Hiring of Mid-Managers/Professionals Expected to Escalate During First Half of 2006

PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Reflecting overall confidence in the U.S. economy, businesses are planning to increase hiring significantly over the next six months, according to the 57th hiring survey released by MRINetwork, one of the world's largest search and recruitment organizations. The study, which is conducted twice a year, was comprised of personal interviews with 460 executives responsible for the hiring of middle management and professional staff in their companies.

Of the survey respondents, 55.5 percent indicated plans to increase their mid-to-upper level management and professional staffs, an increase of 5.1 points over the last half of 2005. Another 39.5 percent plan to maintain their current staff sizes, down by 3.2 points from the previous survey, and 5 percent plan decreases, down by 1.9 points. The high percentage planning to make new hires in the mid-management/professional sector is supported by the low unemployment rate reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for this segment, which is now at 2 percent.

"The economy has rebounded from the natural disasters of last fall and is coping with the high cost of energy," said William Olson, president and chief executive officer of MRINetwork. "As a result, companies are increasing capital spending and adding to their payrolls. The job outlook for candidates, both tenured and recent college graduates, is very promising for the first half of the year -- a situation that we anticipate will continue throughout the year."

Companies of All Sizes Expect to Add Jobs

According to the survey, companies ranging from less than 100 employees to more than 1,000 employees are planning to increase their staff sizes:

All Less More Companies than 100 100-250 251-500 501-1,000 than 1,000 Increase 55.5% 64.6% 40.8% 55.6% 62% 53.5% Decrease 5.0% 2.5% 5.3% 4.4% 4.0% 7.0% Maintain 39.5% 32.9% 53.9% 40% 34% 39.5%

"The fairly even distribution of projected new hires across all company sizes is also indicative of the strong economy," said Olson. "The demand for mid-to-upper-level managerial and professional talent exists across the board."

Finance Sector Leads in New Hire Projections

Individual industry projections, with finance topping the list and automotive last, are as follows:

Industry Increase Decrease Maintain Finance 80.6% 0.0% 19.4% Pharmaceuticals 71.8% 2.6% 23.1% Healthcare 56.5% 2.2% 41.3% Manufacturing/Production 46.3% 7.4% 45.3% Automotive 36.1% 11.5% 52.5%

"Many companies across industry sectors have been slow to ramp up after the recession ended four years ago," said Olson. "Now, however, they are increasing capital spending and adding staff to meet increased demand for their products and services."

Candidate-Tight Market Ahead?

Survey respondents were asked if they expected to find it difficult to get the skilled candidates they need over the next six months. Two-thirds anticipate that they will find it either very difficult or somewhat difficult:

Response Percent Very difficult 16.7% Somewhat difficult 49.6% Not difficult at all 26.2% Don't know/no answer 7.5%

"As demand for new hires increases and the oldest of the baby boomers begin to retire, we expect that the shortage of qualified candidates will intensify," said Olson. "Only time will tell if we will return to the candidate frenzy of the late 1990s."

About MRINetwork:

Management Recruiters International, Inc, trading as MRINetwork (http://www.mrinetwork.com/), is a subsidiary of staffing and outsourcing leader CDI Corp. , a global provider of engineering and information technology outsource solutions and professional staffing (http://www.cdicorp.com/). MRINetwork has nearly 1,100 offices in over 35 countries.