Microsoft buys stake in CareerBuilder
On Wednesday, May 9, Microsoft, the software giant, announced the acquisition of a 4% equity stake in CareerBuilder’. The purchase price was not disclosed. CareerBuilder is one of the three leading U.S. general job sites, competing for first place with Monster and Yahoo’s Hotjobs. In March 2007, CareerBuilder had record Web site traffic of 15.4 million unique visitors. The site belongs to U.S. newspaper groups Gannett Co., Tribune Company and The McClatchy Company.
The ties between CareerBuilder and Microsoft are not new. Since 2004, CareerBuilder has been the exclusive job board of MSN.com, the Microsoft portal. This agreement has just been renewed until 2013 for 433 million dollars. It remains to be seen if this ownership stake is, for Microsoft, a mutually beneficial arrangement . . . or the beginning of something much bigger.
Job discrimination still going strong
On Thursday, May 10, the International Labour Organization (ILO) published a new report on labour conditions throughout the world. More subtle forms of job discrimination for handicapped people, homosexuals or people with HIV were reported. Despite some progress, gender, skin colour and religion continue to determine the way in which people are treated on the job market. Women continue to be the object of discrimination. Throughout the world, they are still paid less than men for work of equivalent value. The report noted that women earned at least 30% less than men in manufacturing jobs in Asia. The gap is just as big in Europe. They are paid, in these same jobs, less than 80% of what men earn in a dozen countries, including Germany, Austria, Great Britain, Ireland and Switzerland.
Great success for Canadian Armed Forces recruiting campaign
The latest communications campaign for the Canadian Armed Forces, created by Publicis Montréal, led to a jump in the number of applications between January and March 2007. The total number of enrolments reached 11,600, for an increase of 46% over the same period in 2006. The campaign included two 90-second messages shown on TV and in movie theatres. They featured military intervention scenes, such as simulated rescues and hostage liberations. The new tag line urged potential recruits to "Fight fear. Fight Distress. Fight Chaos.” with a focus on the humanitarian role played by Canadian soldiers. The ads benefited from extensive play on English and French networks, as well as during prime spots such as hockey games, the Super Bowl, the Simpsons and Lost. The ad placements cost $4 million.
Source: Infopresse
Taleo creates an SMB unit
Taleo, the leading talent management software provider founded in Quebec, has just created a new Small and Medium Business (SMB) Business Unit. The unit will have a business and technical complement in each of Taleo’s local subsidiaries (France, U.K., Netherlands, Australia, Singapore and Canada). This initiative will allow the company to significantly increase its presence in the rapidly growing SMB e-recruiting and talent management market. The new unit will be headed by Jason Blessing, who will be in charge of strategy, sales, marketing, product development and services. Mr. Blessing has extensive experience in the field; before joining Taleo, he was a vice president in the small and medium business unit at Oracle Consulting. He also has a deep technical background through more than a decade of experience in consulting at both PeopleSoft and Price Waterhouse. Taleo’s flagship solution for SMBs, Taleo Business Edition, is currently used by more than 700 companies in 30 countries.
Unemployment rate dips to historically low levels in New Brunswick
In April, 362,500 New Brunswickers were on the job and the unemployment rate in the province was 7.3%. These results, from Statistics Canada’s monthly labour force survey, are historic. It’s the first time since the beginning of the surveys in 1976 that the unemployment rate has been so low. In one year, unemployment decreased almost 1.7%. Job growth was mostly in the public service, forest industries, fishing, mining, oil and gas, and manufacturing sectors. The government attributes these excellent results to the success of the Charter for Change, which aims to increase the labour force by growing the population and providing employees with the training they need to succeed.
Niche sites attract job hunters
Niche sites are riding high. An article published in CareerJournal.com, the Wall Street Journal executive career site, lists all the benefits of this type of site. Recruiters especially appreciate the quality of applications received: much fewer than on general job boards, they are more targeted. Sites specializing in a geographic area enable contacts with local professionals, thereby avoiding the fees of recruiting candidates at the other end of the country. Finally, the article highlights the high growth in the traffic on such sites—often higher than on general boards. Candidates, for their part, say they find it easier to surf niche sites at work. Since they contain specialized information on their sector, candidates do not fear getting caught browsing them.