Laurie Ruettimann will be feeding her cats better and paying her mortgage now that she’s sold her blog, PunkRockHR, to RecruitingBlogs.
The announcement that the North Carolina recruiting blogger and widely quoted speaker sold the site popular with job seekers, as well as HR professionals, was made this morning.
The financial terms were not disclosed. Some other details, however, did leak out. Jason Davis, CEO of RecruitingBlogs, reassured Ruettimann’s fans that she is obligated “to continue swearing. It was a major reason for all of this.”
“We’re not looking to change Punk Rock HR or move it away from what Laurie has built. It’s fantastic,” Davis said.
Ruettimann, in a video post on her site, said Davis bought the site name and its domain. She continues to post, but is also able to write for others and to continue speaking at conferences and HR events.
She told her fans that Davis, her “friend and my mentor and my adviser,” and she wrote the contract in a “really creative and clever way” to ensure that her unique point of view would continue uncompromised. Some fans expressed fear that now that it’s no longer independent, she’d be watering down her blog and her language.
As if to make the point, Ruettimann wrote about office Halloween parties advising, “I don’t care if you celebrate Halloween at work, but for the love of god, please do not ask your Human Resources team to plan the party.”
It’s admittedly pretty mild advice for Punk Rock HR. But catch the video and read the balloons, one of which says: “But I did get paid, bitches” as the ever- so-wholesome looking Ruettimann says she can’t disclose the amount.
Tepid Holiday Hiring
Elsewhere in the world of recruiting Ryla call center outsourcer says it’s gearing up for the holidays by hiring 1,500 temporary customer services reps at its Atlanta-area headquarters. Hiring is now underway and the jobs will last eight weeks.
The hiring bucks a national trend reported today by Challenger, Grey & Christmas. The outplacement firm says retailers will probably hire a few more workers than last year, but not many. And they’ll be especially choosy, since they can be, with more than 15 million Americans out of work.
Last season, 384,000 temporary and part-time workers were hired during the holiday season, which runs from now through the end of December. That was 47 percent the 721,000 hired in 2007.
“While we expect holiday hiring to improve over last year, the improvement may be slight,” said CEO John Challenger. “Retailers remain reluctant to eat into profits with higher payrolls costs and probably will be slow to add workers. With a deep and talented labor pool, retailers undoubtedly feel like they can afford to be selective.”