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Taleo Corporation: Leading Retailers Select Taleo to Bolster Business With the Right Hires at the Right Time

^{Published on 2009-05-13 07:14:38, Last Modified on 2009-11-02 11:54:08 - Market Wire}
 

DUBLIN, CA--(Marketwire - May 13, 2009) - Taleo (NASDAQ: [ TLEO ]), the leading provider of on-demand talent management solutions, today announced sales interest and traction across the retail sector, one of the industries hit hardest by the economy. In fact, some of the best known brands in the retail market around the globe are turning to Taleo's online recruiting products to cut costs and optimize their workforce management processes.

Annual staff turnover in the retail industry can range from 80% to over 100% and many retailers receive an average of 26 applications per hire. These are just two of the factors causing retailers of all sizes to look for software tools to help streamline the increasingly demanding recruiting process. Despite headlines announcing workforce reductions across much of the retail industry, savvy retailers are getting a leg up on the market and their competitors with cost-effective solutions from Taleo.

New retail customers Jones NY, Panera Bread Company and VF Corporation selected Taleo as their single hiring platform for all position types. These companies join other retail organizations, such as Kenneth Cole, Domino's, OfficeMax, Boscov's, Super Supplements, Bon Ton and Lush Cosmetics, who have selected Taleo's robust and flexible solution to generate efficiencies, reduce turnover and increase productivity for optimum talent management.

"With the high level of churn typically seen in the retail industry, retailers are selecting Taleo to help them effectively engage top talent, reduce costs and improve productivity throughout the entire organization," said Neil Hudspith, Executive Vice President, Worldwide Field Operations. "In today's volatile economy, retailers cannot afford to partner with inexperienced vendors and those facing significant operational challenges. Taleo has a proven track record of successful implementations and our functionality and vision are superior to other vendors in our space."

Jones NY, a leading designer, marketer and wholesaler of branded apparel, footwear and accessories, markets directly to consumers through its chain of specialty retail and value-based stores. For more than 30 years, the company has built a reputation for excellence in product quality and value, and in operational execution.

Panera Bread Company owns and franchises over 1,200 bakery-cafes under the Panera Bread® and Saint Louis Bread Co® names in North America. It is expanding quickly across North America, operating bakery-cafes in 40 states and in Canada. With its identity rooted in handcrafted, fresh-baked, artisan bread, Panera Bread is committed to providing great tasting, quality food that people can trust.

VF Corporation is a global leader in lifestyle apparel with a diverse portfolio of jeanswear, outdoor, imagewear, sportswear and contemporary apparel brands. With over 30 lifestyle brands and over 44,000 associates working in locations across the globe, VF Corporation brands are sold in more than 150 countries through 67,000 retailers in all channels of distribution, from mass market to department stores to specialty retailers.

About Taleo

Taleo (NASDAQ: [ TLEO ]) is the leader in on-demand unified talent management solutions that empower organizations of all sizes to assess, acquire, develop and align their workforces for improved business performance. More than 3,900 organizations use Taleo for talent acquisition and performance management, including 48 of the Fortune 100 and over 3,300 small and medium sized businesses across 200 countries and territories. Known for its strong configurability and usability, Taleo runs on a world-class infrastructure and offers 99.9% availability. Taleo's Talent Grid harnesses the resources of the Taleo community of customers, candidates, and partners to power the talent needs of companies around the world.

Forward-looking Statements

This release contains forward-looking statements, including statements regarding Taleo's sales momentum and future success in the retain sector, the demand for and results from use of Taleo's solutions and general business conditions. Any forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based upon Taleo's historical performance and its current plans, estimates and expectations and are not a representation that such plans, estimates, or expectations will be achieved. These forward-looking statements represent Taleo's expectations as of the date of this press announcement. Subsequent events may cause these expectations to change, and Taleo disclaims any obligation to update the forward-looking statements in the future. These forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially. Further information on potential factors that could affect actual results is included in Part I, Item 1A of Taleo's Annual Report on Form 10-K, as filed with the SEC on April 30, 2009 Part II, Item 1A of Taleo's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, as filed with the SEC on April 30, 2009, and in other reports filed by Taleo with the SEC.