WGII Washington Grp. International (MM)

Effort Begins With March 14 Open House in Denver BOISE, Idaho and DENVER, March 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Washington Group International (NASDAQ:WGII), a leading international engineering, construction, and management company, announced today its launch of a national recruiting campaign to hire more than 1,000 engineers, other professionals, and support staff. From energy to facilities management, the company is experiencing unprecedented strength in its markets. The campaign begins with an open house March 14 in Denver. The Denver open house will be followed throughout the spring by similar events in Chicago, Kansas City, Frederick, Md., and Houston. Washington Group will be hiring for domestic and international assignments in all engineering disciplines and in materials management, estimating, project controls, and construction. The announcement comes on the heels of Washington Group announcing record financial results and raising its 2007 financial guidance. "We are seeing the strongest markets in our industry in at least 30 years," said Stephen G. Hanks, Washington Group International president and chief executive officer. "This robust market is creating opportunities for talented individuals, with varying experience levels, to join our respected team of customer-focused professionals." In 2006, Washington Group's reported backlog rose 15 percent to $5.6 billion. And when long-term government and mining contracts are included, it has more than $9.5 billion in contracted work to complete in a wide range of market sectors. Over the last four years the company's net income has increased at a 39 percent compound annual growth rate, with 2006 net income up 50 percent over 2005 net income. Washington Group's new work in 2006 totaled $4.2 billion reflecting strength in power, oil and gas, industrial services, contract mining and facilities management. "Based on our robust new-work pipeline, we expect to bring in $4.8 billion to $5.2 billion of new work in 2007," Hanks said. "Opportunities are particularly strong in our power, oil and gas, industrial, and mining segments." Denver open house The Denver open house will be from 4 to 7 p.m. on March 14 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, 7800 East Tufts Avenue, in the Denver Tech Center. Of the more than 1,000 jobs the company is recruiting for, up to 200 may be for its Denver office, which supports all of Washington Group's business units and serves as the Mining Business Unit's headquarters. Other openings are in company centers in Houston, Cleveland, Princeton, N.J., and Birmingham, Ala., as well as at various project sites. Open house attendees should bring a current resume. Information on job openings is also available at http://www.wgint.com/careers. Washington Group International (NASDAQ:WGII) provides the talent, innovation, and proven performance to deliver integrated engineering, construction, and management solutions for businesses and governments worldwide. Headquartered in Boise, Idaho, with more than $3 billion in annual revenue, the company has approximately 25,000 people at work around the world providing solutions in power, environmental management, defense, oil and gas processing, mining, industrial facilities, transportation and water resources. For more information, visit http://www.wgint.com/. This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which are identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as may, will, could, should, expect, anticipate, intend, plan, estimate, or continue or the negative thereof or other variations thereof. Each forward-looking statement, including, without limitation, any financial guidance, speaks only as of the date on which it is made, and Washington Group undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which it is made or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events or circumstances. The forward-looking statements are necessarily based on assumptions and estimates of management and are inherently subject to various risks and uncertainties. Actual results may vary materially as a result of changes or developments in social, economic, business, market, legal, and regulatory circumstances or conditions, both domestically and globally, as well as due to actions by customers, clients, suppliers, business partners, or government bodies. Performance is subject to numerous factors, including demand for new power generation and for modification of existing power facilities, public sector funding, demand for extractive resources, capital spending plans of customers, and spending levels and priorities of the U.S., state and other governments. Results may also vary as a result of difficulties or delays experienced in the execution of contracts or implementation of strategic initiatives. For additional risks and uncertainties impacting the forward-looking statements contained in this news release, please see "Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information" and "Item 1A. Risk Factors" in Washington Group's annual report on Form 10-K for fiscal year 2006. DATASOURCE: Washington Group International CONTACT: Media, Jerry Holloway or Laurie Spiegelberg, +1-208-386-5255, or Investors, Earl Ward, +1-208-386-5698, all of Washington Group International Web site: http://www.wgint.com/

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