Who can resist a going-out-of-business sale? Apparently not Joe Sharron, director of recruiting for Équipe Communications Corp.

On hearing Wednesday that terabit routing vendor IronBridge Networks Inc. was closing its doors, Sharron grabbed the Équipe banner hanging over his desk, made a makeshift flag pole, attached it to his car, and drove directly to the IronBridge parking lot.

“It’s interesting,” he says. “As we pulled up in the parking lot, people were walking out with boxes. We offered to help them, and the next thing you know they invited us into the building. I think they were happy to see us, since it didn’t seem like [IronBridge] had made any sort of outplacement arrangements for people.”

IronBridge’s investors decided last weekend to pull the plug, and the firm notified employees on Monday afternoon that they would no longer have jobs (see IronBridge Has Fallen Down).

Sharron’s opportunism served him well, apparently. He claims to have met with about 90 employees -- and to have lined up 15 interviews for next week.

-- Marguerite Reardon, senior editor, Light Reading http://www.lightreading.com