Monster.com.au, a joint venture with NineMSN, which is in turn a joint venture between Microsoft and Kerry Packer's PBL, will close its doors "sooner rather than later", ZDNet Australia has been told.
The portal had been losing AU$6 million a year, a situation the company's partners could no longer tolerate. The company's 40 staff will lose their jobs -- however employee entitlements will be paid in full, sources claim.
Earlier this year Monster announced it had turned things around through an advertising campaign, however web traffic analysts questioned the company's claimed visitor increases.
Media representatives from Monster were not available for comment, and PBL -- which forged its alliance with the jobs portal in 2000 -- has refused to even confirm the shut-down.
The closure follows the re-launch of News Corporation's CareerOne jobs portal last week. The publishing giant will follow in Fairfax's footsteps by publishing the employment sections of over 100 of its newspapers under the CareerOne brand.












Monster staff were told yesterday that there last day was Friday.