Unicru Announces New On-Site Device and IVR Hiring Solutions

Announcements complete the most comprehensive suite of employee sourcing solutions for retailers, foodservice and other highly decentralized employers

PORTLAND, Ore. & NEW YORK, NY – January 17, 2005 – Addressing the unique on-site hiring challenges of small footprint retailers and restaurants, Unicru Inc.® today announced two new application capture options: HirePort,™ a proprietary low cost, off-line, application capture and hiring management station, and support for Interactive Voice Response(IVR) for applicant capture screening, assessment via phone. In combination with Unicru’s entry level Pronto™ hiring station, Internet and multimedia workstation kiosks, Unicru offers the most comprehensive and versatile sourcing strategy on the market to increase applicant flow, streamline the application capture process, and enable companies with highly decentralized hiring environments and limited IT infrastructure to attract and hire the highest quality employees. Unicru currently supports over 20,000 locations for its clients with employee populations ranging from 5 to 20,000 per location.

Industry studies show that up to 70% of applicants for hourly jobs in the retail and dining industries walk in and apply in the location they desire to work. On-site application capture is a critical element of any strategy to maximize access to quality hourly applicants in these industries. Other staffing vendors either have no options for low cost on-site application capture or rely on consumer-grade devices or PCs without the ruggedness required for reliable production operation. Unicru’s HirePort is the only on-site solution designed specifically to enable employers with many locations to efficiently attract, assess, hire and terminate employees. Its low cost, high functionality, easy portability and attractive appearance make for a great candidate experience even if the employer has only telephone connectivity to that location. HirePort has already been deployed at two customers with general availability in March 2005.

To provide additional flexibility in sourcing candidates Unicru is also announcing support for IVR application capture, screening and assessment in its solutions. Unicru’s IVR capability can be used in conjunction with both on-site and web-based candidate experiences to maximize an organization’s ability to attract the widest possible candidate pool.

“Our locations are not conducive to high-technology applications nor do we have the physical space for large devices,” said Roger Ahlfeld, Uno’s VP of human resources and training. “I’ve seen the HirePort device and it is evident Unicru took these constraints into consideration during the development process. We’re excited to put HirePort in place at all of our locations and hear the applicants’ feedback on the sleek design.”

A Complete Sourcing Strategy
Unicru now offers the industry’s most comprehensive and advanced candidate sourcing strategy incorporating deep industry knowledge and expertise around “always on” 24-hour application capture for distributed service industries such as retail and dining including:

 State of the art applicant capture technology options including

o Online corporate career sites
o On-site, low cost, portable hiring stations
o Interactive Voice Response (IVR)
o On-site Internet hiring stations
o On-site Multimedia hiring stations
 Support for multiple brands, multiple sites and
multiple foot-prints
 Consistent hiring process in a highly distributed environment  Elimination of illegible applications
 Reduction in filing and processing massive amounts of paperwork
 Electronic capture with integrated assessments of applicants allows the hiring managers to spend less time screening and interviewing candidates
 Re-hire programs to ensure quick processing of applicants who were valuable past employees and quick elimination of past employees terminated for cause
 Mass hire programs for seasonal and new site openings
 Secure transmission and storage of applicant collection data
 Best practice consulting around federal and state application, Americans with Disability Act and EEOC regulations
Unicru’s sourcing strategy does not end once a client is deployed, but is refined over time as Unicru continually reports to its clients the best sources for job applicants-not just those that generate large volumes. Source reporting and analysis is effectively done when providing multiple sourcing options. Unicru fully integrates the sourcing solutions with pre-screen questions, behavior-based and job-specific assessments, and extensive background checks to efficiently capture and rank the best candidates for the job.

About HirePort

HirePort™ is the most versatile electronic job application device on the market. This revolutionary next generation device is a mobile, easy-to-use device strictly designed for the purpose of capturing employment applications for a wide range of environments including small footprint retail sites and casual dining establishments. HirePort can be permanently mounted and wired for automatic applicant processing or used as a portable unit where application data is stored on the device over time and then automatically transmitted when attached to the docking station. This flexibility is essential for clients with locations where every square foot means revenue. This low-cost, low maintenance versatility makes it ideal for additional deployment options including mass hire and new store openings. Additionally, with a large, easy-to-read LCD screen, rugged in design, and simple key-based navigation, HirePort offers the best off-line candidate experience available on the market today.

About Unicru
Unicru is the leading provider of Total Workforce Acquisition solutions that enable enterprises to systematically select the highest quality employees across job roles throughout the enterprise to positively impact corporate outcomes through workforce initiatives. Unicru combines scientifically-proven employee selection assessments, applicant recruitment, hiring management decision support, and complete data capture for measurement and continuous improvement of business results for over 60 enterprises including Rock Bottom, The Finish Line, Blockbuster, Albertsons, Kroger, and Uno Chicago Grill. For more information, visit www.unicru.com.