Monster.Com Creates World’s First Auction-Style Marketplace For Free Agents

MAYNARD, MASS – May 5, 1999 – Monster.com, the leading global online careers Web site, today announced plans to launch a service that empowers free agents—independent contractors, consultants, freelancers and micro-business owners—to market their skills and experience directly to employers for short and long-term assignments.

On July 4, the company will release Monster Talent Market 1.0, a marketplace within Monster.com, where consultants market their skills in real time to employers in an innovative auction-style environment. The date is significant because it challenges the free agent community to declare their independence from the often time-consuming and frustrating task of self-marketing.

"Only on the Internet could we create this kind of new relationship between talent supply and demand," said Jeff Taylor, CEO of Monster.com. "This service will revolutionize the way free agents connect with organizations worldwide."

Free agents who visit Monster.com will develop a profile defining their ideal assignment, desired rate and project scope. Profiles also include contractors' experience, skills and education. Interested companies will pore over the profiles and actively "bid" on the individuals who fit their just-in-time staffing needs. The free agent controls the bids and accepts only his or her preferred assignment. Visit www.talentmarket.monster.com for a preview today.

"Our mission is to flip the dynamics of the current marketplace. We're positioning the consumer for ultimate career control," Taylor emphasized.

The Monster Talent Market further empowers the free agent community, giving them the opportunity to network, compare skills, and pool resources to negotiate better rates on critical services like health insurance, office equipment and leasing. "We're creating a community in the truest sense of the word," according to Taylor, "a community that gives members more economic clout and collective muscle to facilitate their business needs."

About 350,000 of the 1.3 million visitors who manage their resumes on Monster.com describe themselves as contract employees. A poll running this week on the company's site www.monster.com asks "Do you dream of becoming an independent consultant or free agent?" So far, more than half the respondents have answered "Been there. Doing that." The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that more than 10 million Americans currently describe themselves as self-employed—7.8 percent of the population. About 5 million self-described "contract" workers use the Internet on a regular basis, according to online reference resource CyberAtlas.

About Monster.com

Monster.com is the flagship product of the Interactive Division of TMP Worldwide (NASDAQ: "TMPW"; ASX: "TMP"). Founded in 1967, TMP Worldwide, now with more than 5,250, employees in 19 countries, is the online recruitment leader and one of the world's largest recruitment advertising agency networks, and now one of the world's largest search and selection agencies. TMP Worldwide, headquartered in New York City, is also the world's largest yellow page advertising agency and a provider of direct marketing services. The company's clients include more than 80 of the Fortune 100 and more than 400 of the Fortune 500 companies. More information about Monster.com is available at www.monster.com or by calling 1-800-MONSTER.

Monster.com (www.monster.com), headquartered in Maynard, Mass., and Indianapolis, Ind., is the leading, global online network for careers, connecting the most progressive companies with the most qualified career-minded individuals. Monster.com is committed to leading the market by offering innovative technology and superior services that give consumers and businesses more control over the recruiting process. The Monster.com network consists of local content and language sites in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada (in French and English), Australia, the Netherlands (in Dutch and English) and Belgium (in French and Flemish) and launched today in France, and has imminent plans to launch in Germany, Ireland and Singapore.