ENCOURAGING INCREASE IN MID-MANAGEMENT HIRING ANTICIPATED

(Cleveland, Ohio) – Amid growing confidence that the economic recovery is accelerating, anticipated new hires in the mid-to-upper level managerial and professional sector of the workforce have taken a significant leap over the same projections for the last half of 2003. These findings come from a recent survey conducted by Management Recruiters International, Inc. (MRI), the world’s largest search and recruitment organization. MRI is a subsidiary CDI Corp. (NYSE:CDI), a leading professional services and outsourcing firm.

Of the 685 executives surveyed, 47.6 percent indicated plans to make additions to their staffs during the first half of 2004, up by 10.4 points from the second half of 2003. Another 45 percent plan to maintain their current staff sizes, down by 10.1 points, and 7.4 percent plan to decrease their staff, down by .5 of a point.

MRI President and CEO Allen Salikof commented, "Clearly many of the companies who were holding off on hiring have begun to let go of their wait-and-see position. Now that businesses are tentatively prepared to make capital investments and factories are seeing an increase in demand, companies are reevaluating their staff levels. After several years of job cutting and unfilled positions, they know they have to start hiring in order to meet that demand.”

Another finding from the survey also supports this optimism about the economy. After the false starts of the last two years, the respondents were asked if they thought it was likely that the current upsurge in the economy would be sustainable. The majority expressed confidence that the recovery is real: 43.8 percent felt that it likely and another 9.3 percent thought that it was extremely likely. Another 31.5 percent thought it was somewhat likely, and only 13.4 percent thought is was unlikely or extremely unlikely. “Frequently this kind of confidence is enough to provide the fuel to strengthen the recovery,” said Mr. Salikof. “We expect – and in fact are already seeing – renewed hiring activity.”

NEED FOR NEW HIRES VARIES BY INDUSTRY

Although plans to hire vary greatly among key industry sectors, a number of industries indicate plans to hire above the national average:

Industry	Increase
Technology	62.2%
Healthcare	59.5%
Automotive	53.1%
Finance	52.3%
Pharmaceuticals	47.7%
Manufacturing	36.8%

“Many companies in the manufacturing sector are reporting that new orders and production are up,” commented Mr. Salikof, “and productivity in general increased significantly in 2003. In fact, the third quarter ended with the biggest increase in 20 years. Some industries like technology, which had been lagging, are now anticipating large increases in new hires.”

Ongoing National Survey

This is the 53rd in an ongoing series of polls conducted by Management Recruiters International, Inc. (MRI). The survey was conducted in accordance with the professional and ethical standards of the American Marketing Association and the Marketing Research Association.

Management Recruiters International, Inc. (www.BrilliantPeople.com), is the world’s largest search and recruitment organization with nearly 1,000 offices worldwide. Based in Cleveland, MRI has systemwide billings of $500 million and places 45,000 people in jobs annually. MRI is a subsidiary of staffing and outsourcing leader CDI Corp. (NYSE: CDI), a global provider of engineering and information technology project delivery and specialized staffing for Fortune 1000 companies (www.cdicorp.com).

ENCOURAGING INCREASE IN MID-MANAGEMENT HIRING ANTICIPATED

NEED FOR NEW HIRES VARIES BY INDUSTRY

Although plans to hire vary greatly among key industry sectors, a number of industries indicate plans to hire above the national average:

Industry