TheLadders.com Quarterly Executive Employment Outlook Survey

Yet, Despite Positive Outlook Majority in this Category See Their Job Search Taking Up to Six Months

Is it the euphoria created by the holiday season or do executives really feel better about the job market? The quarterly executive employment outlook survey, conducted by TheLadders.com, the worldís leading online service for $100,000 jobs, demonstrates that 65% of job seekers in this category think now is a better time to be in the job market in contrast to this time last year.

The survey results also reveal fourth quarter sector-specific hiring trends, such as sharp increases in telecommunications/technology and industrial job openings in contrast to fewer jobs in the consumer and services sectors since the first quarter of 2005.

TheLadders.com President and CEO, Marc Cenedella, observed, ìAs we close 2005, we remain quite bullish on positive hiring trends. At TheLadders.com, weíve seen enormous growth in both our job seeker and recruiter memberships. We believe 2006 holds great promise for executive hiring trends.î

Survey Results
TheLadders.com surveyed a total of 1,296 executives in November 2005. While 65% of all executives feel optimistic, those who are currently unemployed do not share that sentiment. Only 56% think now is a better time to be looking for a job versus this time last year.

And, despite the aura of optimism, when this survey was conducted during the first quarter of 2005, 77% of respondents were enthusiastic about the job market climate.

The majority of executive job seekers (63%) expect to apply to less than 50 job listings before receiving an offer (30% say less than 20; 33% say between 20-50 listings). Perhaps jaded from being on the front lines, unemployed job seekers are less confident, with 31% indicating they expect to apply to more than 100 listings before receiving an offer.

Reflecting their overall optimism, 34% of executive job seekers believe their search will only take 3-6 months. Another 26% predict 1-3 months. Nearly the same proportion of executives predict a 6-12 month search (27%).

Regional Job Market Data
As an integral part of its Quarterly Executive Employment Outlook, TheLadders.com analyzes all $100k job listings posted on company Web sites throughout the Internet, along with exclusive postings submitted by employers directly to TheLadders.com. Specific details of these findings, which are detailed on a regional basis, can be accessed at TheLadders.com Quarterly Boom Report: http://cdn.theladders.net/static/boom

According to the results of its latest Boom Report, the cradle of American history ñ Boston - remains highest on TheLadders.com ìTalent Magnet Index.î Job seekers have overwhelmingly indicated that Boston is the most desirable city in which to work, followed by New York City, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco. Detroit fared the worst on the list of 20 cities, followed by Tampa, Austin and Dallas.

On a national level, TheLadders.com has identified some correlation between ìTalent Magnet Indexî and the number of active job seekers per job openings. For example, there are two active job candidates for every one San Francisco-based job posting, yet there are 12 candidates per Detroit-based job posting.

Cenedella continued, ìOur ëTalent Magnet Indexí is particularly noteworthy because it reflects the activities of job seekers who are not only looking within their own market but outside their market. TheLadders.com is an especially valuable job service for those executive job seekers needing to identify suitable job openings outside of their current geography, or for trailing significant others making job changes due to relocation or expatriation.î

The Quarterly Executive Employment Outlook is based on analysis of recruiting activity on TheLadders.com and an independent survey of registered $100k executives via the companyís web site between November 24 and 29, 2005. 1,296 executives responded to the survey. The margin of error for the survey is /- 2.72 percentage points.