More than 30 Percent of Hiring Managers Plan to Add New Jobs in 2004, A New CareerBuilder.com Survey Reveals

More Than Half of Hiring Managers Plan to Fill Positions Associated with Employee Turnover

CHICAGO, December 30, 2003 - Hiring managers across the U.S. are adding the recruitment of new employees to their New Year's resolutions this year, according to the latest survey from CareerBuilder.com. Thirty-two percent of hiring managers will recruit to expand operations, improve customer service or support the launch of new products and services while 52 percent will be replacing workers who have left voluntarily or were laid off. The CareerBuilder.com survey, "Plans for 2004," was conducted from November 18, 2003 to December 4, 2003 and included more than 400 hiring managers.

"Recruitment trends are tied to confidence in the economy and 56 percent of hiring managers expect the economy to improve in 2004," said Matt Ferguson, president and chief operating officer of CareerBuilder.com. "While more than half of hiring managers will be focused on employee turnover in the coming year, what is encouraging is that almost one-third will recruit to expand their business, introduce new products and services or enhance customer relations. After two years of a relatively flat job recovery, this is a positive indicator that job creation is on the rebound."

As hiring strategies become more aggressive, so do overall investments in recruitment. Nearly three-in-ten hiring managers plan to increase their recruitment budgets in 2004 to find the right people to support revenue and performance goals.

Finding the right people can be challenging. Although 56 percent of hiring managers are currently filling open positions in 30 days or less and 30 percent are filling them in 14 days or less, a significant amount are having trouble zeroing in on relevant candidates.

A candidate's experience remains key in the selection process for hiring managers. For almost four-in-ten hiring managers, it is the appropriateness of the candidate's experience that is the most important factor influencing their hiring decisions. Hiring managers also regard the demonstration of professional behavior during the selection process (17 percent) and the level of enthusiasm showed by the candidate for the job opportunity (12 percent) as important factors.

Despite the fact that many individuals are on the hunt for a new job and may have these attributes, 36 percent of hiring managers report that it is difficult to find proper candidates for their open positions. In particular, these managers are having the most difficulty filling customer service, sales and accounting/financial operations positions and are rethinking their recruitment strategies.

To help employers target candidates with the most relevant skills and experience for their open positions, CareerBuilder.com offers easy job postings, over 8 million resumes, online career fairs and profiles of skilled and hourly workers. CareerBuilder.com also offers employers a vast distribution network to maximize exposure for their job postings. Owned by Tribune Company, Gannett and Knight Ridder, CareerBuilder.com features jobs from the classifieds sections of more than 130 newspapers. Including its newspaper affiliations, CareerBuilder.com powers the career sites for more than 350 partners with over 1,200 Web sites reaching national, local, industry and niche audiences.

CareerBuilder.com continues to expand its distribution network to connect employers with job seekers. On December 1, 2003, CareerBuilder.com launched its partnership with America Online. Employers are able to reach millions of job seekers through the new Find a Job Channel on AOL, CompuServe and Netscape. On January 1, 2004, CareerBuilder.com will launch its alliance with MSN to deliver CareerBuilder.com's leading recruitment and job searching services to the millions of consumers who visit the MSN Careers Channel.

Survey Methodology
The CareerBuilder survey, "Plans for 2004," was conducted from November 18 to December 4, 2003 of more than 400 hiring managers. To collect data for the survey, CareerBuilder commissioned SurveySite to use an e-mail methodology whereby individuals who are members of SurveySite Web Panel were randomly selected and approached by e-mail invitation to participate in the online survey. The results of this survey are accurate within +/- 4.79 percent (19 times out of 20).

About CareerBuilder.com
CareerBuilder.com 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.com 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 400,000 continuously updated postings, representing more than 25,000 of the top employers in virtually every industry, field and location. Together with Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI), Tribune Company (NYSE:TRB), and Knight Ridder, Inc. (NYSE:KRI), CareerBuilder.com includes the Web's top newspaper sites - the most trusted employment sources in recruiting. For more information about CareerBuilder.com products and services, call 888-670-TEAM or visit CareerBuilder.com at http://www.careerbuilder.com.

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

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