phil on the job seeker experience. Till the introduction to onboarding in Q4 2021 generated a 29% increase in onboarding completion rate. In Q1 '22, we introduced Phil into our Android mobile app to further improve our already #1 rate in job search mobile app. In Q1 '22, we also released several new TV spots featuring Phil. These thank you Phil TV spots showcase the gratitude our job seekers feel after being matched with great job opportunities by our personal recruiter. Many job seekers find these stories as inspiring as we do.

我們的上一封信描述了菲爾對求職者體驗日益增長的影響。直到 2021 年第四季度引入新員工培訓後，新員工培訓完成率提高了 29%。在 22 年第一季度，我們將 Phil 引入了我們的 Android 移動應用程序，以進一步提高我們在求職移動應用程序中已經排名第一的比率。在 22 年第一季度，我們還發布了幾部以 Phil 為主角的新電視廣告。這些感謝 Phil TV 的廣告展示了我們的求職者在我們的個人招聘人員為我們提供了絕佳的工作機會後所感受到的感激之情。許多求職者發現這些故事和我們一樣鼓舞人心。

Finally, we recently deployed a UI improvement, enabling job seekers to more rapidly apply the jobs on our site. This increased engagement with these jobs, resulting in a 13% increase in job seekers who completed applications. I'll conclude with progress around our third pillar, making our matching technology smarter over time. Core to our mission of actively connecting people to their next great opportunity is bringing job seekers and employers together through smart AI-driven matching.

最後，我們最近部署了 UI 改進，使求職者能夠更快地申請我們網站上的職位。這增加了對這些工作的參與度，導致完成申請的求職者增加了 13%。最後，我將介紹我們的第三個支柱的進展，隨著時間的推移，使我們的匹配技術變得更加智能。我們積極將人們與下一個絕佳機會聯繫起來的使命的核心是通過人工智能驅動的智能匹配將求職者和雇主聚集在一起。

In Q1 '22, we rolled out the newest version of our great match algorithm and saw immediate results. Candidates scored as a great match were 10% more likely to receive a thumbs up under this latest version of the model. The software is learning, and this latest iteration introduced fundamental changes to our matching technology, which enable deeper insight into exactly which job seekers qualifications or behaviors drive a better match rate. Thanks to the combination of our personal recruiter Phil and our advancements with matching, we delivered over 7 million great match candidates in Q1 '22 to employers. The progress we made in Q1 gives us greater confidence in our ability to execute going forward. We look forward to reporting successes over the course of 2022 and beyond.

在 22 年第一季度，我們推出了最新版本的出色匹配算法，並立即看到了結果。在這個最新版本的模型下，得分出色的候選人獲得點讚的可能性增加了 10%。該軟件正在學習，最新的迭代對我們的匹配技術進行了根本性的改變，這使得我們能夠更深入地了解哪些求職者的資格或行為可以帶來更好的匹配率。得益於我們的個人招聘人員 Phil 的結合以及我們在匹配方面的進步，我們在 22 年第一季度向雇主提供了超過 700 萬優秀的匹配候選人。我們在第一季度取得的進展讓我們對未來的執行能力更有信心。我們期待在 2022 年及以後報告所取得的成功。

Now I'll turn it over to our Chief Financial Officer, Tim Yarbrough, to talk through our first quarter results as well as our updated guidance for the second quarter and full year of 2022. Tim?

現在我將把它交給我們的首席財務官蒂姆·亞伯勒 (Tim Yarbrough)，他將討論我們第一季度的業績以及我們對第二季度和 2022 年全年的最新指導。蒂姆？

Thank you, Dave, and good afternoon, everyone. Q1 '22 was a strong start to a shaping up to be a great year. Our first quarter revenue of $227 million represented another record quarter, exceeding the high end of the guidance we provided in March. This represents 81% growth year-over-year and 3% growth over the fourth quarter of 2021.

謝謝戴夫，大家下午好。 22 年第一季度是一個良好的開端，我們將迎來美好的一年。我們第一季度的收入為 2.27 億美元，再次創紀錄的季度，超過了我們 3 月份提供的指導的上限。這意味著同比增長 81%，比 2021 年第四季度增長 3%。

Paid employers were 150,000, representing a 31% increase year-over-year. The sequential increase from Q4 to Q1 is in contrast to historical pre-pandemic years in which we've seen modest quarter-over-quarter decreases following a slower Q4 holiday period. Revenue per paid employer increased by 38% versus Q1 2021 and 1% sequentially versus the prior quarter. Employers willingness to pay continue to grow in Q1 '22 as demand for talent remains high and the ZipRecruiter product continues to improve, offering more value for employers of all sizes.

帶薪雇主為15萬人，同比增長31%。從第四季度到第一季度的連續增長與大流行前的歷史年份形成鮮明對比，在歷史上，我們看到在第四季度假期放緩後，季度環比略有下降。每個受薪雇主的收入與 2021 年第一季度相比增長了 38%，與上一季度相比增長了 1%。由於對人才的需求仍然很高，並且 ZipRecruiter 產品不斷改進，為各種規模的雇主提供更多價值，雇主的支付意願在 22 年第一季度繼續增長。

Cash net income was $8 million in the first quarter of 2020 compared to net income of $14 million in Q1 of the prior year. Adjusted EBITDA was $37 million compared to $20 million in the prior year first quarter. Adjusted EBITDA margins were 16% in both periods. The increase in revenue was offset by an increase in our sales and marketing activities as we continue to invest in growing both sides of our marketplace.

2020 年第一季度現金淨利潤為 800 萬美元，而上年第一季度淨利潤為 1400 萬美元。調整後 EBITDA 為 3700 萬美元，而去年第一季度為 2000 萬美元。兩個時期的調整後 EBITDA 利潤率為 16%。隨著我們繼續投資於市場雙方的發展，銷售和營銷活動的增加抵消了收入的增長。

Cash and cash equivalents increased to $745 million as of March 31, 2022, compared to $135 million for the prior year first quarter and $255 million as of year-end. The increase in cash and cash equivalents year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter was primarily due to earnings and a private offering of our senior notes due in 2030 totaling $550 million at a 5% coupon rate. This was partially offset by the repurchase of Class A common stock at an aggregate cost of approximately $62 million, inclusive of the $50 million accelerated share repurchase program we announced in March.

截至 2022 年 3 月 31 日，現金和現金等價物增至 7.45 億美元，而去年第一季度為 1.35 億美元，截至年底為 2.55 億美元。現金和現金等價物同比和環比增加主要是由於收益和我們以 5% 的票面利率發行的 2030 年到期的優先票據，總額為 5.5 億美元。這被總成本約為 6200 萬美元的 A 類普通股回購所部分抵消，其中包括我們在 3 月份宣布的 5000 萬美元的加速股票回購計劃。

After closing out another record quarter, we're pleased to provide guidance for the second quarter and raise our guidance for the full year in 2022. We expect $234 million of revenue in Q2 '22 at the midpoint, which translates to 28% year-over-year growth and reflects quarterly sequential growth similar to periods prior to the pandemic.

在結束又一個創紀錄的季度後，我們很高興為第二季度提供指導，並提高2022 年全年指導。我們預計22 年第二季度的中點收入為2.34 億美元，相當於年增長率的28%同比增長，反映了與大流行之前類似的季度環比增長。

Our execution in Q1 has increased our confidence for the rest of 2022. We now estimate revenue for the full year 2022 of $915 million at the midpoint, representing 23% growth versus 2021. We observed a number of headwinds and tailwinds impacting the labor market, including increasing inflation, labor costs and interest rates. While the hiring environment remains strong through Q1, our guidance reflects our belief that these will have a moderating effect, bringing the U.S. hiring numbers to more traditional levels.

我們在第一季度的執行增強了我們對2022 年剩餘時間的信心。我們現在估計2022 年全年收入中點為9.15 億美元，比2021 年增長23%。我們觀察到影響勞動力市場的許多逆風和順風，包括不斷上升的通貨膨脹、勞動力成本和利率。儘管第一季度的招聘環境依然強勁，但我們的指導反映了我們的信念，即這些因素將產生緩和作用，使美國的招聘數量達到更傳統的水平。

We expect adjusted EBITDA of $37 million at the midpoint in Q2 '22 and $149 million at the midpoint for the full year 2022. The full year guidance equates to an adjusted EBITDA margin of 16%, which is higher than both our prior guidance and our margin in 2021. This is a reflection of our increased investment in our research and development teams who continue to drive product innovation as well as our sales and marketing expenses aimed to grow both sides of our marketplace.

我們預計2022 年第二季度中點調整後EBITDA 為3700 萬美元，2022 年全年中點調整後EBITDA 為1.49 億美元。全年指導相當於調整後EBITDA 利潤率為16%，高於我們之前的指導和我們的預期。 2021 年的利潤率。這反映了我們對研發團隊的投資增加，他們繼續推動產品創新，以及我們旨在發展市場雙方的銷售和營銷費用。

We're delighted to finish our first quarter in 2022 with such strong results. We remain more excited than ever before that ZipRecruiter is at the center of transforming how people find work and we will continue to actively connect people to their next great opportunity.

我們很高興在 2022 年第一季度取得如此強勁的業績。我們比以往任何時候都更加興奮，ZipRecruiter 處於改變人們尋找工作方式的中心，我們將繼續積極地將人們與下一個絕佳機會聯繫起來。

With that, we can now open the lines for questions. Operator?

這樣，我們現在就可以開始提問了。操作員？

(Operator Instructions) Our first question will come from Mark Mahaney with Evercore ISI.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題將來自 Evercore ISI 的 Mark Mahaney。

Okay. Let me throw a couple of questions out, please. First is, it does seem like you had a stronger than seasonally normal growth in new paid employers. So could you just double-click on that and explain why you think you saw that? And were there any particular sources of those new employers verticals, economic levels or whatever?

好的。請讓我提出幾個問題。首先，新受薪雇主的增長似乎確實比季節性正常增長要強勁。那麼您可以雙擊它並解釋一下為什麼您認為您看到了它嗎？這些新雇主的垂直行業、經濟水平或其他方面是否有任何特定來源？

Mark, we did see continued robust demand from employers, and we invested into that demand both in sales and in marketing. So we were able to continue to spend across a wide variety of different forms of media. And at the same time, we increased our sales force by 11% and the combination of those factors plus meeting that demand is what led to the outperformance in the quarter.

馬克，我們確實看到了雇主持續強勁的需求，我們在銷售和營銷方面都對這種需求進行了投資。因此，我們能夠繼續在各種不同形式的媒體上進行支出。與此同時，我們將銷售隊伍增加了 11%，這些因素加上滿足需求，導致了本季度的優異表現。

Okay. And then you talked about having record high revenue per paid employer. And I think David, I may have asked you this last quarter, but I want to try it again. The -- your thoughts on where that number can go long term? And if you want to set realistic estate expectations, what are the bogeys when you look in the market and out in the marketplace and you see where others maybe have been able to get that revenue? Or just give us a sense of that number is a record high now. What would be a record high a few years from now?

好的。然後您談到每個受薪雇主的收入創歷史新高。我想大衛，我可能在上個季度問過你這個問題，但我想再試一次。您對這個數字的長期發展有何看法？如果你想設定切合實際的房地產預期，那麼當你審視市場內外並看到其他人可能在哪裡獲得這些收入時，有什麼忌諱呢？或者只是讓我們感覺到這個數字現在創下了歷史新高。幾年後，歷史新高會是多少？

Yes. Great question. So we see this as average revenue per paid employer to be a long-term growth lever with a lot more room to run. And to that end we compare the fact that we're delivering for our average customer against multiple hiring needs in any given quarter, whereas their alternatives are to pay more than they pay us, thousands of dollars -- a few thousand dollars each for a hire when you think about what the off-line alternatives are, and we're also the high-value, low-cost option that we see based on our data from the online alternatives. So ultimately, where does that go over time?

是的。很好的問題。因此，我們認為每個受薪雇主的平均收入是一個長期增長槓桿，具有更大的運行空間。為此，我們將我們為普通客戶提供的服務與任何特定季度的多種招聘需求進行比較，而他們的選擇是支付比他們支付給我們的更多的費用，數千美元——每人幾千美元。當你考慮線下替代品是什麼時，我們也是根據在線替代品的數據看到的高價值、低成本的選擇。那麼最終，隨著時間的推移，它會走向何方？

Over time, we see off-line alternatives charging 20% or more of first year salary to drive a hire and we believe we can do it better and faster than those off-line alternatives today, and we can do it more cost efficiently at a higher margin. So I see it being a multiple. We haven't laid out a specific number. To the extent that's what you're pushing for. I don't have a specific number for you, but I think it's a multiple of where we're at today.

隨著時間的推移，我們看到線下替代方案收取第一年工資20% 或更多的費用來吸引員工，我們相信我們可以比現在的線下替代方案做得更好、更快，而且我們可以以更高的成本效率做到這一點。更高的利潤。所以我認為它是一個倍數。我們還沒有列出具體數字。在某種程度上，這就是你所推動的。我沒有具體的數字，但我認為這是我們今天的數字的倍數。

And then we will take our next question from Trevor Young with Barclays.

然後我們將回答巴克萊銀行特雷弗·楊的下一個問題。

Great. I guess for David, any color on how quarterly paid employers progressed throughout the quarter? Was there any softness after the Russia-Ukraine conflict? And then how is April trending thus far?

偉大的。我想對於大衛來說，按季度支付工資的雇主在整個季度的進展有什麼顏色嗎？俄烏衝突後是否出現了軟化？那麼四月份迄今為止的趨勢如何？

Yes. We haven't seen any trends that have been sort of disjointed from or any rapid acceleration or change in current events. What we've -- instead, what we've seen is that since the super spike activity we saw in the middle of last year in Q2 and Q3 as the economy reopened. We've seen obviously a gradual easing in hiring activity, but it's been modest and steady, I would say, and there hasn't been any sort of discontiguous big change in the past month or 2.

是的。我們沒有看到任何與當前事件脫節的趨勢，也沒有看到任何快速加速或變化。相反，我們所看到的是，自從去年年中第二季度和第三季度經濟重新開放以來，我們看到了超級高峰活動。我們顯然看到招聘活動逐漸放鬆，但我想說，這是溫和而穩定的，在過去一兩個月裡沒有出現任何不連續的重大變化。

That's really helpful. And just dovetailing on that. Then on the 2Q guide, can you unpack a little bit how we think -- we should think about the quarterly paid employers versus revenue per, I think, in '21 and '19, you had a bit stronger sequential growth in the employer count? And then the letter, I think you noted a strong trends throughout 1Q or a March just now. Just wondering how we should think about that sequential growth in quarterly paid's?

這真的很有幫助。正好吻合這一點。然後，在第二季度指南中，您能否稍微解釋一下我們的想法——我們應該考慮季度支付雇主與收入的關係，我認為，在 21 年和 19 年，雇主數量的連續增長有點強勁？然後在信中，我認為您注意到整個第一季度或剛剛的三月份的強勁趨勢。只是想知道我們應該如何看待季度付費的連續增長？

Yes. Trevor, this is Tim. So we're coming -- we're easing off of the super spike that we experienced last year that Dave already referred to. So this year, we see quarterly paid employer number being a bit more moderate in terms of growth sequentially and throughout the balance of the year. So we see most of the growth this year coming from the revenue per paid employer.

是的。特雷弗，這是蒂姆。所以我們來了——我們正在緩解戴夫已經提到的去年經歷的超級高峰。因此，今年，我們看到季度受薪雇主數量在連續增長和全年剩餘時間內增長較為溫和。因此，我們認為今年的大部分增長來自每個受薪雇主的收入。

(Operator Instructions) Our next question will come from Doug Anmuth with JPMorgan.

（操作員指令）我們的下一個問題將來自摩根大通的 Doug Anmuth。

This is Dae Lee on for Doug. When you guys talk about the market the normalization and thinking through how the job market has been balanced right now. I guess, in your view and what's impacting the outlook is that return to a prepandemic levels. Is there a scenario where that can potentially stay in balance more on a normal basis? And if that were to be the case, like what would be some of the drivers that can sustain that level of imbalance going forward?

我是道格 (Doug) 的戴·李 (Dae Lee)。當你們談論市場正常化並思考就業市場目前如何平衡時。我想，在您看來，影響前景的是回到大流行前的水平。是否有一種情況可以在正常情況下保持更多的平衡？如果情況確實如此，那麼未來能夠維持這種不平衡程度的驅動因素是什麼？

Well, we definitely see -- this is Ian. We definitely see a number of macroeconomic variables that have the potentiality to impact the labor market right now and whether you're talking about inflation or rising labor costs or the war in the Ukraine, and it's hard to predict how these variables will either directly impact or as is the case with the war in Ukraine, say, the cost of transportation indirectly impact how businesses are operating, and therefore, how they're hiring.

好吧，我們肯定看到了——這是伊恩。我們肯定會看到許多宏觀經濟變量目前有可能影響勞動力市場，無論你是在談論通貨膨脹、勞動力成本上升還是烏克蘭戰爭，而且很難預測這些變量將如何直接影響勞動力市場。或者就像烏克蘭戰爭的情況一樣，運輸成本間接影響企業的運營方式，從而影響他們的招聘方式。

Certainly, it is difficult to have a crystal ball. And when we assess these various situations. We are -- we have an imperfect view on what their ultimate impact will be. So it's possible that we will be overestimating their impact or underestimating their impact. But what we're trying to do with the guidance we're giving you is give you our best guess as to what the impact will be based on the information we already have at our disposal.

當然，擁有水晶球是很困難的。當我們評估這些不同的情況時。我們對它們的最終影響的看法並不完美。因此，我們可能會高估或低估其影響。但我們試圖根據我們為您提供的指導，根據我們現有的信息，對影響的最佳猜測。

Yes, this is Dave. Just to pile on there, exactly to Ian's point. In the range of uncertainty about what might happen, I think the scenario you're talking about where we stay at this super tight labor market is possible. That's not embedded in our guide. So we would be too conservative if that is the case. But what would drive that is the imbalance between the slack in the labor market represented by unemployed folks and those actively looking for work. We gave some data from the site and publicly available data in the letter there about the 0.5 unemployed persons per job opening right now.

是的，這是戴夫。就在那兒堆砌，完全符合伊恩的觀點。在可能發生的情況的不確定性範圍內，我認為你所談論的我們留在這個超級緊張的勞動力市場的情況是可能的。這沒有嵌入我們的指南中。如果是這樣的話，我們就太保守了。但造成這種情況的原因是失業者和積極尋找工作的勞動力市場疲軟之間的不平衡。我們提供了該網站的一些數據以及信中公開的數據，顯示目前每個職位空缺有 0.5 名失業人員。

And so if that remains the case, which it very well could, then we would expect the labor market would remain quite tight, and job openings might remain high because there's a backlog of jobs still to be filled as new jobs come open. So that's in the wide range of scenarios we're prepared for and that our teams are nimble and prepared for, that is 1 of them. And just as on the other side of the ledger, if things cool off faster than expected, we're completely ready for that as well.

因此，如果情況仍然如此（很有可能），那麼我們預計勞動力市場將仍然相當緊張，職位空缺可能仍然很高，因為隨著新職位的空缺，仍有大量積壓的職位需要填補。因此，這是我們已經做好準備的各種場景，我們的團隊也很靈活並做好了準備，這就是其中之一。就像賬本的另一邊一樣，如果事情冷卻得比預期更快，我們也已經做好了充分的準備。

Got it. And as a follow-on question to that. I mean what would be the -- in your view, what would be the biggest driver of job market normalization? Do you think it's more businesses not needing as many jobs as before due to inflationary or the consumer discretion and pressure? Or do you think it's -- it will be more driven by more jobs seekers coming to the market?

知道了。作為後續問題。我的意思是，在您看來，就業市場正常化的最大推動力是什麼？您是否認為由於通貨膨脹或消費者的自由裁量權和壓力，更多的企業不再需要像以前那樣多的工作崗位？或者你認為更多的求職者進入市場會更能推動這一趨勢？

So this is Dave again. So from a supply and demand standpoint, it could be either. What's most notable now in the market versus pre-pandemic is the fact that a bunch of job seeker -- a bunch of labor -- potential labors out there still haven't come back into the market. We're still a few million short. And so the labor market and the economy would benefit from those folks coming back into the labor market. So that's on the supply side of things.

這又是戴夫。因此，從供需的角度來看，兩者都可能是。與大流行前相比，現在市場上最值得注意的是，一群求職者——一群勞動力——潛在的勞動力仍然沒有回到市場。我們還差幾百萬。因此，勞動力市場和經濟將從這些人重返勞動力市場中受益。這是供應方面的問題。

That's what we most clearly see is somewhat easing the tightness. But certainly, if some of these macroeconomic factors come to bear, it could occur -- change could occur on the demand side as well, which would be businesses reducing their need for labor based on softness in the macroeconomic environment. So we've seen a little bit of both of those things occurring. But overall, the need for labor has still been outstripping the growing supply as people come back to work.

我們最清楚地看到的是緊張狀況有所緩解。但當然，如果其中一些宏觀經濟因素發揮作用，這種情況就可能發生——需求方面也可能發生變化，即企業根據宏觀經濟環境的疲軟減少對勞動力的需求。所以我們已經看到了這兩件事的發生。但總體而言，隨著人們重返工作崗位，對勞動力的需求仍然超過了不斷增長的供應。

Yes, this is Ian. I'd just add that you had the shutdown of the economy as it related to COVID last year, and then you had the super spike of demand from employers as effectively economy reopen and businesses had to hire back up. And they never got back to where they were pre-COVID from a staffing level standpoint. And then on top of that, you now had your ninth consecutive month of 4 million people quitting their jobs.

是的，這是伊恩。我想補充一點，去年因新冠疫情導致經濟停擺，然後隨著經濟重新開放，企業不得不重新招聘員工，雇主的需求激增。從人員配備水平的角度來看，他們再也沒有回到新冠疫情爆發前的水平。最重要的是，現在已經連續第九個月有 400 萬人辭職。

So I think we're a few months out, at least from a true reversion to the normalized economy that we had experienced back in, say, 2019. But we are definitely seeing signs of the softening has been referenced by both Dave and Tim. So we have baked that into our forecast.

因此，我認為我們至少還需要幾個月的時間才能真正恢復到 2019 年所經歷的經濟正常化。但我們確實看到了戴夫和蒂姆都提到的疲軟跡象。因此，我們已將其納入我們的預測中。

Our next question will come from Eric Sheridan with Goldman Sachs.

我們的下一個問題將來自高盛的埃里克·謝里丹。

I know we've talked about this over the last couple of quarters, but I want to come back to the point you made in the prepared remarks about driving deeper levels of the AI into the platform. Any greater sense we can get about how deep you are in the investment cycle on the AI side. And it seems like you're starting to get some increased momentum on matches and what you're able to show folks. How should we think about that as a driver irrespective of the broader labor market or the macro environment just independent and organic of how those investments can drive greater levels of retention, engagement and volume?

我知道我們在過去幾個季度已經討論過這個問題，但我想回到您在準備好的評論中提出的關於將更深層次的人工智能引入平台的觀點。我們可以更深入地了解您在人工智能方面的投資週期有多深。看起來你開始在比賽和向人們展示的東西上獲得更多的動力。無論更廣泛的勞動力市場或宏觀環境如何，我們應該如何將其視為獨立且有機的驅動因素，而這些投資如何能夠提高保留率、參與度和數量？

Well, I mean, certainly core to our strategy of building a matchmaker and not a job board is the infusion of AI into the job market and into our product. And the face of that AI is Phil and everywhere we've experimented with Phil to date, Phil has been a driver of engagement, and ultimately, that engagement leads to an increase in the amount of data we have to inform the algorithms of the right matches between employers and job seekers, that is why the software keeps learning. We have a data advantage as it relates to the deployment of AI and the utilization of AI to play that matchmaker role. We're still in the early phases of it. We're still rolling Phil out across the entirety of our product, and we're also expanding the Phil feature set. You'll be hearing more about Phil in subsequent earnings calls. However, clearly, this is our strategy, and it will be key to both our near-term and long-term success.

嗯，我的意思是，我們建立媒人而不是招聘委員會的戰略的核心當然是將人工智能注入就業市場和我們的產品中。人工智能的代表人物是 Phil，迄今為止，我們在 Phil 進行的所有實驗中，Phil 一直是參與度的推動者，最終，這種參與度會導致我們必須向算法提供正確信息的數據量的增加。雇主和求職者之間的匹配，這就是軟件不斷學習的原因。我們擁有數據優勢，因為這與人工智能的部署和利用人工智能發揮媒人的作用有關。我們仍處於早期階段。我們仍在將 Phil 推廣到整個產品中，並且我們還在擴展 Phil 功能集。您將在隨後的財報電話會議中聽到更多有關菲爾的信息。然而，顯然，這是我們的戰略，它將是我們近期和長期成功的關鍵。

Yes. Eric, this is Dave. The pile on about the investment cycle part of that. We continue to believe we're in the early stages of how AI is going to transform our business despite the significant investments and returns we've already seen in our product. So to put it another way, we remain very confident in our long-term 30% EBITDA margins, but the least likely place where operating leverage is going to come from is R&D.

是的。埃里克，這是戴夫。關於投資週期部分的一堆內容。儘管我們已經在我們的產品中看到了巨大的投資和回報，但我們仍然相信，我們正處於人工智能將如何改變我們業務的早期階段。換句話說，我們對 30% 的長期 EBITDA 利潤率仍然非常有信心，但運營槓桿最不可能來自研發。

Our next question will come from Aaron Kessler with Raymond James.

我們的下一個問題將由亞倫·凱斯勒和雷蒙德·詹姆斯提出。

This is Alex Bolton on for Aaron Kessler. I was wondering if you could touch on, I guess, the progress of kind of the sales and marketing effort, I guess, on both sides of the marketplace and kind of further sales and marketing investments you're planning to make, I guess, while job openings remain at record highs?

這是亞倫·凱斯勒的亞歷克斯·博爾頓。我想知道您是否可以談談市場雙方的銷售和營銷工作的進展以及您計劃進行的進一步銷售和營銷投資，我想，而職位空缺仍保持在歷史高位？

Sure. This is Dave. So yes, we remain on our front foot on our go-to-market investments because despite -- we talked a little bit about the easing we've seen from the super spike last summer, we are still at very robust levels in the labor market. And so the way we measure our go-to-market, our philosophy behind measuring go-to-market investments, both sales and marketing remain the same. We measure it in 3 different ways.

當然。這是戴夫。所以，是的，我們在市場投資方面仍然處於領先地位，因為儘管我們談到了去年夏天超級高峰帶來的寬鬆政策，但我們的勞動力仍然處於非常強勁的水平市場。因此，我們衡量上市的方式、衡量上市投資背後的理念、銷售和營銷都保持不變。我們用 3 種不同的方式來衡量它。

One, the bottom line asset test is what is our time to cash-on-cash return? How fast do we get our money back? Two, over a longer period of time, say, 5 years, what is the total return on that investment? And then three, over the very long term, what is the brand building return that we're getting by increasing awareness of ZipRecruiter and also increasing the sentiments and the quality of the sentiment people have towards ZipRecruiter.

一、最底線的資產測試是我們什麼時候才能實現現金回報？我們多快能拿回錢？第二，在較長一段時間內，例如 5 年，該投資的總回報是多少？第三，從長遠來看，通過提高 ZipRecruiter 的知名度以及提高人們對 ZipRecruiter 的情感和情感質量，我們獲得的品牌建設回報是多少。

So we use all 3 to measure each different sales and marketing investment might have a slightly different mix of how we view the returns in each of those 3 different categories. And what you can see over the course of the quarter is: a, we increased our sales and marketing investment overall. As we referenced earlier, we increased our sales headcount, specifically across multiple teams that are servicing new clients, existing clients, smaller businesses, larger businesses, et cetera, et cetera. It's working right now.

因此，我們使用這三個指標來衡量每種不同的銷售和營銷投資，我們對這 3 個不同類別中每一個類別的回報的看法可能會略有不同。在本季度中您可以看到：a，我們總體上增加了銷售和營銷投資。正如我們之前提到的，我們增加了銷售人員數量，特別是在為新客戶、現有客戶、小型企業、大型企業等提供服務的多個團隊中。現在正在工作。

The return on those investments and the rate at which those teams are executing are very good. And as long as that's the case, we're going to keep investing. And so that is the sort of philosophical bent we bring to it, and we're going to continue to innovate and try new things as we have over the past new quarter in addition to doubling down on things that are working, and we'll continue to measure. And as long as it's working, we'll double down again.

這些投資的回報以及這些團隊的執行速度都非常好。只要情況如此，我們就會繼續投資。這就是我們帶來的哲學傾向，我們將繼續創新並嘗試新事物，就像我們在過去的新季度所做的那樣，除了在有效的事情上加倍努力之外，我們將繼續測量。只要它有效，我們就會再次加倍努力。

Okay. Great. And then maybe just 1 follow-up. I guess I saw some leverage in G&A sequentially and, I guess, maybe a reduction in G&A ex stock-based compensation. Can you touch on that and maybe what we should expect?

好的。偉大的。然後也許只有 1 個後續行動。我想我連續看到了一般管理費用的一些槓桿作用，而且我想，一般管理費用（除股票薪酬外）可能會減少。您能談談這一點以及我們應該期待什麼嗎？

Yes. I think where you see G&A coming in -- this is Tim. We see G&A coming in for Q1 is a bit more of a steady state that we intend to stay at for the foreseeable future. So there was little savings sequentially versus Q4, but Q1, I think, is a pretty good point for us.

是的。我想你會看到 G&A 進來——這是蒂姆。我們認為第一季度的 G&A 更加穩定，我們打算在可預見的未來保持這種狀態。因此，與第四季度相比，連續節省的資金很少，但我認為第一季度對我們來說是一個非常好的點。

And our final question is a follow-up from Mark Mahaney with Evercore.

我們的最後一個問題是 Mark Mahaney 和 Evercore 的後續問題。

I'm sorry, I got cut off earlier. Maybe Avaya could hire a few more people. Two questions talk about increasing, you talked about increasing marketing spend that was in kind of your prepared comments for the balance of the year. So what's in that, Tim?

抱歉，我之前就斷線了。也許 Avaya 可以再僱用幾個人。有兩個問題涉及增加，您談到了增加營銷支出，這是您為今年剩餘時間準備的評論。那裡面是什麼，蒂姆？

Yes. So it's a combination of a few things. So we're -- we've been talking a lot about Phil over the past couple of quarters. And so with the product innovation comes a concerted marketing effort as well. Over the course of Q1 you probably have seen a couple of new TV spots there as an example. And so what you're seeing in our guidance is for that competitor, we're a fully funded plan where we're continuing to lay the groundwork for Phil as well as building the 80-plus percent brand awareness that we have on the employer side. And all of that is in addition to continued robust head count growth in our sales and marketing teams as well.

是的。所以這是一些事情的組合。所以我們——在過去的幾個季度裡我們一直在談論菲爾。因此，產品創新也伴隨著協調一致的營銷努力。例如，在第一季度中，您可能已經看到了一些新的電視廣告。因此，您在我們的指南中看到的是針對該競爭對手的，我們是一個資金充足的計劃，我們將繼續為 Phil 奠定基礎，並建立我們在雇主中超過 80% 的品牌知名度邊。除此之外，我們的銷售和營銷團隊人數也持續強勁增長。

Okay. And then, Ian, I wonder if I could ask you kind of a philosophical question about employment trends or hiring trends, you live to this day to day. What do you think is really driving this great resignation that 4 million, I think it was a month that are just exiting the workforce and that has this material ripple -- greater than ripple impact on the rest of the -- on the economy. So just your thoughts on why that? And I know other people have written about it, but you're in it day in and day out. Why do you think that's occurring?

好的。然後，伊恩，我想知道我是否可以問你一個關於就業趨勢或招聘趨勢的哲學問題，你每天都過著這樣的生活。您認為是什麼真正推動了這 400 萬人的大規模辭職，我認為這是剛剛退出勞動力市場的一個月，這對經濟產生了實質性的連鎖反應——比對其他人的連鎖反應更大。那麼您對為什麼會這樣的想法？我知道其他人已經寫過相關文章，但你日復一日地參與其中。您認為為什麼會發生這種情況？

Well, it seems from my vantage point and from the survey we did of over 2,000 job seekers who got hired in the last 6 months, that the #1 thing that job seekers are looking for right now, 62% of them said they're either looking for hybrid or fully remote work. Fully remote work is the #1 search term on ZipRecruiter today and all of 2022. And this desire to continue in a flexible work style that people discovered during the post-COVID recovery seems to be driving a lot of the job market. And when you look at that survey of those 2,000 people who got hired in the last 6 months, one of the really telling data points that jumps off the page is 40% of them change jobs to jobs that offered greater flexibility. So it looks like job seekers are voting with their feet right now. We're entering a new and interesting period where a lot of employers across America are compelling workforces to return to the office full time. And so we're going to have to see whether that abates or aggravates the rate at which the currently employed are quitting their jobs and looking for new work.

嗯，從我的角度以及我們對過去 6 個月內找到工作的 2,000 多名求職者進行的調查來看，求職者目前正在尋找的第一件事是，其中 62% 的人表示他們是尋找混合工作或完全遠程工作。完全遠程工作是當今以及 2022 年全年 ZipRecruiter 上的排名第一的搜索詞。人們在新冠疫情后復甦期間發現的這種繼續保持靈活工作方式的願望似乎正在推動就業市場的發展。當你查看對過去6 個月內受聘的2,000 名員工的調查時，頁面上跳出的真正有說服力的數據點之一是，其中40% 的人將工作換成了提供更大靈活性的工作。所以看起來求職者現在正在用腳投票。我們正在進入一個新的、有趣的時期，美國各地的許多雇主都在迫使員工全職返回辦公室。因此，我們必須看看這是否會減少或加劇當前就業者辭職並尋找新工作的速度。

And that will conclude today's conference. Thank you for your participation, and you may now disconnect.

今天的會議就到此結束。感謝您的參與，您現在可以斷開連接。