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Thirty-eight Percent of Hiring Managers In Health Services Say it is Difficult to Find Qualified Workers, CareerBuilder.com Survey Finds

Worker Shortage Continues in Health Services

CHICAGO, January 28, 2004 - The shortage of qualified healthcare workers persists with 38 percent of hiring managers in Health Services reporting that it is difficult to find proper candidates, according to a new CareerBuilder.com survey. At the same time, 86 percent of hiring managers in Health Services say they plan to hire new workers this year to expand operations and replace workers who have left voluntarily or were laid off. The CareerBuilder.com survey, "Hiring Trends in Health Services," was conducted from November 18, 2003 to December 4, 2003 and included more than 100 hiring managers in Health Services.

"Hiring in Health Services has remained one of the bright spots on the employment landscape with more than one million jobs added since 2000," said Rhonda Lipsey, healthcare employment expert at CareerBuilder.com. "Steady job creation coupled with an aging population and aging workforce is driving an extraordinary labor demand. The search for qualified workers in Health Services is becoming increasingly competitive with shortages of nurses, pharmacists, radiology technicians and other positions."

Projections from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimate that U.S. hospitals and medical centers will need more than 1 million new nurses by 2010. During that same period, healthcare practitioners and technical occupations are estimated to account for 1.6 million new jobs.

Forty-eight percent of hiring managers in Health Services plan to hire up to 20 workers this year while 13 percent plan to hire more than 100 workers. As the competition for qualified workers in Health Services continues, more than one-fourth of hiring managers expect their recruitment budgets to increase this year.

Based on a comparison of hiring managers in all industries to those only in Health Services, it requires more time for those in Health Services to fill open positions. Forty-seven percent of hiring managers in Health Services report filling open positions within 30 days as compared to 56 percent of hiring managers in all industries. In Health Services, 11 percent of the positions remain unfilled after more than 90 days.

CareerBuilder.com currently features over 72,000 Health Services positions on its site. To help Health Services' employers target candidates with the most relevant skills and experience for their open positions, CareerBuilder.com offers easy job postings, over 9 million resumes, online career fairs and profiles of skilled and hourly workers.

CareerBuilder.com also offers employers a vast distribution network. 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.

Survey Methodology
The CareerBuilder survey, "Hiring Trends in Health Services," was conducted from November 18 to December 4, 2003 of more than 100 hiring managers in Health Services. 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 +/- 8.98 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