MRI Survey Reveals an Increase in Jobs in the Second Part of 2004

London, England, August 2004—Management Recruiters International (MRI), the world's largest search and recruitment organisation, announced the results of its semi-annual international hiring survey, which found that nearly 57 percent of the companies surveyed in the UK plan on increasing their staff size during the second half of 2004.

The survey polled executives responsible for hiring in more than 100 companies across the UK. While the majority of those surveyed believed that an improving economy was stimulating an increase in recruitment, there was some concern that there is not enough supply to meet demand. Of those surveyed, around 45 percent anticipated candidate shortages in the next six months. The two sectors nominated with the most candidate shortages were professional/ managerial (43%) and technical (40%).

Commenting on the survey's results Allen Salikof, president and CEO of MRI, said: "As businesses prepare for the second part of the year, it is clear that the majority have a positive outlook on both the economy and recruitment. However, business is driven by the middle management layer and this survey clearly demonstrates that there are perceived shortages in this area."

The survey also reveals that companies are making greater efforts to retain their employees for the second part of the year. Of those surveyed, 68 percent anticipated increasing their efforts to keep employees through offering flexitime arrangements (27%), working from home (26%), outsourcing (20%), job sharing (16%) and reducing the number of hours worked (10%).

The survey also polled the US, Australia, Germany, Japan and Portugal; following are the findings by region:

This is the 54th in an ongoing series of polls conducted by MRI¹.

About Management Recruiters International

Management Recruiters International, Inc. (www.MRInetwork.com), trading as MRINetwork, is one of the world's largest search and recruitment organizations with more than 1,100 offices in over 35 countries and systemwide billings of nearly $500 million. Management Recruiters International, Inc. is a subsidiary of staffing and outsourcing leader CDI Corp. (NYSE: CDI), a global provider of engineering and information technology outsource solutions and professional staffing (www.cdicorp.com).