TMP stock tumbles as Chief Operating Officer resigns

August 8 2002 - The value of TMP Worldwide shares fell by 30 per cent yesterday after James J. Treacy, TMP's President and Chief Operating Officer (COO), announced his resignation. TMP owns Monster - the world's largest job search website.

44-year-old Treacy was TMP's second-in-command, having joined TMP Worldwide in 1994 as chief executive officer of the company's Recruitment Advertising Division. He led the division from its infancy to its current position as one of the world's largest recruitment advertising businesses.

Significantly he played a key role in the acquisition of Monster in 1995 and the creation of TMP's cross-selling strategy known as "feeding the Monster." Treacy will stay with TMP until his successor is found and will retain his seat on the company's board after he leaves.

"Jim is a superb leader with keen management skills and talent. Since joining TMP Worldwide eight years ago, our company has thrived under his strategic guidance and benefited greatly from his operational sensibilities and commitment to delivering continuous and meaningful results," said Andrew J. McKelvey, Chairman and CEO of TMP Worldwide.

"As company president and COO, Jim led our efforts to align our operations with the reality of today's human resource marketplace, and championed many of the online recruitment innovations and strategies that have enabled us to provide clients with the broadest array of human capital solutions in the industry. While I will miss his daily contributions, I am pleased that we can still count on his insight and counsel as a member of the company's Board of Directors."

Treacy explained that he wanted the top job at a major global company:
"My tenure and experience at TMP Worldwide has been extraordinary. With Andy's contract as CEO being renewed until May 2005 and my personal aspirations to be chief executive officer of a major global company, I realized it was time for me to move on, and Andy supported my decision," said Mr. Treacy. "I'm looking forward to working with Andy and the rest of TMP's senior management team to make this transition a smooth and seamless one."

His resignation came on the same day as the company also announced a $504.1 million second-quarter loss. The loss, equating to $4.53 per share, contrasts with a profit of $19.8 million, or 17 cents per share in the same quarter a year ago. TMP also announced that it is in the process of cutting 1,000 jobs and closing 102 offices. As of June 30, 2002, the company said that approximately 750 positions had been eliminated and 60 offices had already been exited.

Founded in 1967, TMP Worldwide Inc. had over 10,000 employees in 33 countries at the end of 2001, and claims to be the world's largest Recruitment Advertising agency network, and one of the world's largest Executive Search & Executive Selection agencies. Monster is headquartered in Maynard, Mass. It is the world's largest global careers website, recording over 41.1 million unique visits during the month of June 2002 according to independent research conducted by I/PRO. TMP is also one of the world's largest Yellow Pages advertising agencies.

"We continue to be challenged by the 'jobless recovery' and its impact on our businesses," said McKelvey. "Specifically, in the second quarter, commissions and fees for Monster, Executive Search, and Monstermoving were below our expectations."

Commenting on the job search situation, Jim Nagel, VP Business Development for 20interviews.com said: We know the usual free resume posting sites generate their revenue from employment agencies and employers paying to access their resume databases. Now that the job market has swung in the opposite direction (more candidates - not enough job openings) there is no need to pay thousands of dollars to these sites in order to find candidates.

"Yet the problem remains for the candidate," added Nagel, "and that is the ongoing search to find a job. We saw the need for a fresh approach. 20interviews gives the jobseeker an opportunity to get 100% resume exposure to the hiring world because we do not charge an access fee to our resume databank."

For more information on 20interviews see:

A New Option for Jobseekers, Recruiters and Employers