Monster Employment Index Shows Rise in Online Job Demand In May

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 3, 2004--Monster Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ: MNST)

  • Increased Online Demand for Workers with Experience in Management, Installation/Maintenance, Education/Training, Architecture/Engineering, and Production
  • Industries with Greatest Increase in Demand Include Agriculture, Accommodation & Food Services, Finance & Insurance, Transportation & Warehousing, and Manufacturing
  • Sales, Business & Financial Operational, Managerial and Administrative Support Experience Most Wanted by Employers

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

The May findings of the Monster Employment Index report that most industries experienced moderate growth in job availability, with the largest increases occurring within the agriculture & forestry, accommodation & food services, finance & insurance, transportation & warehousing, and manufacturing industries. The healthcare industry remains the largest industry in terms of job availability and showed a slight increase over the month of April, according to the Index. Overall, the Index rose from 125 in April to 128 in May. Results for the first five months of 2004 are as follows:

---------------------------------------------------------------------- January February March April May ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 102 107 109 125 128 ----------------------------------------------------------------------

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 May, occupational categories with the largest increase in job availability according to the Index included installation/maintenance, education/training, general management, architecture/engineering, and production. The greatest job availability online in May continued to be in sales, business & financial operations, management, and administrative support positions. The Monster Employment Index also saw an increase in seasonal blue-collar/hourly job categories, specifically within building/grounds maintenance, transportation/material moving, construction, and installation/maintenance & repair positions.

Regional demand for workers increased across nearly every region of the United States, except the West South Central region, according to the Index. The Pacific region posted the greatest rise from April to May, driven largely by the state of Washington. With respect to individual states, Alaska, Colorado, Wyoming, and Tennessee showed significant increases in demand over the past month, while Louisiana, Hawaii and New Mexico saw significant decreases in demand between April and May. As in April, California continued to lead the nation with the largest number of job opportunities online in May.

"The Index continues to show a steady upward trend since the beginning of the year. At the same time, the rise in hiring activity was not as sharp as last month. There were noteworthy increases in online demand for workers across a range of industries, including finance & insurance and educational services, as well as agriculture, transportation and manufacturing. In addition, most regions in the U.S. saw an increase in May," said Jeff Taylor, Founder and Chief Monster. "The Index continues to correspond with other broader labor market indicators, and therefore we continue to be encouraged by the Index's value as a useful tool 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 May

The Monster Employment Index shows an increase in online demand across most 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:

April May Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting 87 101 Accommodation & Food Services 120 128 Finance & Insurance 125 132 Transportation and Warehousing 110 116 Manufacturing 118 124

Most Wanted Occupational Experience

Online job availability increased moderately across most occupational categories tracked by the Monster Employment Index during May, with the largest increase in demand for workers seen in installation & maintenance, education & training, general management, architecture & engineering, and production.

April May Installation, Maintenance & Repair 112 125 Education, Training & Library 124 136 Management 124 134 Architecture & Engineering 117 127 Production 129 137

In addition to these leading categories, the Index identified noteworthy increases in military, construction, protective services, and life/physical & social science. The May Index also indicated a decrease in the number of postings for health practitioners, but an increase in online demand for healthcare support.

Online Job Recruitment Increases Across the Country

May data also revealed a modest upward trend in nearly all U.S. Census regions for job opportunities posted online, except the West South Central region. The greatest increase in online job availability occurred within the Pacific region. Key U.S. Census regions measured by the Index saw the following growth, and in one instance a decrease, from April to May:

April May Pacific 129 140 Mountain 145 154 Mid-Atlantic 125 131 East South Central 127 133 New England 141 145 South Atlantic 121 124 West North Central 128 130 East North Central 126 128 West South Central 136 134

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 June will be released on July 1, 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 26 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, 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.