Monster Employment Index Shows Jump in Online Job Demand In April

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 6, 2004--Monster Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ: MNST)

  • Increases in Job Availability Seen in Most Industries
  • Sales, Business & Financial Operational, Managerial and Administrative Support Experience Wanted Most by Employers
  • Increase in Online Demand Seen for Blue Collar Workers, Particularly in Building/Grounds Maintenance, Transportation/Material Moving, Construction and Farming/Forestry
  • Regional Demand for Workers Increased Across Nearly Every Part of the United States

Demand for workers and related online job recruitment activity across the United States increased significantly in April, according to the Monster Employment Index, marking a continued upward trend for the first four months of 2004.

The April findings of the Monster Employment Index report that most industries experienced growth in job availability, with the largest increases occurring within the healthcare, finance & insurance, professional & technical, real estate, and retail trade industries. The healthcare industry remains the largest industry in terms of job availability despite a modest slowdown in growth over the past few months, according to the Index. Overall, the Index reports a rise to 125 in April from 109 in March. Results for the first four months of 2004 are as follows:

---------------------------------------------------------------------- January February March April ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 102 107 109 125 ----------------------------------------------------------------------

The Monster Employment Index is a broad and comprehensive monthly analysis of U.S. online job demand conducted by Monster Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ: MNST), the parent company of the leading global online careers property, Monster(R). Based on a real-time review of millions of employer job opportunities culled from more than 1,500 Web sites, including a variety of corporate career sites, job boards and Monster, the Monster Employment Index presents a snapshot of employer online recruitment activity nationwide. The Index counts job postings as an indicator of employer demand for employees or, in other words, job availability. Job postings are online advertisements placed by an employer looking to fill one or more vacant, or recently created, job positions.

During April, occupational categories with the largest increase in job availability according to the Index included community and social services, construction, arts and media, transportation, and buildings/ grounds maintenance. The greatest availability of jobs in last month existed within sales, business & financial operations, management and administrative support. The Monster Employment Index also reports an increase in seasonal blue-collar/hourly job categories, specifically within building/grounds maintenance, transportation/ material moving, construction, and farming/forestry.

Regional demand for workers increased across nearly every part of the United States, according to the Index. The Mountain region (Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico) posted the greatest rise from March to April, driven largely by Arizona. With respect to individual states, Idaho, Montana, South Dakota, Rhode Island and Louisiana showed significant increases in demand over the past month. As in March, California continued to lead the nation with the largest number of job opportunities last month.

"During April, the Monster Employment Index measured continued strong growth in online job demand across virtually every category that the Index evaluates - from industries looking for workers to professional and hourly occupational categories to geographic regions where employment opportunities exist," said Jeff Taylor, Founder and Chief Monster. "As the migration of help wanted advertising continues to move from print to online, the Monster Employment Index measures the pulse of online job recruitment activity and the related employment opportunities. We are encouraged to see that the Index is tracking with broader labor market indicators, which show a steady improvement in overall job availability nationwide since the beginning of the year, and we expect that this tool will continue to gain increasing utility for U.S. labor market watchers."

In addition to providing an analysis of the overall online demand for U.S. jobs, the Monster Employment Index offers an extensive range of sub-indices by industry, occupation and geographic region, including data on all 20 NAICS (North American Industry Classification System) industries, 23 occupational categories, all 50 states and the nine U.S. Census regions.

Top Five Industries Looking for Employees in April

The Monster Employment Index shows an increase in online demand across almost all U.S. industries for employees in a broad range of job positions. Specifically, the industries with the greatest increase in job availability last month included:

March April Professional & Technical Services 93 126 Real Estate 80 111 Healthcare 95 116 Retail Trade 112 128 Finance & Insurance 112 125

Most Wanted Occupational Experience

Online job availability trended upwards across nearly every occupational category tracked by the Monster Employment Index during April, with the largest increase in demand for workers seen in community and social services, construction, arts and media, transportation, and buildings/grounds maintenance.

March April Community & Social Services 116 168 Transportation 115 147 Arts, Entertainment, Media 116 138 Building/Grounds Maintenance 110 128 Construction 107 123

In addition to these leading categories, the Index identified noteworthy increases in military, engineering/architecture, protective services, and education/training.

Online Job Recruitment Increases Across the Country

April data also revealed an upward trend in all nine U.S. Census regions for job opportunities posted online. While the Monster Employment Index reports significant increases in a number of Western states, job seekers would have seen the greatest increase in online job availability within the Mountain region.

The Monster Employment Index for key U.S. Census regions measured the following growth from March to April:

March April Mountain 115 145 New England 112 141 West South Central 115 136 West North Central 109 128 Pacific 112 129 Mid-Atlantic 111 125 East North Central 112 126 East South Central 113 127 South Atlantic 108 121

All of the data and findings in the Monster Employment Index have been validated for accuracy through independent, third party auditing conducted on a monthly basis by ARC Research, a Cranford, New Jersey-based provider of innovative click and brick market research solutions. The audit validates the accuracy of the online job recruitment activity measured for the last six months within a margin of error of +/- 1.05%.

Additional information on the Monster Employment Index is available online at http://eIndex.monsterworldwide.com. The Monster Employment Index will report results monthly. Data for May will be released on June 3, 2004.

About Monster Worldwide

Founded in 1967, Monster Worldwide, Inc. is the parent company of Monster(R), the leading global online careers property. The company also owns TMP Worldwide, the world's largest Yellow Pages advertising agency and one of the world's largest Recruitment Advertising agency networks. TMP Worldwide is also a provider of direct marketing services. Headquartered in New York with approximately 4,600 employees in 20 countries, Monster Worldwide (NASDAQ: MNST) is a member of the S&P 500 Index. More information about Monster Worldwide is available at www.monsterworldwide.com.

Celebrating its 10-year anniversary, Monster is the leading global online careers property. A division of Monster Worldwide (NASDAQ: MNST), Monster works for everyone by connecting quality job seekers at all levels with leading employers across all industries. Founded in 1994 and headquartered in Maynard, Mass., Monster has 22 local language and content sites in 20 countries worldwide. Monster is the official online career management services sponsor of the 2004 U.S. Olympic Team. More information is available at www.monster.com or by calling 1-800-MONSTER. To learn more about Monster's industry-leading employer products and services, please visit http://recruiter.monster.com.

Special Note: Safe Harbor Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Except for historical information contained herein, the statements made in this release constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such forward-looking statements involve certain risks and uncertainties, including statements regarding Monster Worldwide, Inc.'s strategic direction, prospects and future results. Certain factors, including factors outside of Monster Worldwide's control, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward- looking statements, including economic and other conditions in the markets in which Monster Worldwide operates, risks associated with acquisitions, competition, seasonality and the other risks discussed in Monster Worldwide's Form 10-K and other filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which discussions are incorporated in this release by reference.

CONTACT: Monster Worldwide, Inc.
David Rosa, 212-351-7067
david.rosa@monsterworldwide.com
or
Weber Shandwick
Christian Harper, 212-445-8135
charper@webershandwick.com

SOURCE: Monster Worldwide, Inc.