Monster Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE:MWW):

December 2011 Index Highlights:

  • The Monster Employment Index Europe demonstrates a year-over-year growth of 11 percent in December, the slowest rate of growth seen in the Index since mid- 2010
  • Germany continues to report the strongest growth trend of 32 percent, followed by 6 percent growth in UK and 4 percent in Sweden
  • Belgium, France, Italy and Netherlands weigh down the Index with negative annual growth
  • Engineering, up 28 percent, continues to register the largest rate of annual growth of all industries and leads for the fourth consecutive month despite a slightly eased pace from the 32 percent annual growth recorded in November
  • Telecommunications, Production and Environment, architecture and urbanism record positive growth in December
  • Public sector, down 14 percent, continues to remain among the slowest growth industries. Legal and Management and consulting also track annual rates of decline

The Monster Employment Index Europe is a monthly gauge of online job demand based on a real-time review of millions of employer job opportunities culled from a large representative selection of career web sites and online job listings across Europe. The Index does not reflect the trend of any one advertiser or source, but is an aggregate measure of the change in job listings across the industry.

"While this month's European Index continues to reflect the ongoing uncertainty of the broader global economy with generally slowed rates of annual growth in online recruitment, overall activity remains positive at 11% year-over-year. A decline from November to December is typical for this time of the year as employers scale back hiring activity and focus on closing out the year," commented Alan Townsend, Vice President of Sales Readiness and Business Operations for Monster Europe. "Positive growth continues for a number of white-collar industries such as engineering and architecture, which has been particularly bolstered by activity across larger markets, including Germany and UK, and has served to contribute to the overall positive annual rate of growth."

Monster Employment Index Europe results for the past 18 months are as follows:

Jul
10

 

Aug
10

 

Sep
10

 

Oct
10

 

Nov
10

 

Dec
10

 

Jan
11

 

Feb
11

 

Mar
11

 

Apr
11

 

May
11

 

Jun
11

 

Jul
11

 

Aug
11

 

Sep
11

 

Oct
11

 

Nov
11

 

Dec
11

 

Y-O-Y

115   115   117   122   122   122   116   125   131   136   135   140   139   139   138   139   139   136   11%

Industry Year-over-year Trends: 21 of the 24 industry sectors monitored by the Index in December exhibited positive annual growth trends.

  • Engineering (up 28 percent) led all industries for the fourth consecutive month, closely followed by Transport, post and logistics (up 27 percent) and Production, manufacturing, maintenance and repair (up 24 percent). All experienced reduced rates of annual growth aligned with a tempered pace of expansion across the manufacturing industry
  • Telecommunication (up 24 percent) experienced a slight slowdown in annual growth rate, dropping from third to fourth place in the Index but saw continued sector demand across sales and support opportunities, as well as technical roles
  • Environment, architecture, urbanism (up nine percent) noted an increased rate of annual growth compared to last month's four percent, as online demand strengthened in larger markets such as the UK and France
  • Education, training, library (up one percent) reversed last month's net annual decline with escalated recruitment activity across territories including Belgium, UK, Nordic countries and areas of Eastern Europe
  • Public sector, defence, community (down 14 percent) continued to note further reductions in annual online recruitment activity alongside Legal (down five percent) and Management and consulting (down five percent)
Top Growth Industries   Lowest Growth Industries
                           
Industry  

Dec
10

 

Dec
11

 

%
Y-O-Y
Growth

Industry  

Dec
10

 

Dec
11

 

%
Y-O-Y
Growth

Engineering   134   172   28% Education, training and library   215   218   1%
Transport, post and logistics   151   192   27% Arts, entertainment, sports, leisure   108   109   1%
Production, manufacturing, maintenance, repair   209   259   24% Management and consulting   109   104   -5%
Telecommunication   88   109   24% Legal   118   112   -5%
Real estate   103   121   17% Public sector, defence, community   87   75   -14%

Occupation Year-over-year Trends: Eight out of the nine occupational groups monitored by the Index in December continued to exhibit positive growth trends.

  • Craft and related trades (up 32 percent) noted a slight slowdown in annual recruitment demand but was by far the leading occupational group in the Index for the eighth consecutive month
  • Skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery workers (up 20 percent) saw significant growth in online recruitment demand in December, moving up the Index rankings to place second
  • Managers (down two percent) moved into negative growth territory and was the only occupational group to note annual decline in online recruitment activity following several consecutive months of relatively muted recruitment
Top Growth Occupations   Lowest Growth Occupations
                           
Occupation  

Dec
10

 

Dec
11

 

%
Y-O-Y
Growth

Occupation  

Dec
10

 

Dec
11

 

%
Y-O-Y
Growth

Craft and related trades workers   180   238   32% Professionals   122   133   9%
Skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery workers   153   184   20% Plant and machine operators, and assemblers   108   116   7%
Clerical support workers   127   144   13% Managers   114   112   -2%

The full monthly Monster Employment Index reports for Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom will be made available on Tuesday, 10th January at 06:00 CET at: http://aboutmonster.com/employment/index/17.

Data for the month of January 2012 will be released on February 3, 2012.

By Region

Region  

Dec
10

 

Jan
11

 

Feb
11

 

Mar
11

 

Apr
11

 

May
11

 

Jun
11

 

Jul
11

 

Aug
11

 

Sep
11

 

Oct
11

 

Nov
11

 

Dec
11

 

Y-O-Y
GROWTH

Belgium   110   101   113   120   125   119   118   113   109   102   107   102   101  

-8%

France   134   124   136   138   146   144   150   148   139   132   139   136   132   -1%
Germany   134   133   139   151   159   158   164   166   172   175   171   175   177   32%
Italy   152   135   134   145   147   145   142   148   140   132   143   146   141   -7%
Netherlands   92   89   90   95   97   98   97   96   92   88   89   86   86   -7%
Sweden   152   143   163   161   167   170   161   149   146   149   148   150   158   4%
United Kingdom   133   128   139   137   138   136   141   140   138   135   140   140   141   6%

By Industry

                           
Industry  

Dec
10

 

Jan
11

 

Feb
11

 

Mar
11

 

Apr
11

 

May
11

 

Jun
11

 

Jul
11

 

Aug
11

 

Sep
11

 

Oct
11

 

Nov
11

 

Dec
11

 

Y-O-Y
GROWTH

Accounting, audit, taxes   92   91   93   99   102   101   102   101   98   97   99   99   98   7%
Administrative, organisation   97   95   102   107   107   108   112   109   112   110   111   111   111   14%
Agriculture, fishing and forestry   101   90   109   125   131   130   140   134   133   130   124   123   117   16%
Arts, entertainment, sports, leisure   108   105   106   111   112   113   119   116   113   107   108   110   109   1%
Automotive   109   101   113   117   122   125   135   126   132   128   124   124   114   5%
Banking, finance, insurance   84   80   83   88   91   88   86   89   88   86   87   87   87   4%
Construction and extraction   122   113   122   129   134   135   141   140   144   142   138   137   130   7%
Education, training and library   215   192   211   200   215   218   233   218   208   191   205   202   218   1%
Engineering   134   130   143   152   163   157   161   164   167   168   170   172   172   28%
Environment, architecture and urbanism   98   91   93   95   102   96   103   102   102   101   102   103   107   9%
Healthcare, social work   576   575   612   635   628   623   640   633   624   625   594   628   613   6%
Hospitality and tourism   212   195   217   243   257   257   256   244   247   256   252   251   238   12%
HR   88   85   90   93   95   95   96   95   95   94   94   94   94   7%
IT   94   93   97   100   101   100   104   103   101   99   101   103   102   9%
Legal   118   111   121   121   121   118   119   117   117   114   116   118   112   -5%
Management and consulting   109   109   109   113   115   111   115   114   114   112   110   108   104   -5%
Marketing, PR and media   136   131   136   144   149   143   149   147   148   143   146   143   139   2%
Production, manufacturing, maintenance, repair   209   200   218   238   251   248   259   264   269   271   270   267   259   24%
Public sector, defence, community   87   81   84   87   84   82   83   81   81   80   81   80   75   -14%
Real estate   103   104   111   122   130   126   123   121   120   118   125   124   121   17%
Research and development   111   107   115   118   122   121   123   121   120   119   119   119   117   5%
Sales   103   97   106   107   108   107   112   110   109   108   111   111   107   4%
Telecommunications   88   86   97   99   112   113   102   105   109   109   114   114   109   24%
Transport, post and logistics   151   144   150   162   176   182   190   195   193   195   196   195   192   27%

By Occupation

                           
Occupation  

Dec
10

 

Jan
11

 

Feb
11

 

Mar
11

 

Apr
11

 

May
11

 

Jun
11

 

Jul
11

 

Aug
11

 

Sep
11

 

Oct
11

 

Nov
11

 

Dec
11

 

Y-O-Y
GROWTH

Managers   114   112   113   115   117   113   118   118   115   111   113   108   112   -2%
Professionals   122   117   126   131   136   133   137   137   136   134   135   136   133   9%
Technicians and associate professionals   113   108   116   122   123   126   127   124   125   124   126   127   125   11%
Clerical support workers   127   123   133   138   142   143   146   144   147   143   145   144   144   13%
Service and sales workers   260   234   265   286   301   298   311   300   297   303   303   304   288   11%
Skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery workers   153   136   164   189   200   196   220   208   205   203   194   191   184   20%
Craft and related workers   180   172   190   206   220   221   230   236   242   246   245   247   238   32%
Plant and machine operators, and assemblers   108   100   110   119   124   122   129   125   124   122   122   113   116   7%
Elementary occupations   166   153   162   178   187   180   194   195   202   203   195   196   182   10%

About The Monster Employment Index Europe

The Monster Employment Index Europe provides monthly insight into online recruitment trends across the European Union. Launched in June 2005 with data from December 2004, the Index is based on a review of millions of employer job opportunities culled from a large, representative selection of corporate career sites and job boards, including Monster. The Monster Employment Index's underlying data is validated for accuracy by Research America, Inc. - an independent, third-party auditing firm - to ensure that measured national online job recruitment activity is within a margin of error of +/- 1.05%.

The Index monitors online job opportunities across all European Union member countries.

The monthly reports for Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, the United Kingdom and Europe are available at: http://about-monster.com/employment/index/17.

About Monster Worldwide

Monster Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: MWW - News), parent company of Monster, the premier global online employment solution for more than a decade, strives to inspire people to improve their lives. With a local presence in key markets in North America, Europe, and Asia, Monster works for everyone by connecting employers with quality job seekers at all levels and by providing personalized career advice to consumers globally. Through online media sites and services, Monster delivers vast, highly targeted audiences to advertisers. To learn more about Monster's industry-leading products and services, visit www.monster.com. More information about Monster Worldwide is available at http://about-monster.com.

Special Note: Safe Harbor Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Except for historical information contained herein, the statements made in this release constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such forward-looking statements involve certain risks and uncertainties, including statements regarding Monster Worldwide, Inc.'s strategic direction, prospects and future results. Certain factors, including factors outside of Monster Worldwide's control, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward- looking statements, including economic and other conditions in the markets in which Monster Worldwide operates, risks associated with acquisitions, competition and the other risks discussed in Monster Worldwide's Form 10-K and other filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which discussions are incorporated in this release by reference.

Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=50124649&lang=en

Weber Shandwick
Hannah Lifford, +44 (0)207 067 0500
MonsterEurope@webershandwick.com