Recruiter.com Group, Inc. - Annual Report: 2022 (Form 10-K)

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

(Mark One)

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022

or

Commission File Number 000-53641

(855) 931-1500

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Securities registered under Section 12(g) of the Exchange Act: None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☐     No ☒

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Act. Yes ☐     No ☒

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant: (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒     No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒     No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of a “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company,” and emerging growth company in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check One)

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☒

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☐

If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the fi ling reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b). ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes ☐     No ☒

As of June 30, 2022, the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second quarter, the aggregate market value of the shares of Common Stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant was approximately $13,073,834 based on $1.01, the closing price of the registrant’s Common Stock on that date.

As of March 22, 2023, the Company had 17,210,085 shares of its Common Stock, par value $0.0001 per share, outstanding.

 DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

None.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This Annual Report on Form 10-K (“Annual Report”) contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements contained in this Annual Report, other than statements of historical fact, including statements regarding our future operating results and financial position, our business strategy and plans, potential growth or growth prospects, future research and development, sales and marketing and general and administrative expenses, and our objectives for future operations, are forward-looking statements. Words such as “believes,” “may,” “will,” “estimates,” “potential,” “continues,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “expects,” “could,” “would,” “projects,” “plans,” “targets,” and variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including without limitation, the following:

We have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current expectations and projections about future events and trends that we believe may affect our financial condition, results of operations, business strategy, short-term and long-term business operations and objectives, and financial needs. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including those described in “Item 1A, Risk Factors” in this Annual Report. Readers are urged to carefully review and consider the various disclosures made in this Annual Report and in other documents we file from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) that disclose risks and uncertainties that may affect our business. Moreover, we operate in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risks emerge from time to time. It is not possible for us to predict all risks, nor can we assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements we may make. In light of these risks, uncertainties, and assumptions, the future events and circumstances discussed in this Annual Report may not occur and actual results could differ materially and adversely from those anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements.

You should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. The events and circumstances reflected in the forward-looking statements may not be achieved or occur. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee future results, performance, or achievements. In addition, the forward-looking statements in this Annual Report are made as of the date of this filing, and we do not undertake, and expressly disclaim any duty, to update such statements for any reason after the date of this Annual Report or to conform statements to actual results or revised expectations, except as required by law.

You should read this Annual Report and the documents that we reference herein and have filed with the SEC as exhibits to this Annual Report with the understanding that our actual future results, performance, and events and circumstances may be materially different from what we expect.

PART I

ITEM 1. BUSINESS

Overview

Recruiter.com Group, Inc., a Nevada corporation (along with its subsidiaries, “we”, “the Company”, “us”, and “our”), is a holding company based in New York, New York, that, through its subsidiaries, operates an On Demand recruiting platform aimed at transforming the $28.5 billion dollar Employment and Recruitment Agency industry. The Company offers recruiting services and operates web-based platforms (the “Platform”) and a network of independent recruiters. Businesses from startups to the Fortune 100 use Recruiter.com to help address their critical talent needs and solve recruiting and hiring challenges.

We have seven operating subsidiaries, Recruiter.com, Inc., Recruiter.com Recruiting Solutions LLC (“Recruiting Solutions”), Recruiter.com Consulting, LLC, VocaWorks, Inc. (“VocaWorks”), Recruiter.com Scouted Inc. (“Scouted”), Recruiter.com Upsider Inc. (“Upsider”) and Recruiter.com OneWire Inc. (“OneWire”). As of March 27, 2023, the Company  employed 18 tull time employees and 27 outside staffing professionals in 12 states.

For employers needing talent acquisition services, we place independent recruiters from our network with our clients on a project basis. To round out our offerings, we provide other talent acquisition support services, including job posting, consulting, staffing, and full-time placement services.

Our mission is to help recruit the right talent faster and become the preferred solution for hiring specialized talent.

Corporate History

We were incorporated in February 2015 as a Delaware corporation. Effective March 31, 2019 (the “Effective Date”), we completed a merger with Recruiter.com, Inc. (“Pre-Merger Recruiter.com”), an affiliate of the Company, pursuant to a Merger Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated March 31, 2019 (the “Merger”). At the effective time of the Merger, our newly formed wholly owned subsidiary merged with and into Pre-Merger Recruiter.com, with Pre-Merger Recruiter.com continuing as the surviving corporation and as our wholly owned subsidiary.

Following the Merger, on May 9, 2019, we changed our corporate name to Recruiter.com Group, Inc. Our fiscal year end was also changed, as of the Effective Date, from March 31 to December 31.

Immediately prior to the completion of the Merger, Pre-Merger Recruiter.com owned approximately 98% of our outstanding shares of common stock (“Common Stock”). The Merger did not result in a change of control of our Company, as the principal stockholders of Pre-Merger Recruiter.com had controlled the Company since October 2017 and the Merger simply increased their control. In addition, our President and Chief Operating Officer served as the Chief Executive Officer of Pre-Merger Recruiter.com and the majority of our directors at the time were directors (or designees) prior to the Merger. Further, our Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer was retained as a consultant prior to the Merger with the understanding that if the Merger occurred, he would be appointed as our Executive Chairman.

Reincorporation and Reverse Stock Split

On May 13, 2020, we effected a reincorporation from the State of Delaware to the State of Nevada. Following the approval by our stockholders at a special meeting held on May 8, 2020, we entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “Merger Agreement”) with Recruiter.com Group, Inc., a Nevada corporation and our wholly owned subsidiary (“Recruiter.com Nevada”), pursuant to which we merged with and into Recruiter.com Nevada, with Recruiter.com Nevada continuing as the surviving entity. Simultaneously with the reincorporation, the number of shares of common stock that we, as a Nevada corporation, are authorized to issue was increased from 31,250,000 shares to 250,000,000 shares. On June 18, 2021, we filed an Amendment to our Articles of Incorporation to effectuate a reverse split of our issued and outstanding common stock at an exchange ratio of 1-for-2.5. The reverse stock split was effective as of June 18, 2021. Simultaneously with the reverse stock split, we reduced our authorized shares from 250,000,000 to 100,000,000. All share and per share data in the accompanying consolidated financial statements and footnotes and throughout this annual report has been retroactively adjusted to reflect the effects of the reverse stock split.

The reincorporation did not result in any change in our corporate name, business, management, fiscal year, accounting, location of the principal executive office, or assets or liabilities.

Scouted Asset Purchase

Effective January 31, 2021, we, through a wholly owned subsidiary, acquired all of the assets of RLJ Talent Consulting, Inc., dba Scouted, a Delaware corporation (“Scouted”) (the “Scouted Asset Purchase”). As consideration in the Scouted Asset Purchase, Scouted shareholders received a total of 224,163 shares of our restricted Common Stock (valued at $1,625,183 based on a $7.25 per share acquisition date price), of which 33,151 shares of stock were held in reserve and recorded as contingent consideration, a current liability in the accompanying financial statements, and an additional amount of $180,000 in cash consideration for a total purchase price of approximately $1.8 million. The 33,151 shares held in reserve were issued on December 13, 2021. The Scouted Asset Purchase was accounted for as a business acquisition. The assets acquired in the Scouted Asset Purchase consist primarily of sales and client relationships, contracts, intellectual property, partnership and vendor agreements and certain other assets (the “Scouted Assets”). We utilized the Scouted Assets to expand our video hiring solutions and curated talent solutions, through our Recruiting Solutions subsidiary.

Upsider Asset Purchase

Effective March 25, 2021, we, through a wholly owned subsidiary, entered into an Asset Purchase Agreement and Plan of Reorganization with Upsider, Inc., (“Upsider”), to acquire all the assets and certain liabilities of Upsider (the “Upsider Purchase”). As consideration for the Upsider Purchase, Upsider’s shareholders received net cash of $69,983 and a total of 323,094 shares of our Common Stock (the “Upsider Shares”) (valued at $2,544,362, based on a $7.88 per share acquisition date price), of which 51,940 of the Upsider Shares were held in reserve and were recorded as a current liability, contingent consideration in the accompanying financial statements. The shareholders of Upsider were paid earn-out consideration in the form of the issuance of 321,390 shares of our Common Stock on September 1, 2021 based on the attainment of specific targets during the nine months following closing. The total purchase price was approximately $3.9 million. The assets acquired in the Upsider Purchase consist primarily of sales and client relationships, contracts, intellectual property, partnership and vendor agreements and a de minimis amount of other assets. We also assumed a small amount of liabilities in the form of net payables. We utilize Upsider’s machine learning artificial intelligence to provide a more predictive and efficient recruiting tool that enhances our current technology. On December 5, 2022, The Company entered into an asset purchase agreement in which the Company sold to a third party Upsider’s candidate sourcing and engagement platform and all related intellectual property for $1,000,000 in cash consideration. The recorded value of the internal use software developed at the date of the sale was $1,000,000 resulting in no gain or loss on the sale. For a period of eighteen months from the date of the sale, the Company will have continued access to this platform.

OneWire Asset Purchase

Effective May 10, 2021, we, through a wholly owned subsidiary, entered into an Asset Purchase Agreement and Plan of Reorganization with OneWire Holdings, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“OneWire”), to acquire all the assets and several liabilities of OneWire (the “OneWire Purchase”). As consideration for the OneWire Purchase, OneWire’s shareholders received a total of 155,327 shares (the “Consideration Shares”) of Common Stock, (valued at $1,255,000, based on a price per share of $8.0797, the volume-weighted average price of the Common Stock for the 30 day period immediately prior to the closing date), of which 31,066 of the Consideration Shares are subject to forfeiture as security against a post-closing working capital adjustment and a revenue true-up and pursuant to OneWire’s indemnity obligations. At the date of closing, the common stock was valued at $1,436,777 and there was a to be determined working capital adjustment to be paid in additional common shares recorded as a liability at a fair value of $45,751 for a total purchase price of $1,482,528. The assets acquired in the OneWire Purchase consist primarily of sales and client relationships, contracts, intellectual property, partnership and vendor agreements and certain other assets. OneWire’s expansive candidate database in financial services and candidate matching services amplifies our reach to give employers and recruiters access to an even broader pool of specialized talent.

Parrut Asset Purchase

Effective July 7, 2021, we entered into and closed on an Asset Purchase Agreement with Parrut, Inc. (“Parrut”), and certain individuals named therein. Parrut does business as Uncubed and we acquired the assets of the Technology Solutions Division of Uncubed. The purchased assets include assets related to Finalist, an online marketplace for sourcing and screening early-professional software and data candidates and assets related to Uncubed’s job board technology and candidate engagement platform which includes Mediabistro, a job board and professional community for media, content, and creative professionals (the “Parrut Purchase”).

As consideration for the Parrut Purchase, we paid $500,000 in cash at closing, a $1,750,000 promissory note with an interest rate of 6% and an original maturity date of July 1, 2023, and granted to Parrut 257,545 shares of our Common Stock, valued at $1,264,551. In addition, the terms of the Parrut Purchase include “earn-out” provisions under which we could become obligated to pay Parrut up to an additional $1,350,000 in the form of our Common Stock (the “Parrut Earn-Out Consideration”). The Parrut Earn-Out Consideration is equal to 1.35 times our revenue derived or generated from the assets purchased in the Parrut Purchase achieved during the twelve-month period immediately following the closing date. In October 2022, we confirmed Parrut earned the maximum earnout of $1,350,000 and we issued 1,374,678 common shares to Parrut at a price of $0.98 per share, the 20-day volume weighted average price prior to completion of the earnout period.

On October 19, 2022, Parrut agreed to subordinate their note to the loan owed to Montage Capital II, L.P. In return, we restructured the payment schedule to Parrut. The Parrut note now has an annual interest rate of 12% and matures on August 31, 2023.

Novo Asset Purchase

Effective August 27, 2021, we entered into and closed an Asset Purchase Agreement with the Novo Group, Inc. (the “Novo Group”), and certain individuals named therein. The Novo Group operates a recruitment services company for employers, providing talent, acquisition, and other hiring solutions.

We purchased substantially all of the assets of Novo Group (the “Novo Purchased Assets”). The Novo Purchased Assets include, among other assumed assets, certain contracts with Novo Group’s clients, permits owned, held and used by the Novo Group, intellectual property as well as tangible assets, and all of Novo Group’s accounts receivable (the “Novo Purchase”). Furthermore, we agreed to assume certain liabilities associated with the Novo Group business.

The amount due at closing was approximately $7,117,425 (the “Base Purchase Price”), consisting of the following consideration: (i) $1,337,500 in cash, (ii) a $3,000,000 promissory note with an interest rate of 6%, that matures on February 1, 2024, (iii) working capital adjustments in the amount of approximately $217,045, which was paid as of September 30, 2021, and (iv) 508,711 restricted shares of our Common Stock, valued at $2,019,583 (based on the acquisition date share price), of which 127,178 of our restricted shares of Common Stock were placed in escrow to account for post-closing adjustments in respect to Novo Group’s revenue from the closing date to the end of the 2021 calendar year, as well as to partially secure the indemnification obligations of Novo Group’s former owners.

In addition to the Base Purchase Price, there is an earn-out that is tied to revenue of Novo Group from sales of its products and services over eight calendar quarters (the “Earn-Out Period”), with such Earn-Out Periods beginning on January 1, 2022 and ending on December 31, 2023. The Earn-Out Amount payable, if any, would equal to 5% of Novo Group’s revenue (“Earn-Out Amount”) for each applicable Earn-Out Period. Our preliminary estimate of the fair value of this contingent consideration was $543,297 which has been revalued to $578,591 as of December 31, 2021.

On April 1, 2022, we entered into that certain Novo Adjusted Agreement (the “Agreement”) with Novo Group and a representative of Novo that had the effect of amending the Novo Asset Purchase Agreement and the Novo Note. A legend was affixed to the Novo Note stating that the Novo Note was subject to the terms of the Agreement. Under the Novo Asset Purchase Agreement, we owed an original principal amount to Novo Group of $3,000,000. Under the terms of the Agreement, the original principal amount due to Novo Group was reduced by $600,000 from $3,000,000 to $2,400,000 due to the employee turnover that occurred following the acquisition. Pursuant to the Agreement, the post-closing working capital adjustment amount of $52,117 due from us was forgiven and no additional amount is or will become due from the us as final excess with respect to the final closing working capital. Pursuant to the Agreement, the Earn-Out provision of the Asset Purchase Agreement is of no further force and effect, and consequently no further Earn-Out Payment would be earned by Novo Group or paid by us. The parties further agreed to an updated amortization schedule attached to the Agreement as discussed below. The reduction in the amounts owed to Novo Group was accounted for as a gain on debt extinguishment on the consolidated statement of operations.

In October 2022, Novo Group entered into a Subordination Agreement (“Subordination Agreement”), pursuant to which Novo agreed to subordinate all its indebtedness and obligations we owe to Novo to all the indebtedness and obligations we owe to Montage Capital.

In February 2023, we entered into an Amendment to the Promissory Note with Novo Group, Inc. (the “Novo Amendment”). The Novo Amendment further modifies the Promissory Note issued to Novo on August 27, 2021 (the “Novo Note”) and amended on April 1, 2022, by amending the payment schedule pursuant to which we would make payments of principal and interest to Novo. Novo agreed we would pay interest only for the period starting November 1, 2022 though and including March 31, 2023, with payments of principal and interest to resume starting April 1, 2023. We also replaced the existing payment schedule with a new payment schedule terminating on November 1, 2023.

Market Opportunity

Industry Overview

Employers invest significant amounts of capital in finding qualified employees, what we call the practice of “talent acquisition.” Market opportunities within talent acquisition are expansive and diverse. According to Statisa, the recruiting and staffing industry was worth over $185.5 billion dollars as of 2022, while IBISWorld pegs staffing and temp agencies to total over $200 billion dollars. The digital sector of the recruiting industry, in which we include our Platform, Recruiter.com, is growing rapidly within this large industry. IBISWorld anticipates that the $14 billion-dollar online recruitment sites sector will grow at a 13% rate in 2023.

This total industry market size includes companies that help other organizations find staff on a temporary or permanent basis, with the temporary staffing segment being significantly larger. The need for qualified and, in many cases, highly specialized talent, can be fulfilled by assisting companies in recruiting new internal staff or directly providing temporary staff to fill specific functions.

Overall, the U.S. recruitment industry is enormous, and it continues to grow, driven mainly by robust GDP growth creating demand for direct-hire (finding full-time employees) and contingent (placing project-based) workers. Demographic trends are also accelerating the demand for recruitment services: According to Seniorliving.org, from now until 2030, 10,000 Baby Boomers each day will hit retirement age. Employers often turn to the recruiting industry to close these talent gaps.

With employers continuing to struggle to find relevant candidates and more than 10.5 million open jobs in the U.S. as of December 2022, recruiting represents an enormous market opportunity. According to the leading human resource association, the Society for Human Resource Management, external sources-whether online job boards, recruiting agencies, campus events, job fairs, or walk-ins-produce approximately 65% of interviews compared to internal sources such as career sites, in-house recruiters and employee referrals, which is 35%. This 65% of role interviews generated by external sources provide a significant market opportunity for innovative recruiting technology companies to capture.  

Industry Trends

“The Great Resignation”

In 2021, U.S. employers experienced higher than normal rates of resignations. This trend has been described by many publications and named as “The Great Resignation.” Since April 2021, the share of nonfarm workers who quit their jobs has been at some of the highest levels recorded by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (“BLS”). Abnormally high “quit rates” or what are called “churn rates” within the industry, may propel employers to invest historically high levels of capital toward recruitment and retention efforts to attract and maintain a qualified and productive workforce. The Great Resignation that has seen a record number of workers in the United States voluntarily resign from their jobs continued as close to 4.1 million workers quit in September 2022, according to the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) released by the BLS.

COVID-19

The recent COVID-19 pandemic dramatically affected the U.S. economy and the job market. Unemployment peaked at 14.7% in April of 2020. Since then, labor markets have continually improved, with the unemployment rate falling to 3.5% in December of 2022. U.S. payrolls jumped by 223,000 in December 2022, beating economists’ expectations for a ninth straight month, as the labor market showed continued resilience in a slowing economy.

Our management team believes that COVID-19 accelerated significant technology trends that had already existed before the pandemic. For example, the gig economy's growth (i.e., temporary, flexible jobs) was facilitated by technology, virtual and remote telework with video, and the emergence of On Demand labor through online marketplaces all happened before the crisis. The necessity of lockdowns and business closures drove increased technology adoption and moved these trends rapidly forward. As we operate as a virtual, AI, and video-based hiring platform operating in the gig economy, these trends may act as tailwinds for the adoption of our products and services.

We expect but cannot guarantee that demand for its recruiting solutions will improve in 2023, as certain clients re-open or accelerate their hiring initiatives, and new clients utilize our services. Overall, management is focused on effectively positioning the Company for a rebound in hiring which we believe will continue to happen in 2023. Ultimately, the recovery may be delayed and the economic conditions may worsen, depending upon changes in the impact from the COVID-19 pandemic. We continue to closely monitor the confidence of our recruiter users and customers, and their respective job requirement load through offline discussions and our Recruiter Index survey.

We also may depend on raising additional debt or equity capital to stay operational. The economic impact of COVID-19, should the COVID-19 pandemic worsen, may make it more difficult for us to raise additional capital when needed. The terms of any financing, if we are able to complete one, will likely not be favorable to us.

Inflation

The Company generally may be impacted by rising costs for certain inflation-sensitive operating expenses such as labor and employee benefits. The Company believes inflation could have a material impact to pricing and operating expenses in future periods due to the state of the economy and current inflation rates.

Employment Rate

The unemployment rate in January 2023 stood at 3.4%, which is historically low, signaling a “tight” labor market and a general lack of available qualified talent. However, many large companies, particularly in the technology sector, have implemented layoffs. The Company generally may be impacted by corporate layoffs of professional employees, if they are substantive, long-term, and/or widespread.

Operating Businesses and Revenue

We generate revenue from the following activities:

We have a sales team and sales partnerships with direct employers as well as Vendor Management System companies and Managed Service companies that help create sales channels for clients that buy staffing, direct hire, and sourcing services. Once we have secured the relationship and contract with the interested Enterprise customer, the delivery and product teams will provide the service to fulfill any or all of the revenue segments.

The costs of our revenue primarily consist of employee costs, third-party staffing costs and other fees, outsourced recruiter fees and commissions based on a percentage of our gross margin.

Disrupting an Industry - Recruit Talent Faster

We believe we are fundamentally modernizing the recruiting process by digitizing and democratizing the recruiting process. We are distributing both the work and opportunity of recruiting to a broader community than ever before, enabling people to earn money through our platform and be their own bosses. Furthermore, we are dispersing the economic benefits of successful recruitment to a broad group of people. By doing so, we help businesses recruit talent faster and more efficiently than ever before.

Community and Network

We operate various publishing, social media, groups, and career communities that allow for user registration. We specialize in providing content, community, and resources for recruitment and talent acquisition professionals. We refer to the recruiting and talent acquisition professionals that connect with our various assets as our “Recruiter Network” or our “network of recruiters.” This network of recruiters allows us to maintain a close connection to the industry as a whole and be responsive to our clients’ demand for project-based and full-time recruiters. In addition, our network of recruiters serves as a general sales channel, to which we can market recruitment solutions, such as our recruiting software subscriptions.

We believe the potential scale of our Recruiter Network is enormous. With hundreds of thousands of people involved in the general human resource and employment industry in the United States alone, and many more interested in referral-based, work-from-home earning opportunities, we believe our addressable network and potential audience is significant.

The Recruiter.com Website - a Top Destination

Our website is a popular destination for the recruiting and talent acquisition profession, with millions of pages of indexed content on career and recruitment issues and trends, email newsletters, and digital publications issued every quarter. Our internet traffic is generated by three primary groups of people: (1) recruiters seeking to join the network and platform, (2) enterprises seeking to recruit talent, and (3) candidates seeking to find opportunities through the community of recruiters. Overall, we are a well-known brand in the recruiting industry, and our vision is to build upon this success to become a clear leader in terms of traffic, mindshare, and usage within the recruiting business.

A comprehensive search engine optimization strategy fuels our marketing. SpyFu.com, a traffic analysis website, estimated that, as of March 2023, our website has obtained over 17,500 search terms on the first page of Google.com. We are also active on social media. Most notably, as of February 2023, we operated four of the top ten largest professional groups globally on the social media platform LinkedIn, out of approximately 2.3 million groups in total. These groups include the Recruiter.com Network, and groups for the professions of Project Managers, Marketers, and Information Technology.

In addition to our online thought leadership and social media presence, we also attract recruiters and enterprises to our community and solution through our recruitment training offerings. Through our fully online Recruiter.com Certification Program (“RCP”), we facilitate upskilling for experienced recruiters and easy entry into the profession for those new to the tasks of recruiting and candidate sourcing. Subsequent to the year, we added to our training offering by launching RecruitingClasses.com, a platform for knowledge sharing within the recruitment profession.

Our Recruiting Software

We offer employers a subscription service that provides campaigns to prospective employees and sends these candidates to the employers. The subscription is made possible by our AI based software, which matches job descriptions against a large database of candidate profiles. We refer to this software solution as our “AI Software”, “Talent Sourcing Software”, “the Platform” or simply, “Recruiter.com Software.” Our AI Software originated from our acquisition of Upsider, Inc. in 2021, and has since been further developed. In December 2022, we announced a strategic partnership with Talent, Inc., terms of which included the sale of certain intellectual property including the AI Software. For a period of eighteen months from the date of sale, the Company will have access to the platform sold to Talent, Inc. Subsequent to the sale, we continued to provide recruiting solutions leveraging third-party tools.

Our Career Communities

We own and develop a proprietary tool for job posting and career community sites, which originated from the purchase of certain assets from Parrut, Inc. known as Uncubed Technology and has since been further developed. We use this technology to operate certain career communities, including sites for recruitment and media professionals. We refer to the technology as our “Recruitment Marketing” technology and to the sites that leverage such technology as our “Career Communities.”

Career Community for Recruiting Professionals

We own and operate Recruiter Jobs, a specialized career community for recruiting and talent acquisition professionals. The community focuses on providing access to both contract and full-time job opportunities for recruiters. Users may search and find suitable job opportunities, create job alerts for notifications, and easily apply to open roles. The career community is currently located at https://jobs.recruiter.com.

MediaBistro - a Career Community for Media Professionals

We own and operate MediaBistro, a specialized career community for media and creative professionals. The community focuses on providing access to job opportunities at companies in the media space. Users may search and find suitable job opportunities, create job alerts for notifications, and easily apply to open roles. The career community is currently located at https://www.mediabistro.com.

Benefits for Career Community Users

We empower professionals to find suitable career opportunities, surfacing relevant jobs and connecting them with economic opportunity.

Benefits to Employer Clients

Enterprises can leverage our niche communities of professionals to tap into highly unique talent pools.

Our Strengths

Our Growth Strategy

We seek to unlock the full potential of our brand by executing our strategic plans, which include organic growth, opportunistic acquisitions, and making use of capital provided by the public market. In short, we look to realize the potential of our market position.

Overall Market Position Potential

Companies in the recruiting technology space, such as LinkedIn and Indeed.com, have achieved “unicorn” status as billion-dollar companies. Recruiter.com is a defining brand for the profession of recruiting and talent acquisition, a major industry, therefore management believes there to be a very large addressable market and opportunities for growth.

Our combination of innovative use of technology, a broad network of specialized recruiting professionals, and curated talent communities enable a traditionally service-heavy industry to be scalable in an entirely new way. We believe our brand and technology put us in a unique position in the market.

Strategy

Recruiter.com intends to grow its business by focusing efforts on the following five main areas:

1) Grow Our Community:

2) Build Business Model Innovations:

3) Monetize the Businesses and Candidates Seeking to Access the Community and Platform:

We intend to not only develop new clients for all of our services but also expand relationships with our existing clients and increase their spending on the Platform by investing in building new products and features.

4) Acquire Complementary Assets and Businesses:

From time to time, we evaluate opportunities to acquire complementary businesses and personnel within the recruitment and staffing sector. We plan to continue evaluating opportunities in the sector which add light and low-touch services for recruiters and/or job seekers.

5) Approach the Future with Clarity and Vision:

Our Clients

Our recruiting solutions allow us to meet the hiring needs of a variety of clients, from Fortune 100 enterprises to high-quality startups. We typically focus on filling highly skilled and senior-level roles in specialized fields, including technology, healthcare, finance, logistics/transportation, communications, engineering, energy, and many others.

The majority of our revenue (approximately 90%) is generated by providing Recruiting Solutions for employers, consisting of success-based placement fees for fulltime employee referrals and hourly and project-based fees for professional consulting and staffing. Our clients include Schlumberger, Halliburton Co., Ford Motor Co., Coca Cola Co., and Bluebeam, Inc.

As of December 31, 2022, one customer, accounted for more than 10% of the accounts receivable balance, at 28%. As of December 31, 2021, two customers, accounted for more than 10% of the accounts receivable balance, at 14% and 12%, respectively, for a total of 26%.

For the year ended December 31, 2022, one customer accounted for more than 10% of total revenue, at 14%. For the year ended December 31, 2021, one customer accounted for 10% or more of total revenue, at 12%.

Our focus is to increase and improve our suite of product offerings and solutions to address different needs of potential employers in order to increase our client base and reduce reliance on the three customers accounting for the large percentage of our accounts receivables and revenue.

Our Platform and Technology

Our AI Software

Prior to its sale, employers large and small used our AI-based recruiting software and the Platform to identify great candidates and shave time off the recruiting process. Our software allows employers to outreach to qualified applicants and receive qualified and interested talent in a variety of methods. Overall, employers can use the subscription to spend more time collaborating with teams and less time on the hiring process itself. For a period of eighteen months from the date of sale, the Company will have access to the Platform.

Our Technology Infrastructure

Hosting

We currently host websites and data with Amazon’s web hosting service.

Personnel

Software development, database management, remote server administration, quality assurance, and administrative systems access is managed by our Product Director, and prior to December 2022, our former Chief Technology Officer. Our public websites are also maintained under the direction of our Chief Web Officer, Ashley Saddul, who currently resides overseas in Mauritius. From time to time, we also engage technical personnel on an as-needed basis from other locations, including overseas locations. Outsourced personnel are managed by the Product and web teams as well.

Product Development

We continue to invest in product development, develop new products and features, and further build our infrastructure. Our goal is to enable employers to identify and engage with top talent faster than ever before.

Roadmap

The following roadmap outlines Platform improvements that we intend to launch over the next year. While our overall strategic direction changes little, these specific projects cannot be guaranteed and often change. Specific projects include:

Sales and Marketing Strategy

Our sales and marketing strategy is centered around driving cost-effective awareness of our brand and the benefits of our platform among recruiters and employers of all sizes, from small businesses to Fortune 100 companies. Most of our new recruiter and employer registrations come from direct navigation to our website through unpaid search engine results listings, social media, and other content-based, no-cost referrals. We draw on our robust recruiting and staffing business foundation to build a sales pipeline and grow account relationships.

Sales Strategy

Most of our sales opportunities are derived from internet marketing and content strategies, which generate interest and traffic from search engines, such as Google, which index our website content. Word of mouth, customer and user referrals, and general brand recall and recognition also generate a significant number of visits to our website. Visitors to our website then express interest and contact us through standard electronic forms on our website. We employ Account Managers who follow up with these leads and perform inbound or inside sales functions to develop quality relationships with our customers. As much as possible, we rely on automated contact solutions to engage with our clients seamlessly. Our sales strategy includes the hiring of both internal and external sales and sales management personnel to conduct our sales relationships. As we expand our solution offerings, we will increasingly cross-sell across our On Demand recruiting technology and solutions.

We intend to employ several strategic methods to attract the best sales talent, including by offering attractive commission splits, bonuses, technology capabilities, and lead generation. These factors, in addition to the benefits of our Recruiter.com brand, should facilitate the recruitment of highly qualified talent. Also, we look for ways to partner with leading recruiting firms and successful independent recruiting salespeople, allowing them to sell under the Recruiter.com brand to accelerate our organic growth significantly.

Partnerships

We have forged relationships with many firms in the recruiting, HR, and payroll space. Partnerships constitute an essential component of our sales and marketing strategy, as these partnerships may stimulate sales demand for our hiring solutions, including success-based recruiting, On Demand offerings, and, in the future, video screening services. We pursue strategic alliances with employer service providers for joint marketing and cross-selling activities, and we seek platform integrations with strategic partners to generate client demand.

Public Relations

For PR and marketing purposes, we rely mostly on the continued development of our thought leadership content. Recruiter Index^®, our proprietary analysis that pinpoints recruiting trends and forecasts business growth, will form the bedrock of our thought leadership strategy.

No one understands the talent market like the recruiters, HR professionals, and talent acquisition experts working on the front lines. We have the unique ability to survey our vast network of independent recruiting and talent acquisition specialists to uncover job market trends. Given the Recruiter Index’s^® consistent media appearances beginning in June 2020, including on CNBC, there appears to be strong demand for leading indicators of the labor market.

Community Management

We consider our community management an essential part of our revenue generation strategy, as active engagement of our network leads to the further output of successful candidate matches. The principles of our approach to community management include:

Competition

The market for online staffing and recruitment services is highly competitive, fragmented, and undergoing rapid changes following increasing demand, technological advancements, and shifting needs. We compete with several online and offline platforms and services, including but not limited to, the following:

We compete based on several factors, including, among other things: size and engagement of user base, brand awareness and reputation, relationships with third party partners, and pricing. We differentiate ourselves through what we call our “three uniques:” people, power, and platform. We pride ourselves on:

These “three uniques” form our competitive “moat,” which management believes would be highly challenging for any competitor to replicate.

Intellectual Property

The protection of our intellectual property is an essential aspect of our business. We own our domain names and trademarks relating to our website’s design and content, including our brand name and various logos and slogans. We rely upon a combination of trademarks, trade secrets, copyrights, confidentiality procedures, contractual commitments, and other legal rights to establish and protect our intellectual property. We generally enter into confidentiality agreements and invention or work product assignment agreements with our employees and consultants to control access to and clarify ownership of our software, documentation, and other proprietary information.

As of March 22, 2023, our trademarks include the terms “Recruiter.com” and “Recruiter Index.”

Government Regulation

We are subject to a number of U.S. federal and state and foreign laws and regulations that apply to internet companies and businesses that operate online marketplaces connecting businesses with recruiters. These laws and regulations may involve worker classification, employment, data protection, privacy, online payment services, content regulation, intellectual property, taxation, consumer protection, background checks, payment services, money transmitter regulations, anti-corruption, anti-money laundering, and sanctions laws, or other matters. Many of the rules and regulations that are or may apply to our business are still evolving and being tested in courts and could be interpreted in ways that could adversely impact our business. Also, the application and interpretation of these laws and regulations are often uncertain, particularly in the industry in which we operate.

Additionally, our Platform and the platform user data it uses, collects, or processes to run our business is an integral part of our business model and, as a result, our compliance with laws dealing with the use, collection, and processing of personal data is part of our strategy to improve platform user experience and build trust.

Regulators around the world have adopted, or proposed requirements regarding the collection, use, transfer, security, storage, destruction, and other processing of personally identifiable information and other data relating to individuals, and these laws are increasing in number, enforcement, fines, and other penalties. Two such governmental regulations that carry implications for our platform are the GDPR and the CCPA.

The GDPR went into effect in May 2018, implementing more stringent requirements in relation to companies’ use of personal data relating to all EU individuals (“data subjects”). Under the GDPR, the expanded definition of personal data includes information such as name, identification number, email address, location data, online identifiers such as internet protocol addresses and cookie identifiers, or any other type of information that can identify a living individual. The GDPR imposes a number of new requirements, which include: a valid ground for processing each instance of personal data; higher standards for organizations to demonstrate that they have obtained valid consent or have another legal basis in place to justify their data processing activities; providing expanded information about how data subjects’ personal data is or will be used; carrying out data protection impact assessments for operations which present specific risks to individuals due to the nature or scope of the processing operation; an obligation to appoint data protection officers in certain circumstances; new rights for individuals to be “forgotten” and rights to data portability, as well as enhanced current rights; the principle of accountability and demonstrating compliance through policies, procedures, training, and audit; profiling restrictions; and a new mandatory data breach reporting regime.

In the United States, California recently adopted the CCPA, which came into effect in January 2020. Similar in certain respects to the GDPR, the CCPA establishes a new privacy framework for covered businesses, including an expanded definition of “personal information” new data privacy rights for California residents, requiring covered businesses to provide further disclosure to consumers and affording consumers the right to opt-out of individual sales of personal information; special rules on the collection of consumer data from minors; and a potentially severe statutory damages framework and private rights of action for CCPA violations and failure to implement reasonable security procedures and practices.

Facilities

Our corporate headquarters are located in New York City, New York. We operate from time to time in leased flexible office space, such as WeWork offices.

We believe that our facilities are adequate to meet our needs for the immediate future, and that, should it be needed, suitable additional space will be available to accommodate any such expansion of our operations.

Legal Proceedings

Except for the BKR lawsuit and related counterclaim described under Item 3, as of the date of this filing, there are no material pending legal or governmental proceedings relating to our Company or properties to which we are a party, and, to our knowledge, there are no material proceedings to which any of our directors, executive officers, or affiliates are a party adverse to us or which have a material interest adverse to us.

Employees

As of March 27, 2023, the Company employed 18 full time employees and 27 outside staffing professionals in 12 states.

Culture and Team

Most of our staff members have many years of experience in online recruiting and technology. We are inspired every day by our mission to connect people better to create terrific job matches. As we build the next generation of recruiting, we look for people who are passionate about connecting people and helping to develop better work experiences and career opportunities for others. We pride ourselves on being a team on a mission, with big goals and even bigger dreams for the company. We work virtually, with lean operations and an efficient cost model, while staying firmly connected through chat and video.

We are a place to make an impact. We pay little attention to job titles and much more attention to results - who is thinking creatively and making positive contributions daily. At all times, we try to effectively tie things like compensation to direct contribution and foster an environment of inclusion and fair equity. To summarize, we are specialists in recruiting and know what it takes to be an employer of choice and a great place to work. We strive to make our work enjoyable, rewarding, and full of growth opportunities for our staff. 

Diversity

We connect people from an extraordinarily diverse range of backgrounds and locations. We strive to make a product that makes a difference, and one that helps build a just, equitable future for us all. We are committed to being an equal opportunity employer ourselves, and we only work with clients who respect both the law and spirit of equal opportunity employment. Further, we believe that, as we grow as a company, our success will be predicated on drawing from and amplifying a diverse range of voices, both internally and externally.

We welcome people from all backgrounds to apply to our internal careers and our client roles. We are also very interested in developing new practices to increase fairness in our hiring processes, including quantitative assessments, bias training, and reducing bias from new virtual tools that we introduce, such as video screening. We regularly and routinely seek out ways to improve our recruiting practices and expand the breadth and depth of our network of recruiters.

Corporate Information

Our principal executive offices are located at 500 Seventh Avenue, New York, New York 10018. Our telephone number is (855) 931-1500. Our website address is www.recruiter.com. The information contained on, or that can be accessed through, our site is not a part of this filing. Investors should not rely on any such information in deciding whether to purchase our securities.

ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS

You should carefully consider the following risk factors, together with all of the other information included or incorporated in this Annual Report. Each of these risk factors, either alone or taken together, could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations, and adversely affect the value of an investment in our Common Stock. There may be additional risks that we do not know of or that we believe are immaterial that could also impair our business and financial condition.

Risks Related to Our Business and Industry

There is substantial doubt regarding our ability to continue as a going concern absent obtaining adequate new debt or equity financing and achieving sufficient sales levels.

We anticipate that we will continue to lose money for the foreseeable future. Our continued existence is dependent upon raising sufficient funds from equity or debt financing activities and generating sufficient working capital from our operations. Because of our history of losses, and net cash used in our operations we may have to continue to reduce our expenditures without receipt of sufficient proceeds from financing activities or improvements in our cash flow from operations. Working capital limitations continue to impinge on our day-to-day operations thus contributing to continued operating losses. If we are unable to raise sufficient funds from financing activities, we may not be able to meet our obligations as they come due, raising substantial doubts as to our ability to continue as a going concern. Any such inability to continue as a going concern may result in our stockholders losing their entire investment. There is no guarantee that we will raise sufficient funds from financing activities.

Our management has determined that there is substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern and the report of our independent registered public accounting firm on our consolidated financial statements for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 includes an explanatory paragraph with respect to the foregoing. Our ability to continue as a going concern is dependent upon our ability to raise additional capital and implement our business plan. This determination was based on the following factors: (i) used cash in operations of approximately $6.9 million in 2022, and our available cash as of the date of this filing will not be sufficient to fund our anticipated level of operations for the next 12 months; (ii) we will require additional financing for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2023 to continue at our expected level of operations; and (iii) if we fail to obtain the needed capital, we will be forced to delay, scale back, or eliminate some or all of its development activities or perhaps cease operations. In the opinion of management, these factors, among others, raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern as of the date of the end of the period covered by this report and for one year from the issuance of the consolidated financial statements.

Our business depends on a strong reputation and anything that harms our reputation will likely harm our results.

As a provider of temporary and permanent staffing solutions as well as consultant services, our reputation is dependent upon the performance of the employees we place with our clients and the services rendered by our consultants. We depend on our reputation and name recognition to secure engagements and to hire qualified employees and consultants. If our clients become dissatisfied with the performance of those employees or consultants or if any of those employees or consultants engage in or are believed to have engaged in conduct that is harmful to our clients, our ability to maintain or expand our client base may be harmed. Any of the foregoing is likely to materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.

We may be unable to find sufficient candidates for our staffing business.

Our staffing services business consists of the placement of individuals seeking employment. There can be no assurance that candidates for employment will continue to seek employment through us. Candidates generally seek temporary or full-time positions through multiple sources, including us and our competitors. Prior to COVID-19, unemployment in the United States had been low in the past couple of years but sharply increased and then decreased due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The availability of qualified talent may change or become even more scarce, depending on macro-economic conditions outside of our control. If finding sufficient eligible candidates to meet employers’ demands becomes more challenging due to falling unemployment rates or other talent availability issues, we may experience a shortage of qualified candidates. Any shortage of candidates could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.

We may incur potential liability to employees and clients.

Our consulting and staffing business entails employing individuals on a temporary basis and placing such individuals in clients’ workplaces. We do not have the ability to control the workplace environment. As the employer of record of our temporary employees, we incur a risk of liability to our temporary employees for various workplace events, including claims of physical injury, discrimination, harassment, or failure to protect confidential personal information. While such claims have not historically had a material adverse effect upon our business or financial condition, there can be no assurance that such claims in the future will not result in adverse publicity or have a material adverse effect upon our business or financial condition. We also incur a risk of liability to our employer clients resulting from allegations of errors, omissions or theft by our temporary employees, or allegations of misuse of client confidential information. In many cases, we have agreed to indemnify our clients in respect of these types of claims. We maintain insurance with respect to many of such claims. While such claims have not historically had a material adverse effect upon our business or financial condition, there can be no assurance that we will continue to be able to obtain insurance at a cost that does not have a material adverse effect on our business or financial condition or that such claims will be covered by such available insurance.

We may require additional capital to fund our business and support our growth, and our inability to generate and obtain such capital on acceptable terms, or at all, could harm our business, operating results, financial condition, and prospects.

We intend to continue to make substantial investments to fund our business and support our growth. In addition, we may require additional funds to respond to business challenges, including the need to develop new features or enhance our solutions, improve our operating infrastructure, or acquire or develop complementary businesses and technologies. As a result, in addition to the revenues we generate from our business, we may need to engage in equity or debt financings to provide the funds required for these and other business endeavors. If we raise additional funds through future issuances of equity or convertible debt securities, our existing stockholders could suffer significant dilution, and any new equity securities we issue could have rights, preferences, and privileges superior to those of holders of our Common Stock. Any debt financing that we may secure in the future could involve restrictive covenants relating to our capital raising activities and other financial and operational matters, which may make it more difficult for us to obtain additional capital and to pursue business opportunities, including potential acquisitions. We may not be able to obtain such additional financing on terms favorable to us, if at all. If we are unable to obtain adequate financing or financing on terms satisfactory to us when we require it, our ability to continue to support our business growth and to respond to business challenges could be significantly impaired, and our business may be adversely impacted. In addition, our inability to generate or obtain the financial resources needed may require us to delay, scale back, or eliminate some or all of our operations, which may have a significant adverse impact on our business, operating results, and financial condition.

Because we have a history of net losses, we may never achieve or sustain profitability or positive cash flow from operations.

We have incurred net losses in each fiscal year since our inception, including net losses of approximately $16.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2022 and $16.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2021. As of December 31, 2022, we had an accumulated deficit of approximately $69.3 million. We expect to continue to incur substantial expenditures to develop and market our services and could continue to incur losses and negative operating cash flow for the foreseeable future. We may never achieve profitability or positive cash flow in the future, and even if we do, we may not be able to continue being profitable. Any failure to achieve and maintain profitability would continue to have an adverse effect on our stockholders’ deficit and working capital and could result in a decline in our stock price or cause us to cease operations.

Because we have a limited operating history under our current platform, it is difficult to evaluate our business and future prospects.

We have operated our current platform since April 16, 2016, when we acquired the Platform, where it was then put into a multi-year process of further development, integration, and branding. As a result, our platform and business model have not been fully proven, and we have only a limited operating history on which to evaluate our business and future prospects. We have encountered, and will continue to encounter, risks and difficulties frequently experienced by growing companies in rapidly changing industries, including our ability to achieve market acceptance of our platform and attract, retain and incentivize recruiters on our platform, as well as respond to competition and plan for and scale our operations to address future growth. We may not be successful in addressing these and other challenges we may face in the future, and our business and future prospects may be materially and adversely affected if we do not manage these and other risks successfully. Given our limited operating history, we may be unable to effectively implement our business plan which could materially harm our business or cause us to scale down or cease our operations.

Our future growth depends on our ability to attract, retain, and incentivize a community of recruiters and employers, and the loss of existing recruiters and employers, or failure to attract new ones, could adversely impact our business and future prospects.

The size of our user community of recruiters and employers on our platform is critical to our success. Our ability to achieve profitability in the future will depend, in large part, on our ability to attract new users to, and retain existing users on, the Platform. Recruiters and employers on the Platform can generally decide to cease using the Platform at any time. While we have experienced rapid growth in the number of recruiters on the Platform in recent months, with numbers rising from 27,011 on September 30, 2020 to over 42,000 in February 2023, this growth may not continue at the same pace in the future or at all. In addition, it is possible that the ongoing effects of COVID-19 may have a deleterious effect on our user growth in the future. Achieving growth in our community of users may require us to engage in increasingly sophisticated and costly sales and marketing efforts that may not result in additional users. We may also need to modify our pricing model to attract and retain such users. If we fail to attract new users or fail to maintain or expand existing relationships in a cost-effective manner, our business and future prospects would be materially and adversely impacted.

If we are unable to respond to technological advancements and other changes in our industry by developing and releasing new services, or improving our existing services, in a timely and cost-effective manner or at all, our business could be materially and adversely affected.

Our industry is characterized by rapid technological change, frequent new service launches, changing user demands, and evolving industry standards. The introduction of new services based on technological advancements can quickly render existing services obsolete. We will need to expend substantial resources on researching and developing new services and enhancing our platform by incorporating additional features, improving functionality, and adding other improvements to meet our users’ evolving demands. We may not be successful in developing, marketing, and delivering in a timely and cost-effective manner enhancements or new features to our platform or any new services that respond to continued changes in the market. Furthermore, any enhancements or new features to our platform or any new services may contain errors or defects and may not achieve the broad market acceptance necessary to generate sufficient revenue. Moreover, even if we introduce new services, we may experience a decline in revenue from our existing services that is not offset by revenue from the new services.

If we experience errors, defects, or disruptions on the Platform it could damage our reputation, which could in turn materially and adversely impact our operating results and growth prospects.

The performance and reliability of the Platform is critical to our reputation and ability to attract and retain recruiters and clients. Any system error or failure, or other performance problems with the Platform could harm our brand and reputation and may damage the businesses of users. Additionally, the Platform requires frequent updates, which may contain undetected errors when first introduced or released. Any errors, defects, disruptions in service, or other performance or stability problems with the Platform could result in negative publicity, loss of or delay in market acceptance of the Platform, loss of competitive position, delay of payment to us or recruiters, or claims by users for losses sustained by them, which could adversely impact our brand and reputation, operating results, and future prospects.

We rely on third parties to host our Platform, and any disruption of service from such third parties or material change to, or termination of, our arrangement with them could adversely affect our business.

We use third-party cloud infrastructure service providers and co-located data centers in the United States and abroad to host the Platform. Software development, remote server administration, quality assurance, and administrative access is managed overseas by Recruiter Mauritius Ltd. under the direction of our Chief Web Officer, Ashley Saddul. We do not control the physical operation of any of the data centers we use. These facilities are vulnerable to damage or interruption from earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, fires, cyber security attacks, terrorist attacks, power losses, telecommunications failures, and similar events. The occurrence of a natural disaster or an act of terrorism, a decision to close the facilities without adequate notice, or other unanticipated problems could result in lengthy interruptions to the Platform. The facilities also could be subject to break-ins, computer viruses, sabotage, intentional acts of violence, and other misconduct. We may not carry sufficient business interruption insurance to compensate us for losses that may occur as a result of any events that cause interruptions in our service. We may not be able to maintain or renew our agreements or arrangements with these third-party service providers on commercially reasonable terms, or at all. If we are unable to renew our agreements on commercially reasonable terms, our agreements are terminated, or we add additional infrastructure providers, we may experience costs or downtime in connection with the transfer to, or the addition of, new data center providers. If these providers increase the cost of their services, we may have to increase the fees to use the Platform, which could cause us to lose clients, or we may have to assume those increased costs, and our operating results may be adversely impacted.

Because we have arrangements with related parties affecting a significant part of our operations, such arrangements may not reflect terms that would otherwise be available from unaffiliated third parties.

We rely on arrangements with related parties for support of our operations, including technical support, and may engage in additional related party transactions in the future. For example, we currently rely on a related party provider of information technology and computer services located in Mauritius, an island country located off the eastern coast of Africa, for software development and maintenance related to our website and the Platform. Our Chief Web Officer is an employee of this service provider. See “Certain Relationships and Related Person Transactions” for further details. Although we believe that the terms of our arrangements with related parties are reasonable and generally consistent with market standards, such terms do not necessarily reflect terms that we or such related parties would agree to in arms-length negotiations with an independent third party. Furthermore, potential conflicts of interest can exist if a related party is presented with an issue that may have conflicting implications for us and such related party. If a dispute arises in connection with any of these arrangements, which is not resolved to our satisfaction, our business could be materially and adversely affected.

Our Platform contains open-source software components, and failure to comply with the terms of the underlying licenses could restrict our ability to market or operate our Platform.

We incorporate many types of open-source software, frameworks, and databases, including our Platform, which is currently architected on the Yii platform using PHP code and MySQL databases. Open-source licenses typically permit the use, modification, and distribution of software in source code form subject to certain conditions. Some open-source licenses require any person who distributes a modification or derivative work of such software to make the modified version subject to the same open-source license. Accordingly, although we do not believe that we have used open-source software in a manner that would subject us to this requirement, we may be required to distribute certain aspects of our Platform or make them available in source code form. Further, the interpretation of open-source licenses is legally complex. If we fail to comply with the terms of an applicable open source software license, we may need to seek licenses from third parties to continue offering the Platform and the terms on which such licenses are available may not be economically feasible, to re-engineer the Platform to remove or replace the open source software, to limit or stop offering the Platform if re-engineering could not be accomplished on a timely or cost-effective basis, to pay monetary damages, or to make available the source code for aspects of our proprietary technology, any of which could adversely affect our business, operating results, and financial condition.

Our future growth depends in part on our ability to form new and maintain existing strategic partnerships with third party solution providers and continued performance of such solution providers under the terms of our strategic partnerships with them.

As part of our growth strategy and, in particular, our enterprise solution offering, we establish and maintain strategic partnerships with large and established third party solution providers to employers, such as companies specializing in enterprise application software, human resources, payroll, talent, time management, tax and benefits administration. Our strategic partnerships include among other things, integration of the Platform with those of our strategic partners, joint marketing, and commercial alignment, including joint events, and sales of our services by our partners’ representatives. We may be unable to renew or replace our agreements with such strategic partners as and when they expire on comparable terms, or at all. Moreover, the parties with which we have strategic relationships may fail to devote the resources necessary to expand our reach and increase our distribution. In addition, our agreements with our strategic partners generally do not contain any covenants that would limit competing arrangements. Some of our strategic partners offer, or could in the future offer, competing products and services or have similar strategic relationships with our competitors, and may choose to favor our competitors’ solutions over ours. If we are unsuccessful in establishing or maintaining our relationships with third parties, our growth prospects could be impaired, and our operating results may be adversely impacted. Even if we are successful in establishing and maintaining these strategic relationships with third parties, they may not result in the growth of our client base or increased revenue.

We rely in part on certain software that we license from related and third parties as part of our service offerings, and if we were to lose the ability to use such software our business and operating results would be materially and adversely affected.

We license video screening technology from MyInterview, as well as other popular, commercially available third party recruiting, communications, and marketing related software systems, such as LinkedIn and Hubspot, much of which is integral to our systems and our business. If any of these relationships were terminated or if any of these parties were to cease doing business or cease to support the applications we currently utilize, we may be forced to expend significant time and resources to replace the licensed software. Further, the necessary replacements may not be available on a timely basis on favorable terms, or at all. If we were to lose the ability to use this software our business and operating results would be materially and adversely affected.

Because we rely on a small number of customers for a substantial portion of our revenue, the loss of any of these customers would have a material adverse effect on our operating results and cash flows.

We derive our revenue from a limited number of customers. As of December 31, 2022, one customer, accounted for more than 10% of the accounts receivable balance, at 28%. As of December 31, 2021, two customers, accounted for more than 10% of the accounts receivable balance, at 14% and 12%, for a total of 26%.

For the year ended December 31, 2022 one customer accounted for 10% or more of total revenue, at 14%. For the year ended December 31, 2021 one customer accounted for 10% or more of total revenue, at 12%.  

Any termination of a business relationship with, or a significant sustained reduction in business from, one or more of these customers could have a material adverse effect on our operating results and cash flows.

Failure to protect our intellectual property could adversely affect our business.

Our success depends in large part on our proprietary technology and data, including our trade secrets, software code, the content of our website, workflows, proprietary databases, registered domain names, registered and unregistered trademarks, trademark applications, copyrights, and inventions (whether or not patentable). In order to protect our intellectual property, we rely on a combination of copyright, trademark, and trade secrets, as well as confidentiality provisions and contractual arrangements.

Despite our efforts, third parties may infringe upon or misappropriate our intellectual property by copying or reverse-engineering information that we regard as proprietary, including our platform, to create products and services that compete with ours. Further, we may be unable to prevent competitors from acquiring domain names or trademarks that are similar to, infringe upon, or diminish the value of our domain names, trademarks, service marks, and other proprietary rights. Moreover, our trade secrets may be compromised by third parties or our employees, which would cause us to lose the competitive advantage derived from the compromised trade secrets. Additionally, effective intellectual property protection may not be available to us in every country in which our platform currently is or may in the future be available. Further, we may be unable to detect infringement of our intellectual property rights, and even if we detect such violations and decide to enforce our intellectual property rights, we may not be successful, and may incur significant expenses, in such efforts. In addition, any such enforcement efforts may be time-consuming, expensive and may divert management’s attention. Because we rely on Mr. Saddul and his staff who are based in Mauritius, we face a risk based upon any local conditions and difficulties we may face in enforcing our intellectual property rights there. Further, such enforcement efforts may result in a ruling that our intellectual property rights are unenforceable. Any failure to protect or any loss of our intellectual property may have an adverse effect on our ability to compete and may adversely affect our business, financial condition, and operating results.

If we cannot manage our growth effectively, our results of operations would be materially and adversely affected.

We have recently experienced significant growth following our acquisitions of Scouted, Upsider, OneWire, Parrut, and Novo during 2021. Businesses that grow rapidly often have difficulty managing their growth while maintaining their compliance and quality standards. There can be no assurance that our management, along with our staff, will be able to effectively manage continued growth or successful integrate our products, services, and staff. Our failure to meet the challenges associated with rapid growth could materially and adversely affect our business and operating results.

If the overall economy experiences a reduced need for specialized personnel, our results of operations would be materials and adversely affected.

The job market and unemployment rate held up throughout 2022, but there can be no guarantee of a continued strong demand for professional labor. Layoffs may pick up, and the general unemployment rate may move up, due to macroeconomic changes, which would be negative for our business. In addition, rapid changes due to disruptive technology may change the demand for specialized and skilled human workers, which could change the overall demand for our services.

Our future success depends on our ability to retain and attract high-quality personnel, and the efforts, abilities and continued service of our senior management, and unsuccessful succession planning could adversely affect our business.

Our future success will depend in large part on our ability to attract and retain high-quality management, operations, and other personnel who are in high demand, are often subject to competing employment offers, and are attractive recruiting targets for our competitors. The loss of qualified executives and key employees, or inability to attract, retain, and motivate high-quality executives and employees required for the planned expansion of our business, may harm our operating results and impair our ability to grow.

We depend on the continued services of our key personnel, including Evan Sohn, our Chief Executive Officer and Chairman, Miles Jennings, our President and Chief Operating Officer, and Judy Krandel, our Chief Financial Officer. We entered into employment agreements with Evan Sohn, Miles Jennings and Judy Krandel. Our work with each of these key personnel are subject to changes and/or termination, and our inability to effectively retain the services of our key management personnel, could materially and adversely affect our operating results and future prospects.

If we sustain an impairment in the carrying value of long-lived assets and goodwill, it will negatively affect our operating results.

As the result of our purchase of certain assets of Genesys in March 2019 and Scouted, OneWire, Parrut, Upsider and Novo Group in 2021, we have a significant amount of long-lived intangible assets and goodwill on our consolidated balance sheet. Under the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles in the U.S. (“GAAP”), long-lived assets are required to be reviewed for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the book value of the asset may not be recoverable. If business conditions or other factors cause profitability and cash flows to decline, we may be required to record non-cash impairment charges. Goodwill must be evaluated for impairment at least annually or more frequently if events indicate it is warranted. If the carrying value of a reporting unit exceeds its current fair value, the goodwill is considered impaired. Events and conditions that could result in impairment in the value of our long-lived assets and goodwill include, but are not limited to, significant negative industry or economic trends, competition and adverse changes in the regulatory environment, significant decline in our stock price for a sustained period of time, limited funding, as well as or other factors leading to reduction in expected long-term revenues or profitability. If we record impairment charges related to our goodwill and long-lived assets, our operating results would likely be materially and adversely affected.

If we fail to maintain an effective system of disclosure controls and internal control over financial reporting, our ability to produce timely and accurate financial statements or comply with applicable regulations could be impaired.

As a public company, we are subject to the reporting requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act which requires, among other things, that we maintain effective disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting. In order to maintain and improve the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting, we have expended, and anticipate that we will continue to expend, significant resources, including accounting-related costs and significant management oversight.

Any failure to develop or maintain effective controls or any difficulties encountered in their implementation or improvement could cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations and may result in a restatement of our consolidated financial statements for prior periods. If we fail to maintain an effective system of disclosure controls and internal control over financial reporting, our ability to produce timely and accurate financial statements or comply with applicable regulations could be impaired, which could result in loss of investor confidence and could have an adverse effect on our stock price.

Risks Related to Regulation

If we or our clients are perceived to have violated or are found in violation of, the anti-discrimination laws and regulations as the result of the use of predictive technologies or external independent recruiters in the recruitment process, it may damage our reputation and have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

We and our clients may be exposed to potential claims associated with the use of predictive algorithms and external recruiters in the recruitment process, including claims of age and gender discrimination. For example, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”) prohibits employers from limiting employment opportunities based on certain protected characteristics, including race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (the “ADA”) prohibits discrimination based on age. Certain social media companies, as well as employers purchasing targeted ads from such companies, have recently come under scrutiny for discriminatory advertising. In September 2019, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (the “EEOC”) ruled that several employers violated the ADA and Title VII by publicizing job openings on social media through the use of ads that targeted young men to the detriment of women and older workers. If we or our clients are perceived to have violated or are found in violation of, Title VII, the ADA, or any other anti-discrimination laws and regulations as the result of the use of predictive technologies in the recruitment process, it may damage our reputation and have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

If recruiters on the Platform were classified as employees instead of independent contractors, our business would be materially and adversely affected.

We believe that the recruiters who engage with us on our platform are independent contractors, due to a number of factors, including our inability to control these recruiters, and our Terms of Use with our users reflect that understanding. However, if the independent contractor status of recruiters is challenged, we may not be successful in defending against such challenges in some or all jurisdictions. Furthermore, the costs associated with defending, settling, or resolving lawsuits relating to the independent contractor status of recruiters could be material to our business. In September 2019, California enacted a new employee classification law that codified the 2018 decision by the state’s Supreme Court classifying independent contractors as employees unless they satisfy the following requirements: (i) are free from the control and direction of the entity relating to the performance of the work; (ii) perform work outside the usual course of the hiring entity’s business; and (iii) are customarily engaged in an independently established trade, occupation, or business. We cannot be certain if this ruling in California will impact us.

If a court or an administrative agency were to determine that the recruiters on our platform must be classified as employees rather than independent contractors, we and/or our clients would become subject to additional regulatory requirements, including but not limited to tax, wages, and wage and hour laws and requirements (such as those pertaining to minimum wage and overtime); employee benefits, social security, workers’ compensation and unemployment; discrimination, harassment, and retaliation under civil rights laws; claims under laws pertaining to unionizing, collective bargaining, and other concerted activity; and other laws and regulations applicable to employers and employees. Compliance with such laws and regulations would require us to incur significant additional expenses, potentially including without limitation, expenses associated with the application of wage and hour laws (including minimum wage, overtime, and meal and rest period requirements), employee benefits, social security contributions, taxes, and penalties. Additionally, any such reclassification would require us to fundamentally change our business model, and consequently have an adverse effect on our business and financial condition.

Approximately 40% of visitors to our websites originate from countries outside the United States, which exposes us to risks related to operating abroad.

Even though we currently have a limited physical presence outside of the United States, recruiters on the Platform are located in approximately 162 countries (aside from the U.S.) around the world, the most prevalent being those recruiters who reside in India, England, and Canada, which subjects us to the risks and uncertainties associated with doing business internationally. Additionally, users on the Platform include recruiters from some emerging markets where we have limited experience, where challenges can be significantly different from those we have faced in more developed markets, and where business practices may create greater internal control risks. Because the Platform is generally accessible by users worldwide, one or more jurisdictions may claim that we or recruiters on the Platform are required to comply with the laws of such jurisdictions. Laws outside of the United States regulating the internet, payments, privacy, taxation, terms of service, website accessibility, consumer protection, intellectual property ownership, services intermediaries, labor and employment, wage and hour, worker classification, background checks, and recruiting and staffing companies, among others, which could be interpreted to apply to us, are often less favorable to us than those in the United States, giving greater rights to competitors, users, and other third parties. Compliance with foreign laws and regulations may be more costly than expected, may require us to change our business practices or restrict our product offerings, and the imposition of any such laws or regulations on us, our users, or third parties that we or our users utilize to provide or use our services, may adversely impact our revenue and business. In addition, we may be subject to multiple overlapping legal or regulatory regimes that impose conflicting requirements and enhanced legal risks.

The risks described above may also make it more difficult for us to expand our operations internationally. Analysis of, and compliance with, global laws and regulations may substantially increase our cost of doing business. We may be unable to keep current with changes in laws and regulations as they develop. Any violations could result in enforcement actions, fines, civil and criminal penalties, damages, interest, costs and fees (including but not limited to legal fees), injunctions, loss of intellectual property rights, or reputational harm. If we are unable to comply with these laws and regulations or manage the complexity of global operations and supporting an international user base successfully, our business, operating results, and financial condition could be adversely affected.

The regulatory framework for privacy and data protection is complex and evolving, and changes in laws or regulations relating to privacy or the protection or transfer of personal data, or any actual or perceived failure by us to comply with such laws and regulations, could adversely affect our business.

During our day-to-day business operations we receive, collect, store, process, transfer, and use personal information and other user data. As a result, we are subject to numerous federal, state, local, and international laws and regulations regarding privacy, data protection, information security, and the collection, storing, sharing, use, processing, transfer, disclosure, and protection of personal information and other content. We are also subject to the terms of our privacy policies and obligations to third parties related to privacy, data protection, and information security. We strive to comply with applicable laws, regulations, policies, and other legal obligations relating to privacy, data protection, and information security to the extent possible. However, the regulatory framework for privacy and data protection both in the United States and abroad is, and is likely to remain for the foreseeable future, uncertain and complex, is changing, and the interpretation and enforcement of the rules and regulations that form part of this regulatory framework may be inconsistent among jurisdictions, or conflict with other laws and regulations. Such laws and regulations as they apply to us may be interpreted and enforced in a manner that we do not currently anticipate. Any significant change in the applicable laws, regulations, or industry practices regarding the collection, use, retention, security, or disclosure of user data, or their interpretation, or any changes regarding the manner in which the express or implied consent of users for the collection, use, retention, or disclosure of such data must be obtained, could increase our costs and require us to modify our platform and our products and services, in a manner that could materially affect our business.

The laws, regulations, and industry standards concerning privacy, data protection, and information security also continue to evolve. For example, in June 2018, California passed the California Consumer Privacy Act (the “CCPA”), effective January 1, 2020, which requires companies that process personal information of California residents to make new disclosures to consumers about such companies’ data collection, use, and sharing practices and inform consumers of their personal information rights such as deletion rights, allows consumers to opt out of certain data sharing with third parties, and provides a new cause of action for data breaches. The State of Nevada has also passed a law, effective October 1, 2019, that amends the state’s online privacy law to allow consumers to submit requests to prevent websites and online service providers from selling personally identifiable information that they collect through a website or online service. The costs of compliance with, and other burdens imposed by, the privacy and data protection laws and regulations may limit the use and adoption of our services and could have a material adverse impact on our business. As a result, we may need to modify the way we treat such information.

Any failure or perceived failure by us to comply with any privacy and data protection policies, laws, rules, and regulations could result in proceedings or actions against us by individuals, consumer rights groups, governmental entities or agencies, or others. We could incur significant costs investigating and defending such claims and, if found liable, significant damages. Further, public scrutiny of or complaints about technology companies or their data handling or data protection practices, even if unrelated to our business, industry, or operations, may lead to increased scrutiny of technology companies, including us, and may cause government agencies to enact additional regulatory requirements, or to modify their enforcement or investigation activities, which may increase our costs and risks.

Risks Relating to Investments in Our Common Stock

As a result of our recent financings and acquisitions we have issued a substantial number of additional shares of Common Stock, which dilutes present stockholders and have issued dilutive instruments which may dilute present stockholders.

During the period from March 2019 through January 2021, we engaged in a series of private placement transactions issuing to several accredited investors shares of convertible preferred stock and warrants to purchase Common Stock. We have also issued shares of our Common Stock in connection with the Scouted Asset Purchase, the Upsider Purchase, the OneWire Purchase, the Parrut Purchase, and the Novo Purchase. See “Part I - Item 1. Business” for further details. As of the date of this Annual Report, there were approximately 15.4 million shares of Common Stock issuable upon conversion of our outstanding convertible preferred stock, stock options and exercise of warrants (including warrants issued to the placement agent in our private placement transactions). In the future, we may grant additional options, warrants and convertible securities. The exercise, conversion, or exchange of options, warrants or convertible securities, including for other securities, will dilute the percentage ownership of our existing stockholders. The dilutive effect of the exercise or conversion of these securities may adversely affect our ability to obtain additional capital. The holders of these securities may be expected to exercise or convert such options, warrants and convertible securities at a time when we would be able to obtain additional equity capital on terms more favorable than such securities or when our Common Stock is trading at a price higher than the exercise or conversion price of the securities. If we issue them with conversion or exercise prices below the prices of the convertible securities held by the held by investors, we will be required to reduce the conversion prices of certain of our convertible securities held by the investors, which will increase future dilution. The exercise or conversion of outstanding warrants, options and convertible securities will have a dilutive effect on the securities held by our stockholders. We have in the past, and may in the future, exchange outstanding securities for other securities on terms that are dilutive to the securities held by other stockholders not participating in such exchange.

Because we may issue preferred stock without the approval of our stockholders and a concentrated group of stockholders own a significant percentage of our Common Stock, it may be more difficult for a third party to acquire us and could depress our stock price.

In general, the Board may authorize, without a vote of our stockholders, an issuance of one or more additional series of preferred stock that have more than one vote per share. Without these restrictions, our Board could issue preferred stock to investors who support us and our management and give effective control of our business to our management. Additionally, issuance of preferred stock could block an acquisition resulting in both a drop in our stock price and a decline in interest of our Common Stock. This could make it more difficult for shareholders to sell their Common Stock. This could also cause the market price of our Common Stock shares to drop significantly, even if our business is performing well.

A small number of seven stockholders, including members of our management, controls approximately 27% of our outstanding voting power as of March 22, 2023 and therefore is able to exert a significant amount of influence over our management and affairs and all matters requiring stockholder approval, including significant corporate transactions. These stockholders may have interests that differ from yours, and they may vote in a way with which you disagree and that may be adverse to your interests. This concentration of ownership may have the effect of delaying or preventing any change in control transaction, and by limiting the number of shares of our stock traded in public markets could adversely affect liquidity and price of our Common Stock.

ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

None.

ITEM 2. PROPERTIES

We do not currently own any physical properties.

Our corporate headquarters are located in New York, NY, where we lease WeWork office space at 500 7^th Avenue as needed. We do not currently have other leased offices.

Apart from disruptions caused by COVID-19, all of our senior executives including our Chief Executive Officer and Executive Chairman, Chief Financial Officer, President and Chief Operating Officer, and former Chief Technology Officer worked remotely.

We believe that our facilities are adequate to meet our needs for the immediate future, and that, should it be needed, suitable space will be available to accommodate any such expansion of our operations.

ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

From time-to-time, we may be a party to, or otherwise involved in, legal proceedings arising in the normal course of business. The nature of our business ordinarily results in a certain amount of pending as well as threatened claims, litigation, investigations, regulatory and legal and administrative cases, matters and proceedings, all of which are considered incidental to the normal conduct of business. When we determine that we have meritorious defenses to the claims asserted, we vigorously defend ourselves. We consider settlement of cases when, in management’s judgment, it is in the best interests of both the Company and its shareholders to do so.

Recruiter.com Group, Inc. v. BKR Strategy Group.

We are currently pursuing two related collections matters against BKR Strategy Group. Since 2013, BKR Strategy Group has provided talent acquisition strategy and services to top companies. Starting in the third quarter of 2021, BKR Strategy Group subcontracted Recruiter.com to perform On Demand recruiter services on behalf of BKR Strategy Group’s clients. Although payments for services rendered were initially received in a timely fashion, BKR Strategy Group’s balance grew throughout the third and fourth quarters of 2021. This led to BKR Strategy Group executing a Promissory Note with a payment schedule for $500,000 on November 30, 2021 with a personal guarantee from its business principal as part of the note. After failing to meet the payment schedule and after repeated attempts to collect the balance due, we retained the law firm of Berkovitch & Bouskila, PLLC and filed two lawsuits against BKR Strategy Group on February 18, 2022, the first, to collect on unpaid invoices and the second, to enforce the promissory note, for a total sum of $1,400,000. On March 24, 2022, BKR Strategy Group made a counterclaim against us for $500,000 on the grounds of alleged overbilling. Management denies the basis for the counterclaim and expects to vigorously defend itself from this counterclaim. Outside counsel for the company has advised that at this stage in the proceedings, it cannot offer an opinion as to the probable outcome. As it is not possible to estimate if a loss will be incurred, there has been no accrual.

On June 21, 2022, the Supreme Court of the State of New York, New York County ruled in favor of the Company that BKR Strategy Group owes the Company $500,000, plus interest at 12% since November 22, 2021, through the entry of judgement in the lawsuit related to the enforcement on the Promissory Note executed by BKR Strategy Group. Proceedings in the other lawsuit remain ongoing.

ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES

Not Applicable.

PART II

ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

Market Information

Our Common Stock trades on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol “RCRT.”

Holders

The number of shareholders of record of our Common Stock as of March 22, 2023 was approximately 612 recordholders. This is not the actual number of beneficial owners of our Common Stock, as shares are held in “street name” by brokers and others on behalf of such owners. As of March 22, 2023, there was one holder of record of our Series E Convertible Preferred Stock.

Dividends

To date, we have not paid cash dividends on our Common Stock and do not plan to pay such dividends in the foreseeable future. Our Board will determine our future dividend policy on the basis of many factors, including results of operations, capital requirements, and general business conditions. Dividends, under the Nevada Revised Statutes, may only be paid from our net profits or surplus. To date, we have not had a fiscal year with net profits and, subject to a valuation by the Board of the present value of the Company’s assets, do not have surplus.

Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities

We have previously disclosed all sales of securities without registration under the Securities Act of 1933.

Repurchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer and Affiliated Purchasers

None.

ITEM 6. RESERVED

ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

This Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (“MD&A”) describes the matters that we consider to be important to understanding the results of our operations for each of the two years in the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, and our capital resources and liquidity as of December 31, 2022 and 2021. Our fiscal year begins on January 1 and ends on December 31. We analyze the results of our operations for the last two years, including the trends in the overall business followed by a discussion of our cash flows and liquidity, and contractual commitments. We then provide a review of the critical accounting judgments and estimates that we have made that we believe are most important to an understanding of our MD&A and our consolidated financial statements. We conclude our MD&A with information on recent accounting pronouncements which we adopted during the year, as well as those not yet adopted that are expected to have an impact on our financial accounting practices.

The following discussion should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto, all included elsewhere herein. The forward-looking statements in this section and other parts of this document involve risks and uncertainties including statements regarding our plans, objectives, goals, strategies, and financial performance. Our actual results could differ materially from the results anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of factors set forth under the caption “Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995” below and as a result of certain factors, including but not limited to those set forth in “Part I - Item 1A. Risk Factors”. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a “safe harbor” for forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of the Company.

Overview

We operate an On Demand recruiting platform aimed at transforming the $28.5 billion dollar Employment and Recruitment Agency industry. Recruiter.com combines an online hiring software solution with On Demand recruiting services. Businesses of all sizes recruit talent faster using the Recruiter.com platform.

We help businesses accelerate and streamline their recruiting and hiring processes by providing On Demand recruiting services and technology. We leverage our network of recruiters to place recruiters on a project basis, aided by cutting edge artificial intelligence-based candidate sourcing, matching and video screening technologies. We operate a cloud-based scalable software for professional hiring, which provides prospective employers access to a rich and diverse data set of prospective candidates.

Our mission is to become a preferred solution for hiring specialized talent.

Operating Businesses and Revenue

We generate revenue from the following activities:

We have a sales team and sales partnerships with direct employers as well as Vendor Management System companies and Managed Service companies that help create sales channels for clients that buy staffing, direct hire, and sourcing services. Once we have secured the relationship and contract with the interested Enterprise customer, the delivery and product teams will provide the service to fulfill any or all of the revenue segments.

The costs of our revenue primarily consist of employee costs, third-party staffing costs and other fees, outsourced recruiter fees and commissions based on a percentage of our gross margin.

2022 Business Update

In 2022, we focused on improving our product offerings, financial position, corporate governance, and streamlining operations. Additionally, we continued investing and partnering to expand our service offerings and client and candidate reach. All the while, we shared our progress with media outreach and a focused investor relations effort.

Key Highlights include:

Corporate Organization

Partnerships/Acquisitions

Since December 31, 2022, we:

Results of Operations

Revenue

Our revenue for the year ended December 31, 2022 was $25.4 million compared to $22.2 million for the prior year representing an increase of $3.2 million or 14%. This increase resulted primarily from an increase in our Recruiters On Demand business of $4.6 million or 40% due to contributions from acquisitions as well as growth in new customers. Additionally, Software Subscriptions contributed $2.5 million in revenue in 2022, compared to $1.4 million in 2021.  We had an increase in our Marketplace Solutions revenue of $417 thousand or 57% from contributions from recent acquisitions as well as growth in new customers. We had a decrease in Permanent Placement fees of $154 thousand or 14% and a decrease in our Consulting and Staffing business of $2.7 million or 36% as we focused resources on growing more strategic lines of business.

Cost of Revenue

Cost of revenue for the year ended December 31, 2022 was $16.6 million, which included related party costs of $0, compared to $14.9 million in the prior year, which included related party costs of $599 thousand. This increase resulted primarily from an increase in compensation expense to support revenue growth, third party staffing costs and other fees related to the recruitment and staffing businesses acquired, as well as costs for contract recruiters supporting the Recruiters On Demand business.

Our gross profit for 2022 was $8.7 million which produced a gross profit margin of 35%. In 2021 our gross profit was $7.3 million which produced a gross profit margin of 33%. The increase in the gross profit margin from 2021 to 2022 reflects the shift in the mix in sales for the period as areas of our business with higher gross margins grew while our staffing business declined.

Operating Expenses

We had total operating expenses of $25.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2022 compared to $24.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2021. This increase was primarily due to increases in amortization expense of $909 thousand, impairment expense of $1.9 million, sales and marketing of $253 thousand, and product and development of $206 thousand, offset by a decrease in bad debt expense of $435 thousand in 2022 compared to 2021.

Sales and Marketing

Our sales and marketing expense for the year ended December 31, 2022 was $726 thousand compared to $472 thousand for the prior year, which reflects an increase in personnel, advertising, and marketing expense to help drive growth in our business.

Product Development

Our product development expense for the year ended December 31, 2022 increased to $1.4 million from $1.2 million for the prior year. This increase was attributable to the continued investment in our product offerings. The product development expense in 2022 included approximately $36 thousand paid to Recruiter.com Mauritius, a related party. In 2021, product development expense included $162 thousand paid to Recruiter.com Mauritius.

Amortization of Intangibles and Impairment Expense

For the year ended December 31, 2022, we incurred a non-cash amortization charge of $3.7 million as compared to $2.7 million for the corresponding period in 2021. The amortization expense increase was a direct result of the acquisitions of intangible assets that occurred in 2021, with a full year of amortization in 2022. For the year ended December 31, 2022, we incurred an impairment charge of $4.4 million related to the impairment of Upsider AI Software and customer relationships, compared to an impairment charge of $2.5 million in 2021 related to the goodwill from the 2019 acquisition of Genesys.

General and Administrative

General and administrative expense include compensation-related costs for our employees dedicated to general and administrative activities, legal fees, audit and tax fees, consultants and professional services, and general corporate expenses. For the year ended December 31, 2022, our general and administrative expense was $15.3 million including $4.1 million of non-cash stock-based compensation and $493 thousand in bad debt expense. In 2021, our general and administrative expense was $17.3 million including $5.4 million of non- cash stock-based compensation and $928 thousand in bad debt expense. This decrease primarily reflects the decline in non-cash stock-based compensation.

Other Income (Expense)

Other income (expense) for the year ended December 31, 2022 consisted of other income of $258 thousand compared to other income of $610 thousand in 2021. In 2022, the other income was mostly from a gain on debt extinguishment of $1.2 million, offset by interest expense of $965 thousand.

Net loss

In the year ended December 31, 2022, we incurred a net loss of $16.5 million compared to a net loss of $16.3 million in the year ended December 31, 2021.

Definition of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

The following discussion and analysis include both financial measures in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, or GAAP, as well as non-GAAP financial measures. Generally, a non-GAAP financial measure is a numerical measure of a company’s performance, financial position, or cash flows that either excludes or includes amounts that are not normally included or excluded in the most directly comparable measure calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP. Non-GAAP financial measures should be viewed as supplemental to and should not be considered as alternatives to net income, operating income, and cash flow from operating activities, liquidity or any other financial measures. They may not be indicative of our historical operating results of Recruiter, nor are they intended to be predictive of potential future results. Investors should not consider non-GAAP financial measures in isolation or as substitutes for performance measures calculated in accordance with GAAP.

Our management uses and relies on EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA, which are non-GAAP financial measures. We believe that both management and shareholders benefit from referring to the following non-GAAP financial measures in planning, forecasting and analyzing future periods. Our management uses these non-GAAP financial measures in evaluating its financial and operational decision making and as a means to evaluate period-to-period comparison. Our management recognizes that the non-GAAP financial measures have inherent limitations because of the described excluded items.

We define Adjusted EBITDA as earnings (or loss) from continuing operations before the items in the table below. Adjusted EBITDA is an important measure of our operating performance because it allows management, investors and analysts to evaluate and assess our core operating results from period-to-period after removing the impact of items of a non-operational nature that affect comparability.

We have included a reconciliation of our non-GAAP financial measures to the most comparable financial measure calculated in accordance with GAAP. We believe that providing the non-GAAP financial measures, together with the reconciliation to GAAP, helps investors make comparisons between our results and other companies. In making any comparisons to other companies, investors need to be aware that companies use different non-GAAP measures to evaluate their financial performance. Investors should pay close attention to the specific definition being used and to the reconciliation between such measure and the corresponding GAAP measure provided by each company under applicable SEC rules.

The following table presents a reconciliation of net loss to Adjusted EBITDA:

Liquidity and Capital Resources

For the year ended December 31, 2022, net cash used in operating activities was $6.9 million, compared to net cash used in operating activities of $9.0 million for 2021. The decrease in cash used in operating activities was attributable to the change in operating expenses outlined previously supporting the changes in our business. For the year ended December 31, 2022, net loss was $16.5 million. Net loss includes non-cash items of depreciation and amortization expense of $3.7 million, bad debt expense of $493 thousand, gain on debt extinguishment of $1.2 million, equity-based compensation expense of $4.1 million, amortization of debt discount and debt costs of $499 thousand, impairment expense of $4.4 million, and a warrant modification expense of $152 thousand. Changes in operating assets and liabilities include primarily the following: accounts receivable increased by $1.5 million and prepaid expenses and other current assets decreased by $253 thousand. Accounts payable, accrued liabilities, deferred payroll taxes, other liabilities, and deferred revenue decreased in total by $1.3 million.

For the year ended December 31, 2021, net cash used in operating activities was $9.0 million, compared to net cash used in operating activities of $2.5 million for 2020. The increase in cash used in operating activities was attributable to the increase in operating expenses outlined previously supporting the investments to grow our business. For the year ended December 31, 2021, net loss was $16.3 million. Net loss includes non-cash items of depreciation and amortization expense of $2.7 million, bad debt expense of $928 thousand, gain on forgiveness of debt of $25 thousand, equity-based compensation expense of $5.4 million, recognized loss on marketable securities of $1,424, loan principal paid directly through grant of $2,992, amortization of debt discount and debt costs of $2.5 million, initial derivative expense of $3.6 million, impairment expense of $2.5 million, and a positive change in fair value of derivative liability of $7.3 million.  The bad debt expense primarily relates to a one-time reserve for a customer for $650 thousand due to the customer’s lack of payment. See Item 3. Legal Proceedings for more details. Changes in operating assets and liabilities include primarily the following: accounts receivable increased by $4.7 million and prepaid expenses and other current assets increased by $74 thousand. Accounts payable, accrued liabilities, deferred payroll taxes, other liabilities, and deferred revenue increased in total by $1.7 million.

For 2022, cash used in investing activities was $350 thousand as a result of capitalized software development costs of $1.3 million offset by proceeds received from the sale of intangible assets of $1.1 million, compared to $2.2 million of cash used in investing activities in 2021 principally as a result of cash paid for acquisitions.

In 2022, net cash provided by financing activities was $5.7 million. The principal factors were $4.1 million from the sale of notes, net of original issue discounts and offering costs and $7.3 million from proceeds from factor, offset by $2.0 million in repayments of notes, and $3.7 million in repayments to factor. In the 2021 period, financing activities provided $13.7 million, primarily due to $2.2 million from the sale of convertible notes, net of original issue discounts and offering costs, $250 thousand proceeds from notes, $13.8 million gross proceeds from the sale of common stock and warrants, offset by $1.7 million of offering costs, $78 thousand in deferred offering costs, $724 thousand in repayments of notes, and $11 thousand in repayments of sale of future revenues.

Based on cash on hand as of March 22, 2023 of approximately $428,000, we do not have the capital resources to meet our working capital needs for the next 12 months.

Our consolidated financial statements are prepared using generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America applicable to a going concern, which contemplates the realization of assets and the satisfaction of liabilities in the normal course of business. We incurred net losses and negative operating cash flows since inception. For the year ended December 31, 2022, we recorded a net loss of $16.5 million. We have not yet established an ongoing source of revenue that is sufficient to cover our operating costs and allow us to continue as a going concern. Our ability to continue as a going concern is dependent on us obtaining adequate capital to fund operating losses until we become profitable.

Our historical operating results indicate substantial doubt exists related to our ability to continue as a going concern. We can give no assurances that any additional capital that we are able to obtain, if any, will be sufficient to meet our needs, or that any such financing will be obtainable on acceptable terms. If we are unable to obtain adequate capital, we could be forced to cease operations or substantially curtail our commercial activities. The accompanying consolidated financial statements do not include any adjustments relating to the recoverability and classification of recorded asset amounts and classification of liabilities should we be unable to continue as a going concern.

To date, equity and debt offerings have been our primary source of liquidity and we expect to fund future operations through additional securities offerings. We have also entered into arrangements with factoring companies to receive advances against certain future accounts receivable in order to supplement our liquidity.

Financing Arrangements

Term Loans

We had outstanding balances of $0 and $50,431 pursuant to two term loans as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively, which mature in 2023. The loans have variable interest rates, with current rates at 6.0% and 7.76%, respectively. Current monthly payments under the loans are $1,691 and $1,008, respectively. We have paid off the outstanding balance of both of these loans in February 2022. No new term loans were taken in 2022.

Paycheck Protection Program Loan

During 2021 our remaining loan pursuant to the Paycheck Protection Program under the CARES Act in the amount of $24,750 was forgiven. No new loans were taken under the Paycheck Protection Program of the CARES Act in 2022.

Common Stock Offering

We closed an underwritten public offering pursuant to a Registration Statement on Form S-1, as amended, on July 2, 2021, which was declared effective by the SEC on June 29, 2021. The gross proceeds to us from the underwritten public offering, before deducting underwriting discount, the underwriters’ fees and expenses and our estimated expenses, were $13.8 million.

Senior Subordinated Secured Convertible Debentures

In May and June 2020, we entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement, effective May 28, 2020 (the “May Purchase Agreement”) with several accredited investors (the “May Purchasers”). Four of the investors had previously invested in our preferred stock. Pursuant to the May Purchase Agreement, we sold to the May Purchasers a total of (i) $2,953,125 in the aggregate principal amount of 12.5% Original Issue Discount Senior Subordinated Secured Convertible Debentures (the “May Debentures”), and (ii) 738,282 common stock purchase warrants, which represents 100% warrant coverage. We also agreed to issue to the placement agent, Joseph Gunnar & Co., LLC, as additional compensation, 147,657 common stock purchase warrants exercisable at $5.00 per share.

Our obligations under the May Debentures were secured by a first priority lien on all of our assets and our subsidiaries’ assets, subject to certain existing senior liens. Our obligations under the May Debentures were guaranteed by our subsidiaries.

On January 5, 2021, we entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement, effective January 5, 2021 (the “January Purchase Agreement”), with two accredited investors (the “January Purchasers”). Pursuant to the January Purchase Agreement, we agreed to sell to the January Purchasers a total of (i) $562,500 in the aggregate principal amount of 12.5% Original Issue Discount Senior Subordinated Secured Convertible Debentures (the “January Debentures”), and (ii) 140,625 common stock purchase warrants which represents 100% warrant coverage.

On January 20, 2021, the Company entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement, (the “Follow-on Purchase Agreement”) with eighteen accredited investors (the “Follow-on Purchasers”). Pursuant to the Follow-on Purchase Agreement, we agreed to sell to the Follow-on Purchasers a total of (i) $2,236,500 in the aggregate principal amount of 12.5% Original Issue Discount Senior Subordinated Secured Convertible Debentures (the “Follow-on Debentures”), and (ii) 557,926 common stock purchase warrants, which represents 100% warrant coverage. Gunnar acted as placement agent for the offering of the Follow-on Debentures.

On July 2, 2021, we issued 1,489,437 shares of common stock upon the conversion of $5,588,359 of principal amount outstanding under the May Debentures, the January Debentures, and the Follow-on Debentures, which was the total principal amount outstanding, $115,593 of accrued interest through July 2, 2021, and a penalty amount of $253,767 on the May Debentures, which extinguished the May Debentures, the January Debentures, and the Follow-on Debentures.

On July 2, 2021, the number of placement agent warrants issued in 2020 and 2021 to Gunnar was reduced, from 287,606 to 36,364, and the exercise price was increased to $6.25.

Shares issued upon exchange of common stock warrants

On January 6, 2022, upon agreement with warrant holder, the Company issued 112,726 shares of common stock upon the exchange of 112,726 warrants. The shares were valued at approximately $473,000 based on the stock price, while the exchanged warrants had a Black-Scholes value of approximately $321,000, resulting in a loss on exchange of $152,000 which was recorded in the first quarter of 2022.

Shares issued for Services

In February 2022, we issued 22,000 shares to a vendor for services valued at $47,520.

Restricted stock units

On February 2, 2022, 7,500 common shares vested and were issued to a vendor for services related to a 2021 agreement. The Company expensed the remaining $27,000 in 2022 as the service period expired.

During the three months ended March 31, 2022, 76,175 shares have been issued to our CEO in connection with his employment agreement.

During the year ended December 31, 2022, 95,825 RSUs were granted to vendors for services. 88,325 RSUs vested immediately and were issued as common stock to the vendor, and the remaining 7,500 were vested and issuable as of December 31, 2022. The 95,825 RSUs were valued at $193,140 and were expensed as of December 31, 2022 based on the service period in the contract.

In April 2022, 66,325 common shares vested and were issued to vendors for services valued at $106,120.

Shares issued in relation to acquisitions of Parrut and Upsider

In October 2022, we confirmed Parrut earned the maximum earnout of $1,350,000 and we issued 1,374,678 common shares to Parrut at a price of $0.98 per share, the 20-day volume weighted average price prior to completion of the earnout period.

On October 14, 2022, we issued 51,940 shares to the original shareholders of Upsider held in escrow pursuant to the Asset Purchase Agreement dated March 25, 2021.

Issuance of Warrants

During August 2022, the Company granted 1,510,417 warrants as a part of various debt financings. These warrants had an exercise price per share of $2.00 and expire in five years. The exercise price of the warrants was then reduced from $2.00 to $0.98 in connection with the issuance of stock to Parrut on October 14, 2022. The aggregate relative fair value of the warrants, which was allocated against the debt proceeds totaled $1,032,842 at the date of issuance based on the Black Scholes Merton pricing model using the following estimates: exercise price of $2.00, 3.04-3.27% risk free rate, 175.47% volatility and expected life of the warrants of 5 years. The relative fair value was reflected in additional paid-in capital and as a debt discount to be amortized over the term of the loans.

In connection with the October 19, 2022 Loan Agreement, the Company will issue 706,551 warrants to purchase common stock of the Company (the “Warrants”) to the Lender, with 622,803 Warrants issued and exercisable upon the Closing Date and the additional 83,708 Warrants becoming exercisable upon funding of the second Advance. The Warrants are exercisable for ten years from the Closing Date at an exercise price of $2.00 per share, subject to certain adjustments. Upon the earlier of the Maturity Date or a sale of the Company or other change in control, the Lender has the right to cause the Company to repurchase the Warrants (“Puttable Warrant”) for up to $703,125 ($600,000 if only the first Advance has been made and $703,125 if both Advances have been made). The Company is also obligated to pay the Lender a cash fee equal to 1.25% of the aggregate principal amount of the Advances that is outstanding on each anniversary of the Closing Date if (i) the average closing price of the Company’s common stock for the thirty (30) day period prior to such anniversary date is less than $2.00 or (ii) the closing price of the Company’s common stock for the date immediately prior to such anniversary date is less than $2.00.

On October 19, 2022, we entered into a loan agreement with Montage Capital II, L.P. for up to $2.25 Million. We borrowed $2 Million and issued 622,803 warrants to Montage Capital II, L.P. with an exercise price of $2.00. An additional 83,708 Warrants will be issued and become exercisable upon funding of the second Advance. As of December 31, 2022, only one tranche was funded.

The above securities were issued in reliance on the exemption under Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. These securities qualified for exemption under Section 4(a)(2) since the issuance by us did not involve a public offering. The offerings were not “public offerings” as defined in 4(a)(2) due to the insubstantial number of persons involved in the transactions, manner of the issuance and number of securities issued. We did not undertake an offering in which we sold a high number of securities to a high number of investors. In addition, the investors had the necessary investment intent as required by Section 4(a)(2) since they agreed to and received securities bearing a legend stating that such securities are restricted pursuant to Rule 144 of the Act. This restriction ensures that these securities would not be immediately redistributed into the market and therefore not be part of a “public offering”. Based on an analysis of the above factors, we have met the requirements to qualify for exemption under Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act for these transactions.

Warrants issued for Services

In December 2022, we issued 30,000 warrants to a vendor for services with an exercise price of $1.00.

Promissory Notes Payable

We received $250,000 in proceeds from an institutional investor pursuant to a promissory note issued on May 6, 2021. The note bears interest at 12% per year and matures on May 6, 2023. In April 2022, we paid off the total principal balance of the note and the accrued interest.

We issued a promissory note in the original principal amount of $1.75 million pursuant to the Parrut acquisition agreement dated July 7, 2021. The note amortized over 24 months, bore interest at 6% and originally matured on July 1, 2023.

On October 19, 2022, Parrut agreed to subordinate their note to the loan owed to Montage Capital II, L.P. In return, we increased the interest rate to 12% and restructured the payment schedule to Parrut with a maturity date of August 31, 2023.

We issued a promissory note in the original principal amount of $3.0 million pursuant to the Novo Group acquisition agreement dated August 27, 2021. The note originally amortized over 30 months, bore interest at 6% and was set to mature on February 1, 2024. In April 2022, we negotiated a reduction in this promissory note with Novo Group due to employee turnover that occurred following the acquisition. We entered into an agreement with Novo Group to reduce the outstanding principal balance by $600,000 and changed the maturity date to November 30, 2023.

In October 2022, Novo Group entered into a Subordination Agreement (“Subordination Agreement”), pursuant to which Novo agreed to subordinate all its indebtedness and obligations we owe to Novo to all the indebtedness and obligations we owe to Montage Capital. As of December 31, 2022, per amendments to the note, the note bore interest at 12% and matured on November 30, 2023.

In February 2023, we entered into an Amendment to the Promissory Note with Novo Group, Inc. (the “Novo Amendment”). The Novo Amendment further modifies the Promissory Note issued to Novo on August 27, 2021 (the “Novo Note”) and amended on April 1, 2022, by amending the payment schedule pursuant to which we would make payments of principal and interest to Novo. Novo agreed we would pay interest only for the period starting November 1, 2022 though and including March 31, 2023, with payments of principal and interest to resume starting April 1, 2023. We also replaced the existing payment schedule with a new payment schedule terminating on October 31, 2023.

On October 19, 2022, the “Company closed a Loan and Security Agreement (the “Loan Agreement”), by and among the Company and Montage Capital II, L.P. (the “Lender”). Pursuant to the Loan Agreement, the Lender will make advances (“Advances”) in the aggregate principal amount of $2,250,000, with the first Advance of $2,000,000 being provided on or around the Closing Date and the second Advance of $250,000 being available to the Company upon request prior to April 30, 2023. Interest will accrue on all Advances under the Loan Agreement at a per annum rate of 12.75%. In the event of a default under the terms of the Loan Agreement, the interest rate increases by 5 percentage points above the interest rate in effect immediately prior to a default. The entire outstanding principal balance of the Advances, all accrued and unpaid interest thereon, and all fees and other amounts outstanding thereunder will be immediately due and payable on the 42nd month anniversary of the Closing Date (the “Maturity Date”). In connection with the Loan Agreement, the Company granted and pledged to the Lender a continuing security interest in all presently existing and hereafter acquired or arising Collateral (as more specifically defined in the Loan Agreement) which includes all personal property of the Company and its subsidiaries. The Loan Agreement contains certain affirmative and negative covenants to which the Company is also subject.

The Company agreed to pay the Lender a fee of $45,600, with $40,000 due upon the execution of the Loan Agreement and the balance due upon the funding of the second Advance. The Company is permitted to prepay any amounts due to the Lender; provided, however, that a Prepayment Fee (as more specifically defined in the Loan Agreement) shall be owed to the Lender depending on when the amounts are prepaid.

On February 2, 2023, the Company entered into a First Amendment to Loan and Security Agreement (the “Montage Amendment”), by and between the Company, its subsidiaries (Recruiter.com, Inc., Recruiter.com Recruiting Solutions, LLC, Recruiter.com Consulting, LLC, VocaWorks, Inc., Recruiter.com Scouted, Inc., Recruiter.com Upsider, Inc., and Recruiter.com - OneWire, Inc.), and Montage, effective as December 18, 2022. The Montage Amendment modifies that certain Loan and Security Agreement by and among the Company, its subsidiaries, and Montage to provide the Company with additional time to meet certain post-closing covenants.

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements 

None. 

Critical Accounting Estimates and Recent Accounting Pronouncements 

Critical Accounting Estimates 

The preparation of consolidated financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“GAAP”) requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the consolidated financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results and outcomes may differ from management’s estimates and assumptions. Included in these estimates are assumptions used to estimate collection of accounts receivable, fair value of marketable securities, fair value of assets acquired and liabilities assumed in asset acquisitions and the estimated useful life of assets acquired, fair value of contingent consideration, asset acquisitions and business combinations, fair value of derivative liabilities, fair value of securities issued for acquisitions and business combinations, fair value of assets acquired and liabilities assumed in business combinations, fair value of intangible assets and goodwill, fair value of capitalized software, fair value of non-monetary transactions, deferred income tax asset valuation allowances, and valuation of stock based compensation expense.

Revenue Recognition

Policy

We recognize revenue in accordance with the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s (“FASB”), Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) ASC 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (“ASC 606”). Revenues are recognized when control is transferred to customers in amounts that reflect the consideration we expect to be entitled to receive in exchange for those goods. Revenue recognition is evaluated through the following five steps: (i) identification of the contract, or contracts, with a customer; (ii) identification of the performance obligations in the contract; (iii) determination of the transaction price; (iv) allocation of the transaction price to the performance obligations in the contract; and (v) recognition of revenue when or as a performance obligation is satisfied.

Revenues as presented on the statement of operations represent services rendered to customers less sales adjustments and allowances.

Software subscription revenues are recognized over the term of the subscription for access to services and/or our web-based platform. Revenue is recognized monthly over the subscription term. Talent effectiveness subscription revenues are recognized over the term of the subscription when services are provided. Any payments received prior to the time passing to provide the subscription services are recorded as a deferred revenue liability. Revenue generated from the enhanced support package and On Demand support are recognized at the point-in-time when the service is provided. Revenue generated from placement fees that are related to the software subscription are recognized at the point-in-time when the 60 or 90-day guarantee expires.

Recruiters On Demand services are billed to clients as either monthly subscriptions or time-based billings. Revenues for Recruiters On Demand are recognized on a gross basis when each monthly subscription service is completed. Talent Effectiveness consulting services are billed to clients upfront for a period of months. Revenue is recognized on a gross basis monthly over the period the consulting services are provided.

Full time placement revenues are recognized on a gross basis when the guarantee period specified in each customer’s contract expires. No fees for direct hire placement services are charged to the employment candidates. Any payments received prior to the expiration of the guarantee period are recorded as a deferred revenue liability. Payments for recruitment services are typically due within 90 days of completion of services.

Marketplace Solutions revenues are recognized either on a gross basis when the advertising is placed and displayed or when lead generation activities and online publications are completed, which is the point at which the performance obligations are satisfied. Payments for marketing and publishing are typically due within 30 days of completion of services.

Marketplace advertising revenues are recognized on a gross basis when the advertising is placed and displayed or when lead generation activities and online publications are completed, which is the point at which the performance obligations are satisfied. Payments for marketing and publishing are typically due within 30 days of completion of services. Job posting revenue is recognized at the end of the period the job is posted. Marketplace career services revenues are recognized on a gross basis upon distribution of resumes or completion of training courses, which is the point at which the performance obligations are satisfied. Payments for career services are typically due upon distribution or completion of services.

Consulting and Staffing Services revenues represent services rendered to customers less sales adjustments and allowances. Reimbursements, including those related to travel and out- of-pocket expenses, are also included in the net service revenues and equivalent amounts of reimbursable expenses are included in costs of revenue. We record substantially all revenue on a gross basis as a principal versus on a net basis as an agent in the presentation of this line of revenues and expenses. We have concluded that gross reporting is appropriate because we have the task of identifying and hiring qualified employees, and our discretion to select the employees and establish their compensation and duties causes us to bear the risk for services that are not fully paid for by customers. Consulting and staffing revenues are recognized when the services are rendered by the temporary employees. We assume the risk of acceptability of the employees to customers. Payments for consulting and staffing services are typically due within 90 days of completion of services.

Deferred revenue results from transactions in which we have been paid for services by customers, but for which all revenue recognition criteria have not yet been met. Once all revenue recognition criteria have been met, the deferred revenues are recognized.

Sales tax collected is recorded on a net basis and is excluded from revenue. 

Goodwill

Goodwill is comprised of the purchase price of business combinations in excess of the fair value assigned at acquisition to the net tangible and identifiable intangible assets acquired. Goodwill is not amortized. We test goodwill for impairment for its reporting units on an annual basis, or when events occur, or circumstances indicate the fair value of a reporting unit is below its carrying value.

We perform our annual goodwill impairment assessment on December 31st of each year or as impairment indicators dictate.

When evaluating the potential impairment of goodwill, management first assess a range of qualitative factors, including but not limited to, macroeconomic conditions, industry conditions, the competitive environment, changes in the market for our products and services, regulatory and political developments, entity specific factors such as strategy and changes in key personnel, and the overall financial performance for each of our reporting units. If, after completing this assessment, it is determined that it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying value, we then proceed to the impairment testing methodology using an appropriate valuation method.

We compare the carrying value of the reporting unit, including goodwill, with its fair value, as determined by its estimated discounted cash flows. If the carrying value of a reporting unit exceeds its fair value, then the amount of impairment to be recognized is recognized as the amount by which the carrying amount exceeds the fair value.

When required, we may arrive at our estimates of fair value using a discounted cash flow methodology which includes estimates of future cash flows to be generated by specifically identified assets, as well as selecting a discount rate to measure the present value of those anticipated cash flows. Estimating future cash flows requires significant judgment and includes making assumptions about projected growth rates, industry-specific factors, working capital requirements, weighted average cost of capital, and current and anticipated operating conditions. The use of different assumptions or estimates for future cash flows could produce different results. 

Long-lived assets

Long-lived assets are reviewed for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the book value of the asset may not be recoverable. We periodically evaluate whether events and circumstances have occurred that indicate possible impairment. When impairment indicators exist, we estimate the future undiscounted net cash flows of the related asset or asset group over the remaining life of the asset in measuring whether or not the asset values are recoverable.

Derivative Instruments

Our derivative financial instruments consisted of derivatives related to the warrants issued with the sale of our preferred stock in 2020 and 2019, and the warrants issued with the sale of convertible notes in 2020-2021. The accounting treatment of derivative financial instruments requires that we record the derivatives at their fair values as of the inception date of the debt agreements and at fair value as of each subsequent balance sheet date. Any change in fair value is recorded as non-operating, non-cash income or expense at each balance sheet date. If the fair value of the derivatives was higher at the subsequent balance sheet date, we recorded a non- operating, non-cash charge. If the fair value of the derivatives was lower at the subsequent balance sheet date, we recorded non-operating, non-cash income.

Stock-Based Compensation

We account for all stock-based payment awards made to employees, directors and others based on their fair values and recognizes such awards as compensation expense over the vesting period for employees or service period for non-employees using the straight-line method over the requisite service period for each award as required by FASB ASC Topic No. 718, Compensation-Stock Compensation. If there are any modifications or cancellations of the underlying vested or unvested stock-based awards, we may be required to accelerate, increase, or cancel any remaining unearned stock-based compensation expense, or record additional expense for vested stock-based awards. Future stock-based compensation expense and unearned stock- based compensation may increase to the extent we grant additional stock options or other stock-based awards.

Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements 

There have not been any recent changes in accounting pronouncements and ASU issued by the FASB that are of significance or potential significance to the Company except as disclosed below.

In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-13, Financial Instruments—Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments, which significantly changes how entities will measure credit losses for most financial assets, including accounts receivable. ASU No. 2016-13 will replace today’s “incurred loss” approach with an “expected loss” model, under which companies will recognize allowances based on expected rather than incurred losses. On November 15, 2019, the FASB delayed the effective date of Topic 326 for certain small public companies and other private companies until fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2022 for SEC filers that are eligible to be smaller reporting companies under the SEC’s definition, as well as private companies and not-for-profit entities. The Company is currently evaluating the new guidance and has not yet determined whether the adoption of the new standard will have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements or the method of adoption.

In May 2021, the FASB issued ASU 2021-04, “Earnings Per Share (Topic 260), Debt-Modifications and Extinguishments (Subtopic 470-50), Compensation-Stock Compensation (Topic 718), and Derivatives and Hedging-Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity (Subtopic 815-40): Issuer’s Accounting for Certain Modifications or Exchanges of Freestanding Equity-Classified Written Call Options (a consensus of the FASB Emerging Issues Task Force)”. The amendments in this update are effective for all entities for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2021, including interim periods within those fiscal years. The adoption of ASU 2021-04 did not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.

In October 2021, the FASB issued ASU No. 2021-08, “Business Combinations (Topic 805): Accounting for Contract Assets and Contract Liabilities from Contracts with Customers.” This ASU requires contract assets and contract liabilities (e.g. deferred revenue) acquired in a business combination to be recognized and measured by the acquirer on the acquisition date in accordance with ASC 606, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers”. Generally, this new guidance will result in the acquirer recognizing contract assets and contract liabilities at the same amounts recorded by the acquiree. Historically, such amounts were recognized by the acquirer at fair value in purchase accounting. The guidance is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2022, including interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted, including in interim periods, for any financial statements that have not yet been issued. The Company is currently evaluating the impact the adoption of this ASU would have on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

In March 2022, the FASB issued ASU No. 2022-02, Financial Instruments-Credit Losses (Topic 326): Troubled Debt Restructurings and Vintage Disclosures. The guidance was issued as improvements to ASU No. 2016-13 described above. The vintage disclosure changes require an entity to disclose current-period gross write-offs by year of origination for financing receivables. The guidance is effective for financial statements issued for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2022, and interim periods within those fiscal years. The amendments should be applied prospectively. Early adoption of the amendments is permitted, including adoption in an interim period. The amendments will impact our disclosures but will not otherwise impact the consolidated financial statements. The Company is currently evaluating the impact the adoption of this ASU would have on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

See “Part I - Item 1A. Risk Factors” for additional information regarding the risks and uncertainties that could affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. New risk factors emerge from time-to-time and it is not possible for us to predict all such risk factors, nor can we assess the impact of all such risk factors on our business or the extent to which any risk factor, or combination of risk factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. Except as otherwise required by applicable laws, we undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements or the risk factors described in this Annual Report, whether as a result of new information, future events, changed circumstances or any other reason after the date of this Annual Report.

ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK

Not applicable.

ITEM 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA

See Index to Consolidated Financial Statements on page F-1 of this Annual Report.

ITEM 9. CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS ON ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE

None.

ITEM 9A. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

Our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, with the assistance of other members of our management, have evaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures, as defined in Rules 13a - 15(e) and 15d - 15(e) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), as of the end of the period covered by this Annual Report. Based on such evaluation, our principal executive officer and principal financial officer had concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective due to material weaknesses in internal controls over financial reporting as identified below.

Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rule 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act). Our internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. Our management evaluated the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of the end of the period covered by this Annual Report. In making this assessment, our management used the criteria set forth by the Committee of Sponsor Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) in Internal Control-Integrated Framework (2013 framework). Based on that evaluation, as a result of the material weaknesses described below, management has concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was not effective as of December 31, 2022.

Although a material weakness identified as of December 31, 2019 (the lack of sufficient independent directors on our Board to maintain audit and other committees consistent with proper corporate governance standards) had been remediated as of December 31, 2022, management has determined that, as of that date, there were still material weaknesses in both the design and effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. A material weakness in internal controls is a deficiency in internal control, or combination of control deficiencies, that adversely affects our ability to initiate, authorize, record, process, or report external financial data reliably in accordance with GAAP such that there is more than a remote likelihood that a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements that is more than inconsequential will not be prevented or detected. In the course of making our assessment of the effectiveness of internal controls over financial reporting, we identified material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting. Specifically, (1) we lack a sufficient number of employees to properly segregate duties and provide adequate monitoring during the process leading to and including the preparation of the consolidated financial statements, and (2) We do not have the in-house technical expertise to identify and analyze complex or unusual transactions for proper accounting treatment. Accordingly, management’s assessment is that our internal controls over financial reporting were not effective as of December 31, 2022.

Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting

We have worked to establish all the checks and balances needed for all financial areas of our business. We hired a consultant in mid-2020 to establish best practices and help us document and implement these. This consultant is a CPA and has a significant background in running the accounting and budgeting process for public companies. We began adopting these best practices during the fourth quarter of 2020. We retained an outsourced firm with a panel of CPA consultants in 2021 to assist in building internal controls and preparing financial reports.

This Annual Report does not include an attestation report of our independent registered public accounting firm regarding internal control over financial reporting. Management’s report was not subject to attestation by our independent registered public accounting firm pursuant to the rules of the SEC.

ITEM 9B. OTHER INFORMATION

None.

ITEM 9C. DISCLOSURE REGARDING FOREIGN JURISDICTIONS THAT PREVENT INSPECTION

None.

PART III

ITEM 10. DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

The following table provides information regarding our executive officers and directors:

Each of our directors currently holds a one-year term serving until our annual meeting of shareholders to be held in 2023.

Executive Officers

Evan Sohn - Mr. Sohn has served as our Chief Executive Officer since July 2020 and our Chairman since April 2019. He served as Vice President of Sales at Veea Inc., a company offering a platform-as-a-service (PaaS) platform for computing, mobile payment, point of sale, and retail solutions, from April 2018 until June 2020 Prior to joining Veea Inc., from September 2015 to April 2018, Mr. Sohn served as the Vice President of Sales at Poynt Inc., a company developing and marketing Poynt, a platform for next generation payments. Prior to that, from April 2012 to September 2015, Mr. Sohn was the Vice President of Sales at VeriFone, Inc., a company designing, marketing, and servicing electronic payment systems. Mr. Sohn is also the co-founder and Vice President of the Sohn Conference Foundation, a non-for-profit dedicated to the treatment and cure of pediatric cancer and related childhood diseases. He is a graduate of the NYU Stern School of Business with a degree in computer information systems and management.

Miles Jennings - Mr. Jennings has served as our Chief Operating Officer and President since 2020. Prior to that, Mr. Jennings founded our Company and served as the Chief Executive Officer of Recruiter.com, Inc. from 2015 until October 2017, and then as Chief Executive Officer of Truli Technologies, Inc. and its subsidiary, VocaWorks, Inc., from then until March 2019, when Truli Technologies merged with Recruiter.com, Inc. Mr. Jennings served as Chief Executive Officer of the merged company, Recruiter.com Group, Inc. through July 1, 2020, when he moved into the role of President and Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Jennings currently serves on our Board. Mr. Jennings has worked in the recruiting and online recruiting industry since 2003 at employers including Modis, an Adecco division, and Indeed.com. He is a graduate of Trinity College in Hartford, CT with a degree in philosophy.

Judy Krandel, CFA - Ms. Krandel has served as our Chief Financial Officer since June 2020. From November 2016 until December 2019, she served as Chief Financial Officer, and then Senior Business Development Consultant for PeerStream, Inc. From March 2012 until November 2016, Ms. Krandel was the Portfolio Manager for Juniper Investment Company, a small-cap hedge fund. Ms. Krandel spent the earlier part of her career as an equity analyst and portfolio manager focusing on small-cap public equities. She currently also sits on the board of directors of Lincoln First Bancorp, and served on the board of directors of Snap Interactive and Cynergistek in the digital media and healthcare cybersecurity industries. She is a graduate of the Wharton School of Business of the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in finance and the Booth School of Business of the University of Chicago with an MBA in finance and accounting.

Non-Employee Directors

Timothy O’Rourke - Mr. O’Rourke has served on the Board since March 2019. Mr. O’Rourke was designated by Genesys pursuant to the terms of the Genesys Purchase. Mr. O’Rourke has served as the Managing Director of Icon Information Consultants, LP, a provider of human capital solutions, consulting, payroll and professional services, and a shareholder of Genesys, since February 2001. Mr. O’Rourke brings to the Board his experience and expertise in HR and recruitment solutions for employers. He is a graduate of the University of Houston with a degree in electrical engineering.

Wallace D. Ruiz - Mr. Ruiz has served on the Board since May 2018. Mr. Ruiz has served as the Chief Financial Officer of Inuvo, Inc. (NYSE: INUV), an advertising technology company based in Little Rock, AR since June 2010. Mr. Ruiz was selected for appointment to the Board for his experience with public companies as well as his accounting skills. Mr. Ruiz is a Certified Public Accountant in the State of New York. He is a graduate of St. John’s University with a degree in computer science and Columbia University with a MBA in finance and accounting.

Deborah S. Leff - Ms. Leff has served on the Board since August 2020. Ms. Leff has served as a Global Leader at IBM since October 2012 and most recently held the position of Global Industry CTO for Data Science and AI. Ms. Leff was selected for appointment to the Board for her experience with successfully implementing artificial intelligence and machine learning projects to drive strategic outcomes. Ms. Leff has worked with senior leaders of Fortune 1000 companies to gain critical insights from data to drive customer experience and optimize business operations. In addition, Ms. Leff has built and run global sales teams and brings experience and expertise in sales management and sales execution. Ms. Leff is also the Founder of Girls Who Solve, a STEM education program for high school girls that focuses on how data science and technology can be used to solve a range of challenges in both for-profit and nonprofit organizations.

Steve Pemberton - Mr. Pemberton has served on the Board since March 2021. Mr. Pemberton has served as chief human resources officer of Workhuman, a provider of cloud-based human capital management solutions since December 2017. In such capacity, Mr. Pemberton works with HR leaders and senior management executives worldwide to help build inspiring workplaces where every employee feels recognized, respected, and appreciated for who they are and what they do. He champions and promotes the Workhuman movement to inspire HR leaders to embrace more humanity and foster a sense of purpose in the workplace. Prior to joining Workhuman, Mr. Pemberton served as VP Diversity and Inclusion, Chief Diversity Officer at Walgreens Boots Alliance (and as Chief Diversity Officer at its predecessor Walgreens) from 2011 to 2017 and as VP, Chief Diversity Officer at Monster.com from 2005 to 2010. In 2015, Mr. Pemberton was appointed by United States Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez to serve on the Advisory Committee for the Competitive Integrated Employment of People with Disabilities. Mr. Pemberton earned his undergraduate and graduate degrees at Boston College and serves on several nonprofit boards, including UCAN and Disability:IN, in addition to his own A Chance in the World Foundation, the non-profit he founded to help young people aging out of the foster care system.

Robert Heath - Mr. Heath has served on the Board since March 2021. Mr. Heath is Executive Vice President at RPX Corporation, a provider of patent risk management solutions. Mr. Heath joined RPX in 2011 and served as the company’s Chief Financial Officer, from 2015 to May 2017. During his tenure at RPX, Mr. Heath has been the principal architect of some of the industry’s largest syndicated licensing transactions. Before coming to RPX, he served as Head of Strategy and Acquisitions for Technicolor, a leading supplier of technology and services to media companies, where he oversaw an acquisition and divestiture program that refocused the company from consumer electronics to services and technology licensing. Prior to Technicolor, Mr. Heath served as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer at iBahn, an Internet service provider to the hospitality industry. Earlier in his career, Mr. Heath worked as an investment banker, focusing on technology and growth companies at Kidder Peabody, SG Warburg and Robertson Stephens. Mr. Heath received his A.B. from Harvard University and his M.B.A. from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Family Relationships 

There are no family relationships among our directors and/or executive officers.

Board Committees

The Board currently has the following standing committees: the Audit Committee, the Compensation Committee, and the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee (the “Nominating Committee”).

The following table identifies the independent and non-independent current Board and committee members:

Board and Committee Meetings

During the year ended December 31, 2022, the Board had four meetings, the Audit Committee had four meetings, the Compensation Committee had five meetings, and the Nominating Committee had one meeting.

There were no directors (who were incumbent at the time), who attended fewer than 75 percent of the aggregate total number of Board meetings and meetings of the Board committees of which the director was a member during the applicable period.

Audit Committee

Management has the primary responsibility for the financial statements and the reporting process, including the system of internal controls. The Audit Committee reviews our financial reporting process on behalf of the Board and administers our engagement of the independent registered public accounting firm. The Audit Committee meets with the independent registered public accounting firm, with and without management present, to discuss the results of its examinations, the evaluations of our internal controls, and the overall quality of our financial reporting.

Audit Committee Financial Expert

Our Board has determined that Mr. Ruiz is qualified as an Audit Committee Financial Expert, as that term is defined under the rules of the SEC and in compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

Compensation Committee

The function of the Compensation Committee is to determine the compensation of our executive officers. The Compensation Committee has the power to set performance targets for determining annual bonuses payable to executive officers and may review and make recommendations with respect to stockholder proposals related to compensation matters.

Nominating Committee

The responsibilities of the Nominating Committee include the identification of individuals qualified to become Board members, the selection of nominees to stand for election as directors, the oversight of the selection and composition of committees of the Board, establishing procedures for the nomination process, oversight of possible conflicts of interests involving the Board and its members, developing corporate governance principles, and the oversight of the evaluations of the Board and management. The Nominating Committee has not established a policy with regard to the consideration of any candidates recommended by stockholders. If we receive any stockholder recommended nominations, the Nominating Committee will carefully review the recommendation(s) and consider such recommendation(s) in good faith.

Board Diversity

While we do not have a formal policy on diversity, our Board considers diversity to include the skill set, background, reputation, type and length of business experience of our Board members as well as a particular nominee’s contributions to that mix. Our Board believes that diversity promotes a variety of ideas, judgments and considerations to the benefit of our Company and stockholders. Although there are many other factors, the Board primarily focuses on public company board experience, knowledge of the recruiting industry, or background in finance or technology, and experience operating growing businesses.

Board Leadership Structure

Our Board has not adopted a formal policy regarding the separation of the offices of Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board. Rather, the Board believes that different leadership structures may be appropriate for our Company at different times and under different circumstances, and it prefers flexibility in making this decision based on its evaluation of the relevant facts at any given time.

Beginning in April 2019, following the completion of the Merger and the appointment of Mr. Evan Sohn as our Executive Chairman, we separated the offices of Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board. In July 2020, Mr. Sohn was appointed as Chief Executive Officer and retained his position as Chairman of the Board. Under our current Board leadership structure, the Chief Executive Officer is responsible for the day-to-day leadership our and performance. Mr. Miles Jennings, our Chief Operating Officer, focuses on allocation of resources, our recruiting business and the Platform and products, while facilitating strategic communication and high-quality investor relations.

Board Role in Risk Oversight

Our Board bears responsibility for overseeing our risk management function. Our management keeps the Board apprised of material risks and provides to directors access to all information necessary for them to understand and evaluate the effect of these risks, individually or in the aggregate, on our business, and how management addresses them. Our Executive Chairman works closely together with the Board once material risks are identified on how to best address such risks. If the identified risks present an actual or potential conflict with management, our independent directors may conduct the assessment.

Code of Ethics

Our Board has adopted a Code of Ethics that applies to all of our employees, including our Executive Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer and to our directors. The Code of Ethics provides written standards that we believe are reasonably designed to deter wrongdoing and promote honest and ethical conduct, including the ethical handling of actual or apparent conflicts of interest between personal and professional relationships, full, fair, accurate, timely and understandable disclosure and compliance with laws, rules and regulations, including insider trading, corporate opportunities and whistleblowing or the prompt reporting of illegal or unethical behavior. We will provide a copy of our Code of Ethics, without charge, upon request in writing to Recruiter.com Group, Inc. at 500 Seventh Avenue, New York, New York, 10018, Attention: Corporate Secretary. 

Delinquent Section 16(a) Reports

Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act requires our directors, executive officers, and persons who own more than 10% of our Common Stock to file initial reports of ownership and changes in ownership of our Common Stock with the SEC. These individuals are required by the regulations of the SEC to furnish us with copies of all Section 16(a) forms they file. Based solely on a review of the copies of the forms furnished to us none of our directors, executive officers, and persons who own more than 10% of our Common Stock failed to comply with Section 16(a) filing requirements, except an unreported grant of stock options for Messrs. O’Rourke, Roth, Ruiz and Ms. Leff; an unreported open market purchase and grant of stock options for Ms. Krandel and unreported vesting of restricted stock units for Mr. Sohn.

Communication with our Board

Although we do not have a formal policy regarding communications with the Board, stockholders may communicate with the Board by writing to us at Recruiter.com Group, Inc., 500 W. Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10018, Attention: Corporate Secretary. Shareholders who would like their submission directed to a member of the Board may so specify, and the communication will be forwarded, as appropriate.

ITEM 11. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION

Summary Compensation Table

The following information is related to all plan and non-plan compensation awarded to, earned by, or paid by us for the years ended December 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021 for all individuals serving as our principal executive officer or acting in a similar capacity during the year ended December 31, 2022, and our two most compensated executive officers, other than the principal executive officer, serving at December 31, 2022 whose total compensation exceeded $100,000 (the “Named Executive Officers”).

Summary Compensation Table

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Named Executive Officer Employment Agreements

Jennings Agreement

On September 13, 2021, the Compensation Committee approved and we entered into a new employment agreement with Mr. Jennings (the “Jennings Agreement”). Pursuant to the Jennings Agreement, Mr. Jennings will continue to serve as our President and Chief Operation Officer through December 31, 2023.

Pursuant to the Jennings Agreement, Mr. Jennings will be paid an annual base salary of $200,000 and is entitled to earn: (i) a bonus of up to 75% of the annual base salary, subject to achievement of profitability and revenue criteria as well as individual metrics, as determined by the Compensation Committee; (ii) performance-based equity awards of up to 350,000 restricted stock units (“Target RSUs”), a percentage which to be granted are subject to attainment of certain performance criteria tied to the volume weighted average price of our stock, and those Target RSUs that are awarded will vest, if at all, over a period of twenty-four (24) months commencing on the date on which the applicable Target RSUs are granted, in equal monthly increments, provided that Mr. Jennings remains employed by us on the vesting dates; and (iii) one-time long-term equity award of 100,000 stock options pursuant to our 2017 Equity Incentive Plan (the “2017 Plan”), which stock options shall vest over twenty-four (24) months in equal monthly increments and have a strike price equal to the ten (10) trading day volume weighted average price prior to the date on which the stock options are granted.

In the event of termination of Mr. Jennings’ employment by us other than for “cause” or for “good reason,” Mr. Jennings is entitled to receive the following benefits and rights: (i) accrued but unpaid base salary for services rendered to the date of termination; (ii) accrued but unpaid expenses required to be reimbursed under the Jennings Agreement; (iii) severance payment equal to twelve (12) months of base salary, plus an amount equal to the prior calendar year’s declared bonus amount; (iv) eligibility of up to one year from the date of termination to exercise all such previously granted options, provided that in no event shall any option be exercisable beyond its term; and (v) equity awards previously granted to Mr. Jennings under the 2017 Plan or similar plan shall thereupon become fully vested, including the Target RSUs granted. The termination provisions are intended to comply with Section 409A of the Code and the rules and regulations thereunder.

Under the terms of the Jennings Agreement, Mr. Jennings is subject to non-competition and non-solicitation covenants for a period of one year following termination of the employment. The Jennings Agreement also contains customary confidentiality and non-disparagement covenants. The non-disparagement covenant applies during the term of the agreement and at all times thereafter, and the confidentiality covenant applies during the term of the agreement and for the two-year period following termination of the employment.

Sohn Agreement

On September 13, 2021, the Compensation Committee approved and we entered into a new employment agreement with Mr. Sohn (the “Sohn Agreement”). In connection with the Sohn Agreement, Mr. Sohn will continue to serve as our Chief Executive Officer through December 31, 2023.

Pursuant to the Sohn Agreement, Mr. Sohn will be paid an annual base salary of $200,000 and is entitled to earn: (i) a bonus of up to 150% of the annual base salary, subject to achievement of profitability and revenue criteria as well as individual metrics, as determined by the Compensation Committee; (ii) performance-based equity awards of up to 700,000 restricted stock units (“Target RSUs”), a percentage which to be granted are subject to attainment of certain performance criteria tied to the volume weighted average price of the our stock, and those Target RSUs that are awarded will vest, if at all, over a period of twenty-four (24) months commencing on the date on which the applicable Target RSUs are granted, in equal monthly increments, provided that Mr. Sohn remains employed by us on the vesting dates; and (iii) one-time long-term equity award of 100,000 stock options pursuant to our 2017 Plan, which stock options shall vest over twenty-four (24) months in equal monthly increments and have a strike price equal to the ten (10) trading day volume weighted average price prior to the date on which the stock options are granted.

In the event of termination of Mr. Sohn’s employment by us other than for “cause” or for “good reason,” Mr. Sohn is entitled to receive the following benefits and rights: (i) accrued but unpaid base salary for services rendered to the date of termination; (ii) accrued but unpaid expenses required to be reimbursed under the Sohn Agreement; (iii) severance payment equal to twelve (12) months of base salary, plus an amount equal to the prior calendar year’s declared bonus amount; (iv) eligibility of up to one year from the date of termination to exercise all such previously granted options, provided that in no event shall any option be exercisable beyond its term; and (v) equity awards previously granted to Mr. Sohn under the 2017 Plan or similar plan shall thereupon become fully vested, including the Target RSUs granted. The termination provisions are intended to comply with Section 409A of the Code and the rules and regulations thereunder.

Under the terms of the Sohn Agreement, Mr. Sohn is subject to non-competition and non-solicitation covenants for a period of one year following termination of the employment. The Sohn Agreement also contains customary confidentiality and non-disparagement covenants. The non-disparagement covenant applies during the term of the agreement and at all times thereafter, and the confidentiality covenant applies during the term of the agreement and for the two-year period following termination of the employment.

Smith Agreement

On March 25, 2021, the Compensation Committee approved, and we entered into a new employment agreement with Mr. Smith (the “Smith Agreement”). In connection with the Smith Agreement, Mr. Smith was hired as a Vice President and was promoted to Chief Technology Officer in November 2021.  Mr. Smith served as Chief Technology Officer until his resignation on December 5, 2022.

Once promoted to Chief Technology Officer, Mr. Smith received a salary of $200,000 in 2022. Mr. Smith was eligible for a bonus of 5% of the gross profits generated by Recruiter AI software revenue less any compensation paid to him.

McBride Agreement

On March 25, 2021, the Compensation Committee approved, and we entered into a new employment agreement with Mr. McBride (the “McBride Agreement”). In connection with the McBride Agreement, Mr. McBride was hired as a Senior Vice President and was promoted to Chief Revenue Office in January 2023. Mr. McBride left the Company in March 2023.

Mr. McBride received a salary of $200,000 in 2022. Mr. McBride was eligible for a bonus of 5% of the gross profits generated by Recruiter AI software revenue less any compensation paid to him.

Executive Incentive Program

Performance Cash Inventive Compensation

We have an annual executive cash incentive program.

For fiscal 2022, each of our named executive officers was eligible to receive an award under the annual executive cash incentive program as follows per the terms of their respective employment agreements: (i) up to 150% of annual base salary for Mr. Sohn, (ii) up to 75% of annual base salary for Mr. Jennings, and (iii) up to $50,000 for Mr. Smith. The actual amounts earned were based on achievement of certain profitability, revenue and individual goals for each of Messrs. Sohn and Jennings, Mr. Sohn received $90,000 and Mr. Jennings $45,000.

For fiscal 2021, each of our named executive officers was eligible to receive an award under the annual executive cash incentive program as follows per the terms of their respective employment agreements: (i) up to 150% of annual base salary for Mr. Sohn, (ii) up to 75% of annual base salary for Mr. Jennings, and (iii) up to $50,000 for Ms. Krandel. The actual amounts earned were based on achievement of certain profitability, revenue and individual goals for each of Messrs. Sohn and Jennings, and the achievement of certain financial and performance criteria by Ms. Krandel. Ms. Krandel received $25,000 as her contract began mid-year and her bonus was prorated. Mr. Sohn met individual goals related to completion of an uplisting of our common stock to the Nasdaq Capital Market, resulting in a payment of $100,000.

Equity Awards

The Compensation Committee has the authority to grant discretionary equity awards to our executive officers, including our non-statutory stock options, under the 2017 Plan and our 2021 Equity Incentive Plan (“the 2021 Plan”).

On August 31, 2021, the Compensation Committee approved a grant of stock options to Ms. Krandel to purchase 100,000 shares of our Common Stock, upon signing a new employment agreement. The agreement was signed and the options were granted on September 6, 2022, at an exercise price of $4.65 per share. The options vested fully at the grant date. The stock options were granted under the 2021 Plan.

On August 30, 2022, the Compensation Committee approved a grant of stock options to Ms. Krandel to purchase 75,000 shares of our Common Stock, upon signing a new employment agreement. The agreement was signed and the options were granted on August 30, 2022, at an exercise price of $1.31 per share. The options vest over two years from the grant date. The stock options were granted under the 2021 Plan.

On September 13, 2021, the Compensation Committee approved a grant of stock options to Mr. Sohn to purchase 100,000 shares of our Common Stock, at an exercise price of $4.59 upon signing a new employment agreement. The options vest quarterly over a 2 year period, subject to serving as our Chief Executive Officer on each applicable vesting date. The stock options were granted under our 2021 Plan.

On August 30, 2022, the Compensation Committee approved a grant of stock options to Mr. Sohn to purchase 250,000 shares of our Common Stock, at an exercise price of $1.31. The options vest quarterly over a 2 year period with a one year cliff, subject to serving as our Chief Executive Officer on each applicable vesting date. The stock options were granted under our 2021 Plan.

On August 31, 2021, the Compensation Committee approved a grant of options to Mr. Jennings to purchase 100,000 shares of our Common Stock, upon signing a new employment agreement. The agreement was signed and the options were granted on September 13, 2022 at an exercise price of $4.59. The options vest quarterly over a 2 year period with a one year cliff, subject to serving as our President and Chief Operating Officer on each applicable vesting date. The stock options were granted under the 2021 Plan.

On August 30, 2022, the Compensation Committee approved a grant of stock options to Mr. Jennings to purchase 125,000 shares of our Common Stock, at an exercise price of $1.31. The options vest quarterly over a 2 year period, subject to serving as our President and Chief Operating Officer on each applicable vesting date. The stock options were granted under the 2021 Plan.

On April 7, 2022, the Compensation Committee approved a grant of stock options to Mr. Smith to purchase 25,000 shares of our Common Stock, at an exercise price of $2.03. The options vest quarterly over a 4 year period, subject to serving as our Chief Technology Officer on each applicable vesting date. The stock options were granted under the 2021 Plan.

On August 30, 2022, the Compensation Committee approved a grant of stock options to Mr. Smith to purchase 50,000 shares of our Common Stock, at an exercise price of $1.31. The options vest quarterly over a 2 year period, subject to serving as our Chief Technology Officer on each applicable vesting date. The stock options were granted under the 2021 Plan.

Outstanding Equity Awards at December 31, 2022

The following table sets forth certain information regarding unexercised options, shares that have not vested, and equity incentive plan awards for each Named Executive Officer as of December 31, 2022:

Outstanding Equity Awards At Fiscal Year-End

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Compensation of Non-Employee Directors

We do not compensate employees for serving as members of our Board. Our non-employee directors receive compensation for their service as directors and members of committees of the Board, consisting of cash and equity awards. In January 2021, our Compensation Committee approved an annual retainer to be paid to each non-employee director in the amount of $20,000 in cash. In January 2022, the Board also approved an incremental stipend of $5,000 to all committee chairpersons, $3,500 for all non-chairperson members of the audit committee, and $2,500 for all non-chairperson members of the nominating and compensation committees. With respect to our non-employee directors, the Board approved one-year stock options to purchase 15,000 shares of our Common Stock at an exercise price of $2.40 for the year 2021. The options shall vest in equal quarterly amounts beginning on the effective date and ending on the first anniversary of the effective date of the grant. These options were granted on January 19, 2022. In addition, directors are reimbursed for reasonable expenses incurred in attending meetings and carrying out duties as board and committee members. Under the 2017 and 2021 Plans, our non-employee directors receive grants of stock options as compensation for their services on the Board.

Additionally, on August 30, 2022, the Board approved stock options to purchase 45,000 shares of our Common Stock at an exercise price of $1.31 to non-employee directors. The options vested immediately on the effective date of the grant.

For the year ended 2022, our non-employee directors were compensated as follows in the table below:

ITEM 12. SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT AND RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS 

Except as specifically noted, the following table sets forth information with respect to the beneficial ownership of our Common Stock as of March 22, 2023.

The calculations in the table below are based on 17,210,085 common shares issued and outstanding as of March 22, 2023.

Beneficial ownership is determined in accordance with the rules and regulations of the SEC. In computing the number of shares beneficially owned by a person and the percentage ownership of that person, we have included shares that the person has the right to acquire within 60 days, including through the exercise of any option, warrant or other right or the conversion of any other security. These shares, however, are not included in the computation of the percentage ownership of any other person.

Unless otherwise indicated, the address for each beneficial owner listed in the table below is c/o Recruiter.com Group, Inc., 500 7^th Ave., New York, NY 10018.

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Securities Authorized for Issuance under Equity Compensation Plans

The following table sets forth information as of December 31, 2022 with respect to our compensation plans under which equity securities may be issued.

ITEM 13. CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS

The following includes a summary of transactions since January 1, 2020 to which we have been a party in which the amount involved exceeded or will exceed the lesser of $120,000 or one percent of the average of our total assets at year-end for the last two completed fiscal years, and in which any of our directors, executive officers or, to our knowledge, beneficial owners of more than 5% of our capital stock or any member of the immediate family of any of the foregoing persons had or will have a direct or indirect material interest, other than equity and other compensation, termination, change in control and other arrangements, which are described under “Executive and Director Compensation.”

Cicero Investment in the March 2019 Private Placement

In April 2019, Cicero Transact Group US, Inc. (“Cicero”), an entity controlled by Michael Woloshin, one of our principal stockholders purchased 13,750 units, with each unit consisting of one share of Series D preferred stock and a warrant to purchase seven shares of our Common Stock, subject to adjustment as provided for therein, in exchange for the delivery of common stock of a second company, with a market value of $240,000. Subsequently, we determined that, because we were unable to realize the full value of the common stock of the second company, part of the 13,750 units provided to Cicero, the percent of which could not be paid for, should be returned by Cicero. On January 6, 2021, Cicero returned 8,755 units.

Back Office, Rent, Accounting and EOR Services Arrangements with Icon

Icon Information Consultants, a company managed by our director, Mr. O’Rourke, performs all of the back office and accounting roles for Recruiting Solutions. Icon Information Consultants then charges a fee for the services along with charging for office space. Icon Information Consultants and Icon Industrial Solutions (collectively “Icon”) also provide “Employer of Record” (“EOR”) services to Recruiting Solutions which means that they process all payroll and payroll tax related duties of temporary and contract employees placed at customer sites and is then paid a reimbursement and fee from Recruiting Solutions. Icon Canada also acts as an EOR and collects the customer payments and remits the net fee back to Recruiting Solutions. Revenue related to customers processed by Icon Canada is recognized on a gross basis the same as other revenues and was and was $0 and $106,842 for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively. EOR costs related to customers processed by Icon Canada was $0 and $99,904 for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively. Currently, there is no intercompany agreement for those charges and they are calculated on a best estimate basis. As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, we owe Icon $0 and $163,672, respectively, in payables and Icon owes $0 and $49,033, respectively, to us. During the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, we charged to cost of revenue $0 and $498,848, respectively, related to services provided by Icon as our employer of record. During the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, we charged to operating expenses $0 and $132,253, respectively, related to management fees, rent and other administrative expense. During the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, we charged to interest expense $0 and $30,466, related to finance charges on accounts payable owed to Icon. In July 2021, we paid Icon $1,075,645 to satisfy all outstanding payables for all services including interest charges. In July 2021, we also ended all contractual relationships with Icon for back office and accounting services, as well as office space, and we now act as our own EOR for employees we place at our customers’ sites. As of December 31, 2021, Icon will no longer provide EOR services. In January 2022, we stopped receiving services from Icon and Icon Canada, and a payment of $118,534 was made by us to Icon to pay the remaining amount owed, net of the amount owed by Icon to us.

We also recorded placement revenue from Icon of $0 and $970 during the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively, of which $0 and $22,951, respectively, is included in accounts receivable at December 31, 2022 and 2021.

Recruiter.com Mauritius

We use a related party firm for software development and maintenance related to our website and the platform underlying our operations. The firm was formed outside of the United States solely for the purpose of performing services for the Company and has no other clients. Our Chief Web Officer is an employee of this firm and exerts control over the firm. We agreed to pay Recruiter.com Mauritius fees in the amount equal to the actualized documented costs incurred by Recruiter.com Mauritius in rendering the services. Payments to this firm were $36,181 and $162,102 for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively, and are included in product development expense in our consolidated statements of operations.

Genesys License Agreement

We are a party to that certain license agreement with Genesys. Tim O’Rourke, an executive officer of Genesys, is a significant equity holder and a member of our board of directors. Genesys has granted us an exclusive license to use certain candidate matching software and render certain related services to us. We agreed to pay to Genesys (now called Opptly) a monthly license fee of $5,000 beginning June 29, 2019 and an annual fee of $1,995 for each recruiter being licensed along with other fees that may be incurred. We also agreed to pay Genesys monthly sales subscription fees beginning September 5, 2019 when Genesys assists with closing a recruiting program. During the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 we charged to operating expenses $19,825 and $117,389, respectively, for services provided by Genesys. The license agreement expired on March 31, 2022 and was not renewed. As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, we owed Genesys $0 and $22,810, respectively, in payables.

Woloshin Consulting Agreement

We are a party to a consulting agreement with Michael Woloshin, a principal stockholder, entered into in January 2019 (the “Woloshin Consulting Agreement”). Pursuant to the Woloshin Consulting Agreement, Mr. Woloshin has agreed to act as our non-exclusive consultant with respect to introducing potential acquisition and partnership targets, and we have agreed to pay Mr. Woloshin a retainer of $10,000 per month as a non-recoverable draw against any finder fees earned. We also agreed to pay Mr. Woloshin the sum of $5,500 per month for three years ($198,000 total) as a finder’s fee for introducing Genesys. This payment is included in the $10,000 monthly retainer payment. We have recorded consulting fees expense of $0 and $13,500 during the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively. At December 31, 2020, $104,500 of the Genesys finder’s fee and $18,000 of monthly fee expense is included in accrued compensation. In July 2021 we completed payments for all accrued compensation and future payments owed under the consulting agreement. No further payments will be owed under this consulting agreement.

Director Independence

Our Board has reviewed the materiality of any relationship that each of our directors has with us, either directly or indirectly. Based on this review, our Board has affirmatively determined that each of Heath, Leff, Roth, Ruiz, and Pemberton, current members of our Board, meets the independence requirements under the Listing Rules of The Nasdaq Stock Market, LLC.

ITEM 14. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTANT FEES AND SERVICES

The following table provides detail about fees for professional services rendered to us by Salberg & Company, P.A., our independent registered public accounting firm engaged to provide accounting services for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021.

Audit Fees - This category includes the audit of our annual financial statements, review of financial statements included in our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and services that are normally provided by the independent registered public accounting firm in connection with engagements for those fiscal years. This category also includes advice on audit and accounting matters that arose during, or as a result of, the audit or the review of interim financial statements.

Audit-Related Fees - This category consists of assurance and related services by the independent registered public accounting firm that are reasonably related to the performance of the audit or review of our financial statements and are not reported above under “Audit Fees.” The services for the fees disclosed under this category include consultation regarding our correspondence with the Securities and Exchange Commission, review of registration statements and other accounting consulting.

Tax Fees - This category consists of professional services rendered for tax compliance and tax advice. The services for the fees disclosed under this category include tax return preparation and technical tax advice.

All Other Fees - This category consists of fees for other miscellaneous items.

Policy on Pre-Approval of Audit and Permissible Non-audit Services of Independent Auditors

Consistent with the SEC policies regarding auditor independence, our Board has responsibility for appointing, setting compensation and overseeing the work of the independent auditor. In recognition of this responsibility, our Board has established a policy to pre-approve all audit and permissible non-audit services provided by the independent auditor.

Prior to engagement of the independent auditor for the next year’s audit, management will submit an aggregate of services expected to be rendered during that year for each of the following four categories of services to the Board for approval.

PART IV

ITEM 15. EXHIBITS AND FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES 

EXHIBIT INDEX