"The idea of Japan and China is not a matter of if but when we get into those markets. In Japan we'll be first, and I would guess that we'll be there by mid-year of (2005)," he told Reuters on the sidelines of a news conference in Helsinki.

The size of the Japanese online recruitment market was "fairly good" in relation to the size of the population, Taylor said.

"There are a lot of small start-ups and there's a general buzz in Japan about job search in general ... People are actually changing jobs and looking for jobs and the market is pretty exciting right now," he said.

Taylor said Monster led the U.S. online recruiting market with a roughly 50 percent stake and also topped the Indian market, but its presence elsewhere in Asia is limited.

The value of the Chinese market was still quite small, he said, declining to speculate when Monster would make its entrance.

"In dollars China's recruiting spend overall is really a rounding error compared to either Europe or the U.S. ... The timing, as far as contribution to revenues, is maybe less important than being entrepreneurial as we look at that market."

Taylor declined to say whether Monster Worldwide, which has been on a buying spree in the past few years, was currently in any acquisition talks, saying only that the company was working to expand its business in its 23 existing markets.

"As you look at the market, there are very few companies to buy of any significance left in the world right now. So it's less of a focal point maybe than it was over the last few years," Taylor said.