One-Half of Hiring Managers to Recruit New Workers in the New Year, According to Careerbuilder.com's Annual Job Forecast

CHICAGO, December 27, 2005 - CareerBuilder.com, the nation’s largest online job site with more than 20 million visitors and over 1 million jobs, released the results of its annual survey tracking projected recruitment and job search activities for the coming year. The survey was conducted from November 15 to December 6, 2005 of more than 2,050 workers, including 1,000 hiring managers primarily operating in services industries.

HIRING HIGHLIGHTS

"Despite record energy costs and the destruction caused by hurricanes and other disasters in the U.S., the nation’s economy has managed to expand at a healthy pace and is paving the way for a sturdy job market in 2006," said Matt Ferguson, CEO of CareerBuilder.com. "Fifty-four percent of hiring managers surveyed by CareerBuilder.com say they will increase their staffs in the coming year while only 9 percent will decrease them. After creating over 2 million jobs in 2005, the U.S. is expected to add 2 million more in 2006, according to economist estimates." Twenty percent of hiring managers say they will recruit in bulk, expecting to add more than 50 new employees to their staffs in 2006. One-in-ten will recruit more than 100 employees. Forty-three percent expect to add 10 employees or less. The majority of these hiring managers say most of their recruitment activity will take place during the first half of the year.

Most Popular Positions

Customer service is the number one position hiring managers say they will be recruiting for in 2006. Other popular positions include sales, retail, information technology, accounting/finance and healthcare. In terms of job level, 30 percent of hiring managers will be targeting professional/technical staff most aggressively while 19 percent will be targeting administrative/clerical workers and 8 percent will be targeting upper management.

Temporary Hiring

Forty-seven percent of hiring managers will be recruiting temporary workers in 2006. One-in-five will be hiring more than 10 temporary employees.

Outsourcing Overseas

Fifteen percent of hiring managers report their companies outsourced some functions outside of the U.S. in 2005. Looking forward, 14 percent say they are likely to outsource functions overseas in 2006 and 9 percent say they will recruit candidates from overseas to work in the U.S.

Regional Hiring

Although solid hiring is expected across all regions, employers in the South and West are slightly more optimistic about their recruitment plans for 2006. Fifty-five percent of hiring managers in these regions expect to increase headcount followed by 53 percent in the Midwest and 50 percent in the Northeast.

JOB CHANGES AND SATISFACTION HIGHLIGHTS

"Job satisfaction levels have improved significantly compared to this time last year as employers step up employee retention efforts in the face of an increasingly competitive labor market," said Ferguson. "However, nearly three-in-ten workers still say they plan to look for new opportunities in 2006 and 41 percent plan to leave the companies by the end of 2007."

Salary Increases and Promotions

Fifty-eight percent of workers say they received a raise in 2006. Thirty-one percent received a pay increase of 3 percent or less; 21 percent received an increase of 5 percent or more.
One-in-ten workers report they were awarded a promotion in 2006. Twenty-seven feel they were overlooked for a promotion.

Satisfaction with Key Job Factors

Workers continue to express dissatisfaction with pay. Forty-seven percent of workers say they are dissatisfied with their current compensation levels considering the effort put forth in their jobs, similar to last year’s sentiment. Sixty-one percent of workers say their workloads have increased over the last six months, contributing to increased stress levels and dissatisfaction with work/life balance. Thirty-one percent of workers say they are struggling to balance both professional and personal commitments. On a positive note, workers are voicing increased satisfaction with career advancement opportunities, training and development programs and the performance of their corporate leaders.

Job Changes By Region

While the West is one of the leaders in plans to add jobs in 2006, it is also the leader in plans to change jobs. Twenty-nine percent of workers in the West expect to leave their current positions in 2006, followed by 28 percent in the Northeast and Midwest and 27 percent in the South.

Job Changes by Select Industries and Job Functions

Retail workers report the highest incidence of plans to change jobs in 2006 with 35 percent expecting to leave their current positions. Sales and information technology workers tied for second with 33 percent anticipating a job change followed by 32 percent of hospitality and accounting/finance workers. Healthcare and government workers are the least likely to leave their jobs with respective amounts of 25 percent and 17 percent.

Survey Methodology

The new CareerBuilder.com survey, "2006 Job Forecast," was conducted from November 15 to December 6, 2005 of more than 2,050 workers. Methodology used to collect survey responses totaling more than 2,050 workers for this study involved selecting a random sample of comScore Networks panel members. These Web Panel members were approached via an e-mail invitation, which asked them to participate in a short online survey. The results of this survey are statistically accurate to within +/- 2.16 percentage points (19 times out of 20). Note: the sample of 2,050+ included 1,000 hiring managers. The results for the hiring managers alone are accurate within +/- 3.09 percentage points (19 times out of 20).

About CareerBuilder.com

CareerBuilder.com is the nation’s largest online job site with more than 20 million unique visitors and over 1 million jobs. Owned by Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI), Tribune Company (NYSE:TRB), and Knight Ridder, Inc. (NYSE:KRI), the company offers a vast online and print network to help job seekers connect with employers. CareerBuilder.com powers the career centers for more than 800 partners that reach national, local, industry and niche audiences. These include more than 165 newspapers and leading portals such as America Online and MSN. More than 50,000 of the nation's top employers take advantage of CareerBuilder.com's easy job postings, 15 million-plus resumes, Diversity Channel and more. Millions of job seekers visit the site every month to search for opportunities by industry, location, company and job type, sign up for automatic e-mail job alerts, and get advice on job hunting and career management. For more information about CareerBuilder.com products and services, visit www.careerbuilder.com

Media Contact:
Jennifer Sullivan
(773) 527-1164
Jennifer.Sullivan@careerbuilder.com

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

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