Most US Companies Plan to Increase Hiring of Middle Managers and Professional Staff During Second Half of 2004

Cleveland, Ohio, August 2004—Management Recruiters International (MRI), the world's largest search and recruitment organization, today announced the results of its 54th annual International Hiring Survey indicating that a solid majority of the executives who participated - 58 percent - plan to make new hires during the remainder of 2004. The study, which was comprised of personal interviews with executives responsible for the hiring of middle management and professional staff at their organizations, included contacts from major industry sectors and from most major cities.

Of the 356 executives interviewed for the study, 58.2 percent indicated plans to make additions to their staffs during the second half of 2004, up more than 10 points from first half of 2004. Another 37 percent plan to maintain their current staff sizes, down 8 points from the first half. Only 4.8 percent of survey respondents plan to decrease their staff in 2004, down close to 2 points.

"We believe that there is pent-up demand for new hires," said Allen Salikof, president and CEO of MRI. "Many companies that have held off on filling open positions for the past two years are now seriously addressing their needs. They are seeing opportunities to increase market share that will be lost if they fail to staff up adequately."

Projected new hires in several key industry sectors include the following:

Another interesting fact uncovered during the study is that most US businesses are planning to increase the efforts to retain employees in the second half of the year. Of the executives surveyed, 60 percent said that they intend to increase their retention efforts with almost an equal balance of salary increases (32.9 percent), recognition programs (39.9 percent), enhanced training (35.4 percent) and additional benefits/perks (34 percent).

"We expect increasing mobility in the job market. Employees have also had a wait-and-see attitude about changing jobs, and their employers are also more aware that they have to invest in retaining top talent as the marketplace becomes more competitive once again," said Salikof.

The MRI International Survey also found that plans to increase hiring also cross international boarders. Following are the findings by region:

Ongoing National Survey

This is the 54th in an ongoing series of polls conducted by Management Recruiters International, Inc. (MRI). The survey was conducted in accordance with the professional and ethical standards of the American Marketing Association and the Marketing Research Association.

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).