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!!!