| March 20, 2000 Hunt-Scanlon Releases Search Industry Rankings Report; Job Search Industry Has Big Year in 1999 Stamford, CT, March 17, 2000 - The official rankings of the 10 largest U.S. executive search firms were released today by recruiting industry tracking firm Hunt-Scanlon Advisors (www.hunt-scanlon.com). It was a year of extraordinary growth, reports Hunt-Scanlon, which said combined revenues for the 10 largest recruiting firms exceeded the $1 billion mark, representing a 24 percent increase over the previous year. It was also a year marked by a change in leadership in the search industry, as Heidrick & Struggles replaced Korn/Ferry International as the No. 1 search firm in the U.S. and worldwide. "The Internet has clearly played a central role in the explosive growth we are seeing year over year," said Brian P. Lee, chief market strategist at Hunt-Scanlon. "Besides generating a significant increase in the number of search assignments at both old economy and new economy companies starved for talent, the Internet is also beginning to be used as a tool to accelerate the search process." The other major factor contributing to overall industry growth, according to Mr. Lee, is the flurry of M&A activity by the large, publicly-held search firms. Armed with high priced stock as their acquisition currency, the public search firms grew in part by acquiring smaller, boutique firms as a strategy for expanding and deepening their specialty practices, most notably in financial services and the retail sectors. While the combination of a vibrant U.S. economy and scarcity of executive talent suggests demand for executive search services will remain robust, Hunt-Scanlon warns that traditional retainer fees are coming under increased pressure. "Executive search is becoming much more transaction-based," said Scott A. Scanlon, Hunt-Scanlon’s chairman and CEO. "Higher compensation levels, shorter executive tenure and the increasing acceptance of cheaper, web-based recruiting alternatives are all beginning to exert downward pressure on search fees," said Mr. Scanlon. Hunt-Scanlon Corporation (www.hunt-scanlon.com) provides a range of information products and services relating to executive search, staffing, online recruiting, human resources and corporate diversity. These include the monthly newsletters, Executive Search Review, Online Recruiting Strategist and Diversity Monitor, as well as directories of executive recruiters and Select Guides to executives in six functional staff areas (top management, human resources, finance, information technology, sales and marketing). Through a separate operating unit, Hunt-Scanlon Advisors, the firm provides comprehensive market intelligence studies, market trend surveys and forecast indicator reports to executive recruiting firms and major corporations worldwide. Hunt-Scanlon also operates five leading websites for corporate executives, including executiveselect.com, recruiterlink.com, boardsearch.com, diversityonline.com and leadersonthemove.com. A second operating unit, the Institute for Corporate Diversity, is the leading diversity database and research publisher in the U.S. Hunt-Scanlon is celebrating its eleventh anniversary this year. Contact Information:
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