August 1, 2005

For Immediate Release:

Survey: Optimism Continues Strong
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 optimistic that business conditions will continue to improve for the next six months.

Results indicate that executive optimism with regard to business conditions continues on a positive trend that was registered in the first half of 2005. This is reflected by 81% of executives believing conditions within their companies will improve during the final six months of 2005.

Telecom and Energy executives showed the highest degree of optimism - 90% believe that business conditions will improve over the next six months for their organizations. Eighty-nine percent (89%) of both Manufacturing and Professional Services executives indicated improving business conditions for their companies during the second half of 2005, followed by 85% in Software/IT, 80% in Automotive, 77% in Retail, 73% in Financial Services, 54% in Transportation and 46% in Healthcare.

Optimism about executive hiring varies by industry - overall 39% expect to increase hiring over the next six months for their organizations. Forty-seven percent (47%) of Software/IT executives surveyed expect hiring to increase in the next six months, followed by 41% in both Professional Services and Retail, 40% in both Automotive and Energy, 38% in Manufacturing, 37% in Telecom, 33% in Financial Services, 31% in Transportation and 18% in Healthcare.

"There is a continued positive trend in executive confidence" noted James Leverette, President of Randall James Monroe, Inc. "This is reflected by moderate growth expected to continue on through to the end of 05. However, cost containment is still the single biggest driver influencing corporate decision making given the slow down the economy has just come through. The good news however, is that executives are cautiously loosening the corporate purse strings to meet their operational needs. As a result, we expect to see a continued increase in hiring and optimism over what has been seen in the past few years."

The survey was emailed to 1000 executives working in a cross section of 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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