The resurgence in spring recruitment has once again spurred growth for online recruitment platforms.
On May 20, Kanzhun Limited released its financial results for the first quarter of 2026. The report indicates that the company achieved revenue of 2.069 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.6%. Net profit reached 1.126 billion yuan, surging 119.8% compared to the same period last year. Adjusted net profit was 856 million yuan, reflecting a 12.1% year-on-year growth.
This earnings report from Kanzhun signals a phase of recovery in recruitment demand.
Zhao Peng, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Kanzhun, stated that business accelerated after the Spring Festival, driven by improved recruitment demand during the peak spring hiring season and user growth resulting from increased platform penetration. In March 2026, the monthly active user base on the Kanzhun platform surpassed 72 million.
Furthermore, the financial data shows that over the past 12 months ended March 31, 2026, Kanzhun's paid enterprise clients reached 7.1 million, a 10.9% increase year-on-year.
Although growth persists, the pace of increase in Kanzhun's paid enterprise clients has slowed compared to previous quarters, especially when contrasted with the over 40% growth seen in the first quarter of 2024.
Additionally, paid enterprise clients remain the primary revenue source for Kanzhun. In the first quarter, the company's online recruitment service revenue from enterprise clients was 2.058 billion yuan, up 8.2% year-on-year.
Kanzhun's revenue from other services in the first quarter decreased significantly by approximately 50% year-on-year to 11 million yuan. According to the company, this was mainly due to optimizations made to certain value-added services for job seekers since the third quarter of 2025, meaning Kanzhun's revenue from job seekers has declined.
Currently, overall corporate recruitment demand remains cautious, which dictates that the growth logic for recruitment platforms has shifted from "traffic expansion" to "efficiency management."
Wang Wenbei, Deputy Chief Financial Officer of Kanzhun, pointed out that thanks to efficient operating leverage, the company's profit margin reached a historical high for the same quarter.
However, core challenges remain for Kanzhun: the pace of recovery in corporate recruitment budgets, the peaking of internet traffic dividends, and whether the commercialization of AI recruitment products can genuinely form a second growth curve.
Over the past year, AI has become a new narrative for nearly all internet platforms, and the recruitment industry is considered one of the scenarios most susceptible to AI-driven restructuring. The reason is that recruitment inherently involves standardized processes like resume matching, job recommendation, communication screening, and interview assessment, which are naturally suitable for AI integration.
Kanzhun is also positioning AI as a key focus for its next phase of growth. Zhao Peng mentioned in the earnings report that the company is firmly investing in a "technology-driven growth strategy represented by AI."
Historically, the core business model of recruitment websites was selling job exposure and traffic. However, as companies increasingly focus on recruitment ROI, merely providing traffic is no longer sufficient; platforms need to genuinely enhance hiring efficiency and reduce recruitment costs.
Kanzhun has also explicitly stated its intention to promote a "recruitment outcome-based" business model.
This implies that the platform's future fee structure may gradually shift from "charging for exposure" to "charging for results."
If this model proves successful, Kanzhun's commercial ceiling could be reopened. Conversely, if AI ultimately only improves overall industry efficiency without generating new revenue capabilities, then AI investments might evolve into another round of cost competition.
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