After Period of Steady Decline, Workers Report Improvements in Job Satisfaction and Job Security, CareerBuilder Survey Finds

Bad News: Stress Levels at Work Reach Ten-Month High

RESTON, Va., June 6 /PRNewswire/ -- After a period of steady decline, levels of job satisfaction and job security are showing improvement, according to a periodic survey conducted by CareerBuilder of more than 1,300 U.S. workers, Pulse of the Worker: May 2002. However, the number of workers reporting that they work under a great deal of stress has increased from 52 percent in February to 61 percent last month -- an all-time high since CareerBuilder began measuring work stress last summer (see table of results).

"The gains in job satisfaction and job security have come at the cost of increased stress for many workers," said Barry Lawrence, a senior career advisor at CareerBuilder, the industry's most complete online recruitment source for efficiently finding better candidates and jobs. "Stress is ever- present in the workplace -- even at higher levels than right before the events of September 11. Either you've been laid off or you're a layoff survivor who is now shouldering the burden of increased expectations for productivity."

Job Satisfaction
Job satisfaction increased from 61 percent in February to 66 percent in May, 2002, according to the CareerBuilder survey. The gain in job satisfaction reverses a steady downward trend that began in August, 2001. However, job satisfaction is still below levels recorded in January, 2001, when 69 percent of workers reported satisfaction with jobs.

Job Security
Job security has continued to fluctuate with the changing economic landscape. In May, 70 percent of workers felt they had job security, up from 60 percent in August. During this time frame, the unemployment rate was 4.9 percent in August and 6 percent in April. May's unemployment figure will be released Friday.

About The Survey
The Survey, Pulse of the Worker: May 2002, was conducted in May and data was collected from more than 1,300 respondents. To collect data for the survey, CareerBuilder commissioned SurveySite to use an e-mail methodology whereby individuals who are members of SurveySite's Web Panel were randomly selected and approached by e-mail invitation to participate in the online survey.

About CareerBuilder
CareerBuilder is a leading online source for maximizing recruitment dollars and optimizing job searches with superior products, customer service and technology. With a unique combination of national, local and niche audiences, CareerBuilder makes it easy for recruiters to reach the most qualified candidates with industry-leading market research data and support. Job seekers can search for the right job from more than 300,000 continuously updated postings, representing more than 25,000 of the top employers in virtually every industry, field and location. In partnership with Tribune Company (NYSE: TRB) and Knight-Ridder Inc. (NYSE: KRI), CareerBuilder includes the Web's top newspaper sites -- the most trusted employment sources in recruiting. For more information About CareerBuilder products and services, call 888-670-TEAM or visit CareerBuilder at http://www.careerbuilder.com .

CareerBuilder Pulse of the Worker
Date of Survey	Job Satisfaction	Job Security *	Stress *	Unemployment Rate ^	Number of Unemployed ^
May 2002	66%	70%	61%	6.0%	8,597,000
February 2002	61%	59%	52%	5.5%	7,891,000
October 2001	62%	54%	55%	5.4%	7,741,000
August 2001	65%	60%	56%	4.9%	6,957,000
January 2001	69%	Not Measured	Not Measured	4.9%	5,956,000
* CareerBuilder surveys conducted in 2001 (January, August and October) and 2002 (February and May) ^ Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

CareerBuilder Media Contact
For all media inquiries and interview requests, contact:

Jennifer Grasz
(P) 773-527-1164
(E) jennifer.grasz@careerbuilder.com