TMP Worldwide Continues Global Consolidation Strategy With Five More Acquisitions

Company Strengthens Position Atop Yellow Page Advertising Industry with Acquisition of Earle Palmer Brown's Yellow Page Unit

New York, N.Y., January 7, 1998 -- TMP Worldwide (NASDAQ: TMPW) today announced the acquisition of the yellow pages advertising unit of Earle Palmer Brown. In addition, the company continued to consolidate the recruitment advertising industry with the acquisition of four international recruitment advertising agencies including Media Partners of New Zealand, Lorraine Jones & Associates Limited of the United Kingdom, Thirty Dogs, S.A. of France, and De Bussy B.V. of the Netherlands. These five acquisitions will add approximately $6.0 million in annualized commissions and fees for TMP Worldwide.

"Each of these acquisitions is significant in its own right and together they represent the company's overriding goal of expanding our worldwide infrastructure and leading the industries in which we do business," said Andrew J. McKelvey, chairman and CEO of TMP Worldwide. "We are by far the top yellow pages advertising agency in the country and it's particularly pleasing that Earle Palmer Brown recognizes the benefits of this position and the value we will bring their clients in this specialized area."

Currently, approximately 30 percent of all national yellow pages advertising is placed through TMP Worldwide. Earle Palmer Brown Yellow Pages, based in Philadelphia, has 11 employees and an impressive list of clients including Dollar Rent-A-Car Systems and Integrated Health Services.

TMP Worldwide has been actively expanding its worldwide recruitment advertising infrastructure as well, making 11 acquisitions, including the four announced today, in the last 12 months. In addition to further establishing the company as one of the world's largest recruitment advertising agencies, these acquisitions will enable TMP Worldwide to expand the reach of its leading online career site, The Monster Board, and the power of online recruiting into additional new markets.

The company strengthens its presence in New Zealand with the acquisition of Media Partners in Christchurch and now has offices in two major cities. TMP Worldwide's original office is in Wellington.

The company's search and selection business expands with the acquisition of Lorraine Jones & Associates Limited, a London-based search, selection and response handling agency with a blue chip client list. Lorraine Jones will be folded into TMP Worldwide's existing search and selection unit in the United Kingdom.

As a result of the acquisition of Paris-based Thirty Dogs, S.A., which does business as LBW, TMP Worldwide is now among the top five largest recruitment advertising agencies in France. The company entered the French market last summer when it purchased the global recruitment advertising agency Austin Knight. Austin Knight had 24 offices worldwide including an operation in Paris. TMP Worldwide is the only recruitment advertising agency operating in France with company-owned dedicated recruitment advertising offices outside the country.

TMP Worldwide strengthens its position atop the recruitment advertising industry in the Netherlands with the acquisition of De Bussy B.V. of Baarn. This acquisition is the fifth for TMP Worldwide in the Netherlands. The first was made in late 1996. TMP Worldwide is now the largest recruitment advertising agency in the Netherlands, and is more than four times the size of its nearest competitor. "In today's global business climate there are no recruitment boundaries and companies are searching all over the world for the best possible candidates," said McKelvey. "With these and other acquisitions we are solidifying a worldwide infrastructure that will help us better serve our clients' global employment needs." According to McKelvey, this strategy is working. The company was recently advised that it has been awarded the Pan European recruitment advertising account for IBM. "A company like IBM understands the importance of working with an agency that has a worldwide network of offices," McKelvey said. "Our infrastructure allows us to find the most qualified candidates for our clients, whether they are in the next town or on the next continent."

Special Note

The above paragraphs include forward-looking statements based on current management expectations. Factors that could cause future results to differ from these expectations include the following: risks associated with acquisitions, competition and seasonality. Additional factors are described in the company's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Founded in 1967, TMP Worldwide is the world's largest yellow pages advertising agency and one of the world's largest recruitment advertising agencies with more than 2,800 employees in 11 countries. TMP Worldwide's clients include more than 70 of the Fortune 100 and more than 285 of the Fortune 500 companies. The company's Internet offerings include The Monster Board (www.monster.com), the premier career center on the World Wide Web; Online Career Center (OCC) (www.occ.com), the Internet's earliest career site; MedSearch, (www.medsearch.com) the primary online "help wanted" service for the health care industry; and Be the Boss (www.betheboss.com), a leading provider of information on franchise opportunities.

The Monster Board is a registered trademark of TMP Worldwide. Online Career Center, Be The Boss and MedSearch are service marks of TMP Worldwide.