Cost-Containment is Dominant Financial Strategy for New York Area Employers, According to New York Times Job Market Research.

Business Editors

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 25, 2003

Hiring managers in the New York metropolitan area say their organizations' overall financial strategy today primarily consists of two initiatives: cost-containment (41%) and cost-cutting (33%), according to a just-released survey conducted for The New York Times Job Market.

Beta Research Corporation, on behalf of The New York Times Job Market, conducted telephone interviews with 250 hiring managers in the New York metropolitan area.

    Factors that lead organizations to initiate
cost-containment/reduction initiatives include:

Loss of revenue compared to prior year                    46%
Loss of customer base                                     44%*
National economic climate                                 30%
Competitors' layoffs or other cost-containment actions    17%
Changes in government regulations                         11%*
Changes in management                                     11%
Signs of industry consolidation                            7%
Drop in stock price/analyst sell recommendation            7%

    (*) While loss of customer base is more likely to affect
organizations with fewer than 100 employees, changes in government
regulation are more likely to affect companies with 100+ employees.

    Among organizations whose current financial strategy includes
cost-containment/cutting, only one-fourth of hiring managers are
considering workforce reduction, among other initiatives:

Introducing incentive program for
 cost-cutting suggestions                                 52%
Reducing work hours                                       35%
Layoffs                                                   24%
Switching benefit/enrollment activities to the Web         8%*
Freeing up health plan and welfare plan reserves           7%
Releasing pension surplus                                  4%
Updating severance packages                                4%*

    (*) Hiring managers at companies with 100+ employees are more
likely to switch benefits/enrollment activities to the Web and update
severance packages.

About Job Market

Job Market, the print and online recruitment services offering of The New York Times, provides employers and job seekers with comprehensive resources to streamline the recruitment process. Job Market appears in The New York Times every Sunday and is updated throughout the week at www.nytimes.com, where job seekers can find job listings, career-related Times articles, exhaustive company research, a resume database and valuable career resources.

Through the newspaper's national audience, which includes 4.2 million weekday readers and 5.0 million Sunday readers as well as the 1.5 million readers who visit www.nytimes.com every day, The New York Times Job Market reaches a marketplace of high-quality professionals actively seeking new job opportunities or considering career moves.

Each week, The New York Times Job Market issues research on industry trends and workplace practices affecting employers and job seekers in the metropolitan New York region. On a monthly basis, The New York Times Job Market releases its Job Market Confidence Index. The Index tracks current conditions for recruitment in the New York metro area as well as future outlook for the coming six months. Copies of Job Market research reports are available upon request or at www.nytimes.com/jobmarket. New York-based Beta Research Corporation, via random telephone interviews, independently conducts The New York Times Job Market research.

NOTE: Job Market research is not affiliated with the editorial operations of The New York Times newspaper and does not reflect the views of the newspaper or its journalists. Source all references to Job Market research as: The New York Times Job Market.

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