By: Lucia Moses It's no longer unthinkable to partner with the competition, but
The Boston Globe may have set a precedent with its decision to team up with another local newspaper to sell help-wanted advertising.
The partner,
Boston Metro -- the 170,000-distribution paper given away free, mostly in proximity to the T, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority system -- was publicly pooh-poohed by the
Globe and others when it hit the streets a year ago, but has grown popular with the young professionals that often elude the
Globe.
"We've been impressed with how well
Metro's been accepted by commuters," said Kymberlee Lawton, director of business development for BostonWorks, the recruitment-services arm of the
Globe. BostonWorks will handle all recruitment sales and publish a weekly help-wanted section for Metro starting May 6.
The benefits for
Metro, whose own recruitment-ad-selling efforts stalled, include an undisclosed cut of the revenue and the freeing of resources to go after other categories. "I never really understood recruitment," Publisher Russel Pergament said. "I'm so glad I don't have to worry about it."
The
Metro deal represents the
Globe's latest effort to squeeze new dollars out of a still-challenging help-wanted ad market. At the New York Times Co.'s New England Newspaper Group, to which the
Globe belongs, classified ad volume declined 9.6% in the first quarter.
BostonWorks in February rolled out a free weekly employment guide aimed at blue-collar and hourly job seekers, and Lawton said more print partnerships are in the works: "For us to maintain our market share and grow, we're going to have to break new ground."
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