Details on the CareerBuilder layoffs.
Posted on December 15, 2008
Filed Under Job Boards | Leave a Comment
The editors over at Inquitr.com, have a lot more details on the CareerBuilder ownership between Tribune and the other newspapers. They have some interesting thoughts on how Gannett’s recent payroll cuts might be at play as well.
What’s interesting is this, maybe Gannett and Tribune already discussed their ownership needs, (ie possibly cash), and they have already starting sucking the cash out of CareerBuilder. The rapid, and all of sudden, “boxes coming up the elevator”) speed of the layoff, makes me think it was definitely scripted to happen at the same time Tribune filed Chapter 11.
This action, on behalf of Tribune says to the ownership, debtors, and judges… “This is a solid cash business, we want to continue owning it, and not sell it, but we need to “restructure”. And with the restructuring plan we have already started implementing, we think we can take a little extra “profit” out of it, to help pay some of the other bills.
Is CareerBuilder for sale? Microsoft to buy?
Posted on December 12, 2008
Filed Under Job Boards | 4 Comments
Tribune Co just filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, which is a legal proceeding to reorganize their organization to pay off debtors.
Most in the Internet Recruiting Market would agree that CareerBuilder has become THE leader in providing employers with job seeker candidates.
What’s really going on?
9/25 -Sales VP giving low performers notice.
10/10 - CareerBuilder CEO states headcount will drop.
12/4 - Mass Layoffs at CareerBuilder headquarters.
12/9 - Tribune Co. announces bankruptcy.
CareerBuilder ownership, as reported in May 2007, looks something like this:
Gannett 40.8%
Microsoft 4%
Tribune 40.8%
McClatchy Co. 14.4%
From my experience, here is one way it could play out.
In a chapter 11 bankruptcy, the management, creditors, and judge have to come together to figure out how to pay the bills.
Option 1- Tribune sells to Microsoft
From the management and ownership side, this is probably not a good option, but it might be one of the only options, depending on how bad the situation at Tribune Co is. CareerBuilder is one of the business units that is probably generating cash and its equity continues to grow. So selling now might now sound all that attractive. However, we are facing a massive hiring slowdown, which in turn is going to kill Q4, Q1, and probably Q2 and Q3 revenues. So is CareerBuilder at its valuation Peak?
A sale would be enticing, IF they could get a solid valuation Bankruptcy bad for Tribune Employees cash, which might come from Microsoft increasing their stake, or other major suitors coming in. There probably aren’t many others with cash on hand to invest, so I’m favoring a Microsoft deal.
Option 2 - Tribune, and other owners, start pulling cash from CareerBuilder.
This, of course would cause some serious long-term affects to the brand, because their market share would drop, which would devalue the property even further. Not only would this be bad for CareerBuilder, but it could become a real ugly mess internally. Because of the slowing economy slowdown, this too might be a really ugly choice, as cash is going to be drying up anyways.
What are other options?
What do you think CareerBuilder will look like in 24-36 months?
Will companies start focusing on their own Career Sites?
Will HR Search Engine Optimization take off?
Will employers start engaging their potential job seekers with social networking and marketing, and owning their own brands online?If CareerBuilder does tank, this would probably be a major shot in the arm for Pay-Per-Click Recruiting? The clear winners will be the aggregators, like Indeed, SimplyHired, JuJu.com, TopUSAJobs, GO Jobs (our aggregator business), and others.
What are your thoughts? Comment below!!!
Why doesn’t Google take over the aggregators?
Posted on November 11, 2008
Filed Under Career Site SEO, HR SEO | 2 Comments
In a recent post from, the Talent Buzz, Kris Rzepkowski, commented on why Google doesn’t just take over the aggregators.
In my opinion, there are a couple of big reasons Google isn’t in the game, and might not be any time soon:
1. There isn’t enough money in our sector to worry about it. Yes, there is money, but it might not be that high of a priority in the over all Search Marketing Industry. Read more
Wondering how long, “the long tail” of HR SEO keywords?
Posted on November 7, 2008
Filed Under Career Site SEO, HR SEO | Leave a Comment
Here is a really interesting take on the “Long Tail of Keyword Searches” as written by Dustin Woodard, using Hitwise.
I wonder how long the “long tail” is for HR SEO Job Search keywords?
From our experience, the tail is pretty long, but the mass quantity of “job and career” related searches is still focused on the shorter-tail phrases, with the sweet spot slowing after any 4 word phrases.
Creating Goals for your HR SEO campaign
Posted on November 7, 2008
Filed Under Career Site SEO, HR SEO | 30 Comments
We just came back from the ERE Fall Show in Florida.
There are more and more companies marketing Search Engine Optimization (SEO) services in the HR marketplace. While competition in any market is good. It is equally important, as a buyer, to know what you are buying.
Being successful with an HRSEO campaign takes designing a strategic plan, and implementing that plan with a partner who has proven SEO experience.
Scraping jobs from your ATS and putting those jobs on a micro site IS NOT Search Engine Optimization.
Building your Brand and driving candidates to your career site takes Researching keywords, and marketing the career site.
We wrote an article to help you get under way with creating goals for your HR SEO campaign. You can read the HRSEO Goal Setting article here.
Good luck with your campaign.
SEO4Jobs CEO Interview
Posted on November 3, 2008
Filed Under Career Site SEO, HR SEO, Interviews, Press Releases | 1 Comment
Jon was interviewed at the ERE show by Chris- AKA “RecruiterGuy” - regarding HR SEO. Check out the video, live from the conference…
Heading to ERE in Ft. Lauderdale
Posted on October 26, 2008
Filed Under Career Site SEO, Press Releases | Leave a Comment
Hi again, everyone, just dropping a quick line to say that tomorrow we’re heading down to the ERE conference in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. We’re looking forward to speaking to the guys that know our business in and out and getting the word out about SEO4Jobs, as well.
here’s lots of imitators trying to jump on the HR SEO bandwagon, but we think they always stop at least one step short. Stop by booth 421- we’re by the food- and ask Jon or Fran why!
Staffing Management Conference - the talk about SEO
Posted on April 15, 2008
Filed Under Career Site SEO, HR SEO, Press Releases | Comments Off
SEO4Jobs is getting a lot traction at the SHRM Staffing Management Conference, here in Nashville, TN.
Lots of speakers, including Brent Reichow, from TMP, Matthew V. Adam, of NAS Recruitment, and Gerry Crispin, of CareerXroads are evangelizing the importance of Corporate Career websites in the recruiting process. There have been lots of mentions of Career Site Optimization, and of course, SEO4Jobs.com, and driving job seekers your the sites from Google, MSN, and Yahoo.
The buzz is starting, and lots of companies are realizing that SEO isn’t just for the marketing departments anymore.
Heading to Nashville
Posted on April 8, 2008
Filed Under Career Site SEO, Press Releases | Comments Off
We’ll be at the SHRM conference in Nashville next week; April 14th and 15th, displaying our service. Keep an eye out for Fran (Account Manager) and Jon (Account Executive) in booth 123! Stop by to sign up for a free SEO analysis and to hear more about our product in detail.
Hope to see you all there!
SEO Evangelist Talks about SEO4Jobs
Posted on April 8, 2008
Filed Under Career Site SEO, Interviews, Press Releases | Comments Off
We got a really nice mention on cheezhead.com. Joel Cheesman has his finger on the pulse of the SEO industry and knows the ins and outs like the back of his hand, so it’s gratifying to hear him praise our concept. He also discusses why we might be a better fit than some of our competitors, and there is also a video interview of our CEO that was recorded at ERE!
Thanks Joel!
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