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Known colloquially as MOOF, Microsoft’s Mobile Out Of Office is literally going out on a limb to show companies that workers like the idea of telecommuting.

The company built a tree-house office in a park in London, and the software giant‘s message is that corporate decisions don‘t always need to be dictated within the confines of four walls and harsh fluorescent lighting.

In the United Kingdom, Microsoft research shows that nine out of 10 British workers desire an out-of-office setting — with 75% saying this flexibility is a huge factor in deciding whether to accept a new job opportunity.

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“Before ‘98/’99, you saw companies doing neat stuff and creating exciting environments with signing bonuses. It was pure recognition that companies needed to work hard to attract workers. Then the supply/demand dynamics changed and the ‘employee of choice’ term went away. All that stuff is coming back again, and I think hiring communities are smarter now because they went through it. It’s kind of a shame they took the Foosball table away, so maybe it’s time to bring that back, too!” — Tom Bodeep, senior vice president, TRC Staffing.

“I’ve been a recruiter for only one year, but I love the recruiting industry. It’s about meeting people, closing deals, and having a birds-eye view of the community and what is going on with local companies. I’m like the keeper of the knowledge.” — Meghan Lee, account manager, Profiles.

“Unless you’re in the Bullhorn world, you have no idea what a tearsheet is. Tearsheets are like a Hotbook of your candidates. You can search tearsheets by keyword and have A lists and B lists. It makes a difference, especially when people within our company are out on vacation. It’s a mentality of getting people to understand that. ” — Melissa Rosen, Director of Recruiting, Bartech Group.

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When reading the thoughts of my peers in the recruiting profession, I have to admit I become a little surprised at how many have really had a chance to hire people. While aside from a couple of assistants in recruiting groups I have managed, I actually have never hired anyone. Usually that has been the hiring manager’s job.

Recruiters play a vital role in the process that includes:

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Many people do not regard recruiting as a profession. HR generalists are prone to think that anyone can do recruiting. Managers expect unqualified people to act as interviewers and to give them advice on whom to hire. Even recruiters have mixed opinions, as many of them were not formally trained and were also HR generalists at some point.

Within many organizations, there is an uneasy relationship between human resources generalists, recruiters, and management. HR generalists often try to intermediate among everyone, sometimes creating confusion or generating animosity. Recruiters tend to work alone or to bypass the HR generalist, also creating bad feelings. Managers go to whichever one they have the best relationship with.

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RecruitingBlogs.com’s Jason Davis, the founder of Recruiting.com and prolific online recruiting blogger, is perhaps too good at what he does.

That’s one way to analyze why Jobster CEO Jason Goldberg is now threatening legal action to make Davis shut down his latest online invention, RecruitingBlogs.com.

When Davis left his post as executive editor of Recruiting.com in May, Goldberg called Davis a “shining light” in the recruiting industry and someone who “introduced recruiting to blogs and built a global community of blogging recruiters.”

In his absence, Goldberg appointed John Sumser to assume editorial control of Recruiting.com.

(Sumser has previously said Davis has a “gift for unearthing the value that stands right in front of you,” and is the “master” of the win-win offer.)

Davis, who had earlier developed RecruitingBlogs.com, quickly grew the site to include more than 200 online bloggers.

Now, lawyers representing Jobster have told Davis to shut down RecruitingBlogs.com immediately or Jobster will take legal action.

Of course, there’s Goldberg’s side. His legal counsel allegedly cites damage to his business and also that Davis is in violation of a non-compete agreement.

Goldberg was not immediately available for direct comment.

For now, Davis notes that Goldberg is willing to extend the deadline for seven days in order to prove how RecruitingBlogs.com is not a threat and how both websites could exist in virtual harmony.

Blog-Bashing to Blame

According to industry analyst Jim Durbin, it’s not easy to understand why Goldberg is pursuing such actions. While he admits Recruiting.com’s traffic has fallen since January, he alleges it is due to a new editorial direction at Recruiting.com, not because Jason Davis created an alleged “competing” site.

“John Sumser [now working on Recruiting.com] bashed some bloggers in the past, and certain bloggers have decided they didn’t want to play in that sandbox while Sumser is there. Our time is valuable, so why give it to someone who doesn’t think much of it?” says Durbin.

“They’ve [Jobster] failed to turn Recruiting.com into an asset, and they don’t want anyone else to be successful,” says Durbin. “Now, they are claiming Davis is to blame. They’re threatening to sue someone who has only done his best to build up the community, rather than taking a look at their own mistakes. They are clearly in the wrong. You don’t push people around when it’s your own fault.”

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There is something truly magical about that precise moment when a product is bought or sold. I suppose it’s because our species has relied upon this most fundamental form of capitalism for so long.

As humans became more efficient in drawing sustenance and were no longer engaged 100% in the act of survival, we learned to plant a little more rice or catch a few more fish. This abundance was then taken to the “marketplace” where people traded it for something they didn’t have but nonetheless needed. I’m no evolutionary biologist, but I’d be willing to bet the act of buying and selling activates some ancient and primitive part of the human brain.

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New York equity firm Centre Partners has bought the military recruiting and consulting firm Orion International Consulting Group.

The staffing firm that specializes in placing military veterans in jobs says this partnership will increase the scope of its operations, providing greater resources for military candidates seeking a civilian career.

Jeffrey Evans, who will become the new chairman of Orion International’s board, is the former president of staffing firm On-Staff.

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Just days after American Technology Research analyst Tim Boyd claimed that Monster appears to be losing U.S. market share to CareerBuilder, the Maynard, Massachusetts-based job board has unveiled a range of new flexible options for customers.

Boyd didn’t claim the job board will be acquired any time soon, but he thinks the company is still “an attractive M&A candidate long term.”

Boyd said Monster’s Internet Advertising & Fees segment, “once broadly viewed as a hyper-growth source of high-margin revenue, has significantly underperformed expectations over the last two quarters.”

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I recently overheard several people talking about an employment offer one of them had recently received. The candidate, who has received three promotions in three years with her current company, was so under-whelmed with the offer that she was insulted and happy to discuss her disgust with others.

The offer, from a well-known company, required the candidate to take a drop in title, relocate to a city with a significantly higher cost of living at her own expense, and all for a $1,500/year increase in salary. Having spent a month chatting on the phone and in person with the company, this candidate was frustrated. Unfortunately, this situation happens all the time.

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I’m in the process of preparing a product requirement document for a state-of-the-art career website, and I need your help. While cash is somewhat limited, creativity isn’t. The client has even suggested that the product spec by shared with every other company in the world as long as they help input some ideas into the design process.

As part of this joint development effort, I’ve created a public ning.com network called “Sourcing Strategy” to capture this information. If you want to participate, just join the network, provide some creative ideas, and watch the most advanced and innovative career website get created from scratch.

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Whether you refer to them as applicant tracking systems or talent acquisition systems, there is no denying that the industry for today’s recruiting technology solutions and services is rapidly changing. New recruiting software is introduced every month and the vendor community is consolidating. If you are involved in the selection process or your company is not content with its current talent acquisition system, you are undoubtedly left with many unanswered questions.

What should you be looking for in a talent acquisition system? What features will meet your unique hiring needs? Which vendors have the support and functionality that you need today? Which will be best suited to support you in the future? Presented by The Newman Group and Madeline Tarquinio (me) and sponsored by PeopleFilter, this session will help you better understand the major trends associated with talent acquisition systems.

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Thirty-three percent of female workers said their gender works against them when applying for a job, while 11% said it works in their favor.

Another 56% think their gender has no influence on whether they are hired.

Once on the job, 31% of female workers said they experience discrimination or unfair treatment at least once a week; 26% percent said once a month; and 34% said it happens occasionally.

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Kelly Services has helped place a Second Life resident in a real-life job, one of the first companies embarking on the brave new frontier of recruiting to do so.

Rev. Brenda Munroe had a calling for a new career opportunity after nearly four years as the rector of a small, rural parish in Florida. So, she decided to venture on to Kelly Services Island, the staffing company’s virtual community within Second Life.

Her avatar, known as “Hildeguard Psaltery” in Second Life, bumped into “Hooligan Dollinger,” known in real life as Dave Fenech, the senior director of eBusiness Solutions at Kelly Services.

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For the sixth year, you have the opportunity to respond to a short survey on industry trends and issues. We have been doing this to help highlight what’s happening and also to illuminate some of the activities going on in our space.

Why are social networks so hot? What’s driving the frenzy around sourcing? Hopefully, this survey will help us answer some of these questions. Whatever the results, we can be sure that things are clearly changing once again in the world of recruiting.

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Cadbury Schweppes PLC has announced its plans to cut 7,500 jobs and close 11 (approximately 15%) of its candy factories by 2011. However, the company has not disclosed further details on where the cuts are likely to occur.

That is not exactly sweet news for the 50,000 Cadbury workers at 35 confectionery sites across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, and 59 other bottling and manufacturing sites worldwide.

Cadbury Schweppes is also selling its U.S. beverages unit. Cadbury Schweppes Americas Beverages, which makes Dr Pepper, 7-Up, and Snapple soft drinks, is based in Plano, Texas. After the sale, the company will be renamed Cadbury PLC.

Officials at the iconic British candy maker say they hope to keep growing the top line while improving margins.

The company’s chief executive officer, Todd Stitzer, said during a conference call that “there are certain countries where we know we can do better,” citing the United Kingdom, Russia, and China.

Serious Concern Globally

Unite, the union that represents 2,000 Cadbury Schweppes workers in Britain, said the job cuts are a serious concern.

“We have worked hard with Cadbury in recent years and cooperated in a change program which means the U.K. factories are extremely efficient. We are, therefore, concerned by today’s announcement, which we are convinced is driven by the threat of a takeover by private equity,” union official Brian Revell said in an e-mailed statement.

In the United Kingdom, Cadbury employs about 6,000 workers. It has a cocoa processing plant in north Wales, a milk processing plant in Herefordshire, two manufacturing sites in Bristol, a sugar manufacturing plant in Sheffield, a medicinal confectionery business in Devon, as well as the head office in London and commercial offices in Hertfordshire.

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Two recruiters called me last month to offer recruiting assistance on a particular project they heard my company was working on. This was a routine search in the $50,000 to $60,000 range that we had filled hundreds of times before. In this particular instance, however, we were caught in a backlog.

The recruiters were right about the period of time being longer than usual. Since both were esteemed individuals I’ve known and respected for well over 10 years, I decided to invest about a half hour with each to fully explain the search.

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First it was stealing office supplies, and now this.

Software firm Check Point Software Technologies claims that widespread access to technology has made it far too easy, and far too tempting, for employees to download competitive information.

Based on a survey of 200 IT professionals, the results indicate that almost half of workers would use their notice period to download useful information and data to take with them to their next job.

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When the Atlanta chapter of SHRM was looking for ways to provide a charitable community service, it says it decided to turn to the Mayor’s Youth Program.

This program matches high-school seniors in the Atlanta public school system and the children of city of Atlanta employees with internships at various area companies after graduation.

SHRM-Atlanta, the fourth-largest SHRM chapter in the United States with 2,000 members, says it was excited to pair its members with these students, helping them grain valuable work experience and insight into their chosen field of study.

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Let’s look at ways to expand your LinkedIn network, the online network of more than 11 million experienced professionals from around the world, representing 150 industries.

Before we go on, I want to credit Shally Steckerl for many of the ideas that I used to build my LinkedIn network. Check out Shally’s blog on Becoming a Promiscuous Linker on LinkedIn. Shally has done a huge amount of research and has documented what works.

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It won’t be a cruel, cruel summer, but Manpower predicts a cool summer, at least when it comes to hiring in the United States.

Manpower’s quarterly survey of 14,000 U.S. employers suggests that 29% expect to hire during the third quarter, 7% plan layoffs, 58% see no workforce changes, and 6% are unsure.

“Employers are holding steady with their employment projections for the third quarter and taking a wait-and-see approach as they begin to look toward year-end,” Manpower CEO Jeffrey Joerres said in a statement.

These survey results come on the tail of a recent Spherion poll, showing that the majority of U.S. workers remain confident in their personal job situations.

The survey shows 59% of workers are confident in their ability to find a new job and 65% are confident about their employers’ future prospects.

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