Industry research firm IBISWorld has projected that online recruitment sites will start growing again following five years of decline.

The research projects annual growth of nearly 5% for online recruitment sites across the world for the five years to 2016, reaching a total value of $1.8bn (£1.12bn).

This follows an average year-on-year fall in value of 2.5% in the five years to 2011, with the current total value of the industry at $1.4bn.

IBISWorld analyst Kevin Culbert says: “The number of industry firms has risen at an average annualised rate of 2.0% to 2,743 in the five years to 2011. However, the recession and falling profit have recently contributed to some industry consolidation.”