DHI Group (DHX) Risk Factors

We continue to incorporate AI into our offerings when appropriate and beneficial. This AI may be developed by the Company or others. We expect these elements of our business to grow. We envision a future in which AI's incorporation into our products helps our customers be more productive in their work. As with many innovations, AI presents risks and challenges that could affect its adoption, and therefore our business. AI algorithms may be flawed. Datasets may be insufficient or contain biased information. Content generated by AI systems may be offensive, illegal, or otherwise harmful. Ineffective or inadequate AI development or deployment practices by the Company or others could result in incidents that impair the acceptance of AI solutions or cause harm to individuals or society. These deficiencies and other failures of AI systems could subject us to competitive harm, regulatory action, legal liability, and brand or reputational harm. Some AI scenarios present ethical issues or may have broad impacts on society. If we enable or offer AI solutions that have unintended consequences or are controversial because of their impact on human rights, privacy, employment, or other social, economic, or political issues, we may experience brand or reputational harm. For example, perceived or actual technical, legal, compliance, privacy, security, ethical or other issues relating to the use of AI may cause public confidence in AI to be undermined, which could slow our customers' adoption of our products and services that use AI. In addition, litigation or government regulation related to the use of AI may also adversely impact our and others' abilities to develop and offer products that use AI, as well as increase the cost and complexity of doing so. Developing, testing and deploying third-party AI systems may also increase the cost profile of our product offerings due to the nature of the computing costs involved in such systems, which could impact our project margin and adversely affect our business and operating results. Our business may be disrupted if any of the third-party AI services we use become unavailable due to extended outages or interruptions or because they are no longer available on commercially reasonable terms or prices. Further, market demand and acceptance of AI technologies are uncertain, and we may be unsuccessful in our product development efforts.

We derive almost all of our revenues from the purchase of recruitment products, packages, services and employment advertising offered on our Dice and ClearanceJobs websites. As a result, our operations depend on our ability to maintain and protect our website services, most of which are housed within AWS. System failures, including network, software or hardware failures, which cause interruption or an increase in response time of our services, could substantially decrease usage of our services and could reduce the attractiveness of our services to both our customers and professionals. An increase in the volume of queries conducted through our services could strain the capacity of the software or hardware we employ. This could lead to slower response times or system failures and prevent users from accessing our websites for extended periods of time, thereby decreasing usage and attractiveness of our services. Our technology operations are dependent in part on our ability to protect our operating systems against, among other events: - physical damage from acts of God;- terrorist attacks or other acts of war;- power loss;- telecommunications failures;- network, hardware or software failures;- physical and electronic break-ins;- cyber security attacks;- computer viruses or worms;- identity theft;- phishing attempts; and - similar events. Although we maintain insurance against fires, floods, cyber-attacks, and general business interruptions, the amount of coverage may not be adequate in any particular case. Furthermore, the occurrence of any of these events could result in interruptions, delays or cessations in service to users of our services, which could materially impair or prohibit our ability to provide our services and significantly impact our business. Additionally, overall Internet usage could decline if any well-publicized compromise of security occurs or if there is a perceived lack of security of personal and corporate information stored within our systems to facilitate hiring and recruitment business processes. "Hacking" involves efforts to gain unauthorized access to information or systems or to cause intentional malfunctions or loss or corruption of data, software, hardware or other computer equipment, and online job boards, in particular, have been targeted by hackers who seek to gain unauthorized access to job seeker and customer data for purposes of implementing "phishing" or other schemes. Despite our implementation of numerous security measures; including access controls, network security, information security risk management processes, software development security, cryptography, operational security, business continuity and disaster recovery, and physical security, our websites, servers, databases and other systems as well as those of our customers may be vulnerable to computer hackers, physical or electronic break-ins, sabotage, computer viruses, worms, phishing attacks and similar disruptions from unauthorized tampering with our computer systems. Our systems, like the systems of many other websites, have been targeted in the past in cyber-attacks and hacks and will continue to be subject to such attacks. While such targets and hacks have not had material impacts on our results of operations and financial condition in the past, we cannot guarantee that similar attacks will not have such material impacts in the future. Because the techniques used to obtain unauthorized access, disable or degrade service, or sabotage systems change frequently, such techniques often are not recognized until launched against a target and may originate from less regulated and remote areas around the world, we may be unable to proactively address these techniques or to implement adequate preventative measures. We will continue to review and enhance our security measures in an attempt to prevent unauthorized and unlawful intrusions, although in the future it is possible we may not be able to prevent all intrusions, and such intrusions could result in our network security or computer systems being compromised and possibly result in the misappropriation or corruption of proprietary or personal information or cause disruptions in our services. We might be required to expend significant capital and resources to protect against, remediate or alleviate problems caused by such intrusions. We may also not have a timely remedy against a hacker who is able to penetrate our network security. Our networks could also be affected by viruses or malware or other similar disruptive problems, and we could inadvertently transmit these viruses or malware to our users or other third parties. Our hardware and back-up systems could fail causing our services to be interrupted. Our customers may fall prey to successful phishing attacks and inadvertently give unauthorized access to view our candidate profiles. Any of these occurrences, and negative publicity arising from any such occurrences, could harm our business or give rise to a cause of action against us. Our general business interruption insurance policies have limitations with respect to covering interruptions caused by computer viruses or hackers. While we have insurance we have not added specific insurance coverage to protect against these risks. Our activities and the activities of third party contractors involve the storage, use and transmission of proprietary and personal information, including personal information collected from professionals who use our websites. Accordingly, security breaches could expose us to a risk of loss or litigation and possibly liabilities. We cannot assure that contractual provisions attempting to limit our liability in these areas will be successful or enforceable, or that other parties will accept such contractual provisions as part of our agreements. Any security breaches or our inability to provide users with continuous access to our networks could materially impact our ability to provide our services as well as materially impact the confidence of our customers in our services, either of which could have a material adverse effect on our business. The SEC has adopted new rules that require us to provide greater disclosures around cybersecurity risk management, strategy and governance, as well as disclose the occurrence of material cybersecurity incidents. We cannot predict or estimate the amount of additional costs we will incur in order to comply with these rules or the timing of such costs. These rules and regulations may also require us to report a cybersecurity incident before we have been able to fully assess its impact or remediate the underlying issue. Efforts to comply with such reporting requirements could divert management's attention from our incident response and could potentially reveal system vulnerabilities to threat actors. Failure to timely report incidents under these or other similar rules could also result in monetary fines, sanctions, or subject us to other forms of liability. This regulatory environment is increasingly challenging and may present material obligations and risks to our business, including significantly expanded compliance burdens, costs and enforcement risks.

The market for career services is highly competitive and barriers to entry in the market are relatively low. There are multiple generalist job boards, as well as a number of existing and emerging alternative business models seeking to compete in our target markets. We do not own any patented technology that would expressly preclude or inhibit competitors from entering the recruiting and career development services market. We compete with other companies that direct all or portions of their websites toward certain segments or sub-segments of the industries we serve. We compete with generalist job boards, some of which have substantially greater resources and brand recognition than we do, such as CareerBuilder, Monster.com, Indeed, ZipRecruiter, and Seek, which, unlike specialist job boards, permit customers to enter into a single contract to find professionals across multiple occupational categories and attempt to fill all of their hiring needs through a single website, as well as job boards focused specifically on the industries we service, such as Stack Overflow and Upwork. We also may compete with newspaper and magazine publishers, as well as national and regional advertising agencies, executive search firms and search and selection firms that carry classified advertising, many of whom have developed, begun developing or acquired new media capabilities, such as recruitment websites, or have recently partnered with generalist job boards. We also compete with general business sites and print publications, as well as technology news and information community sites, such as Google News, Digg.com and Reddit.com. In addition, we face competition from aggregators of classified advertising, including TalentBin, Entelo, JobDiva, Daxtra, CEIPAL, and Google. Social and professional networking sites, such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Google compete with us in providing professional services. We also compete with new competitors, including career-focused community sites such as Glassdoor and talent relationship management software providers such as Avature and Symphony Talent, and emerging competitors with new business models and products that customers are more willing to trial during periods when talent is scarce. Some of our competitors have longer operating histories, larger client bases, longer relationships with clients, greater brand or name recognition, or significantly greater financial, technical, marketing and public relations resources than we do. As a result, they may be in a position to respond more quickly to new or emerging technologies and changes in customer requirements, and to develop and promote their products and services more effectively than we can. We may not be able to adapt to such technological changes or offer new products on a timely or cost-effective basis or establish or maintain competitive positions. If we are unable to develop and introduce new products and services, or enhancements to existing products and services, in a timely and successful manner, our business, results of operations, financial condition and liquidity could be materially and adversely affected, and the market price of our common stock would likely fall.

Our reliance upon user-generated content requires that we develop and maintain tools and services designed to facilitate creation of user-generated content, participation in discussion surrounding such user-generated content, evaluation of user-generated content, and distribution of user-generated content. If our development efforts fail to facilitate such activities on our web properties, the level of user engagement and interaction will not increase and may decline. Even if we succeed in facilitating such activities on our sites, there can be no assurance that such improvements will be deployed in a timely or cost-effective manner. If we fail to increase user engagement and interaction on our web properties, we will not attract and retain a loyal user base or the advertisers who desire to reach them, which will adversely affect our business and our ability to maintain or grow our revenue.

We believe that establishing and maintaining the identity of our brands, Dice and ClearanceJobs, is critical in attracting and maintaining the number of professionals and customers using our services, and that the importance of brand recognition will increase due to the growing number of services similar to ours and relatively low barriers to entry. Promotion and enhancement of our brands will depend largely on our success in continuing to provide high quality recruiting and career development services. If users do not perceive our existing career and recruiting services to be of high quality, or if we introduce new services or enter into new ventures that are not favorably received by users, the uniqueness of our brands could be diminished and accordingly the attractiveness of our websites to professionals and customers could be reduced. We may also find it necessary to increase substantially our financial commitment to creating and maintaining a distinct brand loyalty among users. If we cannot provide high quality career services, fail to protect, promote and maintain our brands or incur excessive expenses in an attempt to improve our career services or promote or maintain our brands, our business, results of operations, financial condition and liquidity could be materially adversely affected.

Our business depends on our ability to collect, store, use, and disclose personal and professional data from the professionals who use our websites. Our policies concerning the collection, use and disclosure of personally identifiable information are described on our websites. In recent years, class action lawsuits have been filed and the Federal Trade Commission and state agencies have commenced investigations with respect to the collection, use, sale and storage by various Internet companies of users' personal and professional information. While we believe we are in compliance with current law, we cannot ensure that we will not be subject to lawsuits or investigations for violations of law. Moreover, our current practices regarding the collection, storage and use of user information may not be in compliance with currently pending legislative and regulatory proposals by the United States federal government and various state governments intended to limit the collection and use of user information. While we have implemented and intend to implement additional programs designed to enhance the protection of the privacy of our users, these programs may not conform to all or any of these laws or regulations and we may consequently incur civil or criminal liability for failing to conform. As a result, we may be forced to change our current practices relating to the collection, storage and use of user information. Our failure or our perceived failure to comply with laws and regulations could also lead to adverse publicity and a loss of consumer confidence if it were known or perceived that we did not take adequate measures to assure the confidentiality of the personally identifiable information that our users had given to us. This could result in a loss of customers and revenue and materially adversely impact the success of our business. Concern among prospective customers and professionals regarding our use of personal information collected on our websites, such as credit card numbers, email addresses, phone numbers and other personal information, could keep prospective customers from using our career services websites. Internet-wide incidents or incidents with respect to our websites or databases, including misappropriation of our users' personal information, penetration of our network security, or changes in industry standards, regulations or laws could result in regulatory penalties, liability to the persons whose information was compromised, as well as legal expenses, and could deter people from using the Internet or our websites to conduct transactions that involve confidential information, which could have a material adverse impact on our business. We generally comply with industry standards and are subject to the terms of our privacy policies and privacy-related obligations to third parties (including voluntary third-party certification bodies such as TrustArc). We strive to comply with all applicable laws, policies, legal obligations and industry codes of conduct relating to privacy and data protection, to the extent possible. However, it is possible that these obligations may be interpreted and applied in new ways and/or in a manner that is inconsistent from one jurisdiction to another and may conflict with other rules or our practices or that new regulations could be enacted. We continue to see increased regulation of data privacy and security, including the adoption of more stringent subject matter specific state laws and national laws regulating the collection and use of data, as well as security and data breach obligations. For example, California adopted the CCPA, which became effective on January 1, 2020 and was recently replaced and expanded upon by the CPRA, which was enacted on November 3, 2020 and went into effect on January 1, 2023. The CCPA established a new privacy framework for covered businesses by, among other things, creating an expanded definition of personal information, establishing new data privacy rights for consumers in the State of California and creating a new and potentially severe statutory damages framework for violations of the CCPA and for businesses that fail to implement reasonable security procedures and practices to prevent data breaches. The CPRA expanded on these protections by introducing new limitations on the sale or sharing of consumers' personal information and the creation of a new state agency to enforce the regulations. In addition, numerous state legislatures have passed, or are contemplating passing, legislation similar in nature to the CPRA. To the extent these laws differ from existing laws, our compliance efforts will be further complicated. The uncertainty and changes in the requirements of multiple jurisdictions may increase the cost of compliance, reduce demand for our websites, restrict our ability to offer services in certain locations or subject us to sanctions by state or national data protection regulators, all of which could harm our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Failure to provide adequate privacy protections and maintain compliance with the new data privacy laws, including the CPRA, could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

Our Dice and ClearanceJobs website applications utilize cloud computing technology. It is hosted pursuant to service agreements on technology platforms by third-party service providers, primarily through AWS. We do not control the operation of these providers or their facilities, and the facilities are vulnerable to damage, interruption or misconduct. Unanticipated problems at these facilities could result in lengthy interruptions in our services. If the services of one or more of these providers are terminated, disrupted, interrupted or suspended for any reason, we could experience disruption in our ability to provide our services, which may harm our business and reputation. Further, any damage to, or failure of, the cloud services we use could result in interruptions in our services. Interruptions in our service may damage our reputation, reduce our revenue, cause us to issue credits or pay penalties, cause customers to terminate their agreements and adversely affect our renewal rates and our ability to attract new customers. While we believe our application and network architecture and use of multiple availability zones and regions within AWS reduce our risk, our business would be harmed if our customers and potential customers believe our services are unreliable.