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TheLadders.com Quarterly Executive Employment Outlook Survey: Executive Optimism on the Rise

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NEW YORK (December 27, 2005) - 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 world's leading online service for $100k+ 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, "As we close 2005, we remain quite bullish on positive hiring trends. At TheLadders.com, we've seen enormous growth in both our job seeker and recruiter memberships. We believe 2006 holds great promise for executive hiring trends."

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.

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The majority of executive job seekers (63%) expect to apply to less than 50 jobs 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.

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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%).

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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 recruiters 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.

According to the results of its latest Boom Report, the cradle of American history Boston - remains highest on TheLadders.com "Talent Magnet Index." 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 "Talent Magnet Index" 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, "Our 'Talent Magnet Index' 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."

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 company's 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.

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About TheLadders.com
Headquartered in New York, TheLadders.com, Inc. is a privately held company offering online job search services to recruiters and job seekers in the $100k+ employment market. Ex-HotJobs.com executive Marc Cenedella founded TheLadders.com in 2003 to address the unique job seeking and recruiting requirements in this market sector. Investors include leading venture capital firm Matrix Partners and prominent private investors such as Kevin Ryan, CEO, DoubleClick, Tom Matlack, Megunticook Management, and Robert Chefitz, NJTC Venture Fund.

In addition to its primary member-based site, the Company operates vertical job search Web sites for sales, marketing, finance, human resources, law, technology, and operations. All sites feature daily job updates as well as industry-specific weekly e-newsletters. For corporate and executive recruiters, TheLadders.com delivers the same highly personalized experience. TheLadders for Recruiters (www.recruitladder.com) enables them to easily post $100k+ job openings at no charge. The Company further differentiates itself from other online job boards that fall prey to fraudulent job postings by implementing human mediated search, ensuring all job postings are fully qualified before being published to members.

More information about TheLadders.com can be accessed at www.theladders.com.

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Media Contacts
Maria Schiller
TheLadders.com
646-453-1913
maria.schiller@theladders.com