Contact: Tracy Hartman/Aloft Group, Inc.
978.462.0002 Ext. 103
thartman@aloftgroup.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 20, 2006 

Recruiter Sees Building Products Segment
In a Hiring Holding Pattern

Trend Mirrors the Segment’s “Healthy Correction”
After a Period of Aggressive Growth

Brentwood, TN – Professional jobs were more difficult to land in the first quarter, according to Gros Executive Recruiters (www.PlasticsJOBS.com). The recruiting firm validates a diminishing demand for new employees at building products manufacturers, compared to one year ago. This trend is consistent with the slowdown of new housing starts in the building industry.

“In 2005, we typically had a hiring ratio of one candidate per six candidates interviewed, yet in the first quarter of 2006, it was less than one in eighteen,” explains Nicole Butler, manager of BuildingProductsPeople, the building products department at Gros Executive Recruiters. “We’ve had clients who initiated recruiting projects in December and January, but have since abandoned those projects without hiring.”

Gros Predicts Hiring Will Resume Soon
“I see this as a healthy correction in this industry from the frantic growth pace of 2005,” says Dennis Gros, president of Gros Executive Recruiters. “While the market is cooling, it will settle into a more sustainable, healthy growth track. We predict hiring will resume in this segment in a few months, when manufacturers sense the comfort of a soft landing.”

NAHB Predicts “A Healthier Balance Between Supply and Demand Going Forward”
According to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), new home construction dipped 7.8 percent in March. Rising mortgage rates, affordability issues and subsiding demand from investors/speculators are the main culprits for builders having to adjust their viewpoint on the new-home market.

“Home builders definitely view this as something of a transition period, where demand from speculators is easing off and the market is heading to a more sustainable level of activity following the record-breaking performance of 2005,” said NAHB President David Pressly, a home builder from Statesville, N.C. “This process should help restore a healthier balance between supply and demand going forward.”

About Gros Executive Recruiters
Gros Executive Recruiters is an executive recruiting firm serving companies and individuals in the plastics industry (including machinery, resin, molding, and tooling) and its many vertical markets including building products, packaging, flexible packaging, automotive, and the medical device industry. BuildingProductsPeople is the department at Gros Executive Recruiters that serves the building products industry.

The firm holds memberships in the Society of the Plastics Industry, and the National Association of Personnel Services. Staff members of PlasticsJOBS hold memberships in the American Society for Quality, the Institute of Packaging Professionals, and the Society of Plastics Engineers. For more information, please visit www.PlasticsJOBS.com.

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