Headway Corporate Resources has sold a division of its business in New York to Global Employment Solutions of Denver, Colo.

The division provided traditional temporary staffing services to clients in the New York market. Over the past several years, Headway hsa moved away from this type of service and toward comprehensive, long-term staffing services for its clients, including retailers like Hickory Farms.

The details of the transaction were not disclosed. The division that was sold employed 250 workers, who will become Global Employment Solutions employees. The transition is expected to be complete by Jan. 1.

This morning, Raleigh-based Headway Corporate Resources is introducing a new online feature that gives an overview of the retail staffing availability in the top 150 U.S. markets.

The talent inventory map, dubbed "Tim" for short, is available free at www.headwaycorp.com/tim. The site features an interactive map that offers the number of workers available for sales associate, assistant store manager, store manager and district manager positions within a given market. Headway plans to add additional job descriptions, such as those for distribution centers or call centers, within the next six months. Headway also plans to add information for other industries as well.

Retailers might use Tim to evaluate the potential labor pool in a market where they are considering opening a new store. Or, they could use such information to compare multiple markets.

Headway works with several retailers including Hickory Farms and Casual Male to place qualified candidates in retail jobs. It also works with staffing for companies in other sectors including engineering, energy, technology, financial services, institutional, government and nonprofit.

A Raleigh-based recruiting and hiring firm has lured one of the Triangle's veteran human resources and recruiting executives.

Headway Corporate Resources has hired Alvin Ragland to oversee its work for corporate customers in the energy and technology sectors.

Ragland most recently was vice president of human resources with Morrisville-based Tekelec. He also has held positions with Sony Ericsson, Northern Telecom and Carolina Power & Light.

He's also on the board of Raleigh-based Paragon Commercial Bank and chairman for the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina.

Headway moved its corporate headquarters to Raleigh from New York City in 2005.

Retailers are expected to scale back their traditional seasonal hiring this year, as consumer spending remains weak.

But one Raleigh staffing firm still plans to recruit more than 7,300 workers within the next month for customers such as Hickory Farms and Borders Group.

Headway Corporate Resources plans to hire seasonal sales associates, managers and other employees. Last year, Headway hired about 4,600 workers for Hickory Farms; Borders is a new customer.

Some retail chains turn to staffing firms like Headway, which typically earns a fee for each job filled, to reduce costs related to screening and training seasonal workers.

Prospective workers and employers can visit Headway's Web site for more information.