February 15, 2006

For Immediate Release:

Survey: Executive Confidence Continues High
For Improved Business Conditions

DALLAS, Texas -- A recent survey conducted by Randall James Monroe, a Dallas-based global executive search consultancy, suggests that executives of major corporations are confident that business conditions will continue to improve for the next six months.

Survey results compiled for January 2006 indicate that executive optimism with regard to business conditions continues the positive trend that was registered in the second half of 2005. This is reflected by 79% of executives believing conditions within their companies will improve during the first six months of 2006.

Telecom executives show the highest degree of optimism with 94% indicating that business conditions will improve over the next six months. Ninety-two percent (92%) of Retail executives indicate improving business conditions for their companies during the first half of 2006, followed by 91% in Energy, 88% in Software/IT, 78% in Professional Services, 75% in Financial Services, 74% in Healthcare, 70% in Transportation and 69% in Manufacturing.

Optimism about executive hiring varies by industry – overall 41% expect to increase hiring over the next six months for their organizations. Fifty-five percent (55%) of Energy executives surveyed expect hiring to increase in the next six months, followed by 50% in Financial, 49% in Professional Services, 47% in Healthcare, 46% in Software/IT, 44% in Retail, 39% in Telecom and 29% in both Transportation and Manufacturing.

“There continues to be a positive trend in executive confidence” noted Randall Neal, CEO of Randall James Monroe. “This may account for increased staffing demands at the management levels. Overall, the findings show that forty-one percent (41%) of executives responding to the survey believe that executive and senior level hiring will increase during the next six months in order to meet the operational needs of their organizations. Couple this with a downward trend in lay-offs where just over one-half (52%) were comfortable with their current staffing levels suggests a clear trend of continued confidence in how their business is doing.”

The survey was emailed to approximately 1200 executives working with some of the 1,000 largest companies in the nation. Approximately 400 responses were registered. For more information about the survey, you may contact Randall James Monroe at 972-392-3200.

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