Industrial Leaders Join Forces To Develop Web-Based Technical Skills Training

January 8, 2001

Alisa Viejo, CA and DALLAS --- Fluor Global Services, a Fluor Corp. (NYSE:FLR) company, and PRIMEDIA Workplace Learning (PWPL), a Primedia (NYSE:PRM) company, today announced the creation of a global strategic alliance that will co-develop and deliver 80 online courses to serve the continuing education needs of industrial maintenance and operations personnel.

Fluor, ranked No. 1 in the engineering and construction category of FORTUNE magazine's World's Most Admired Companies list, will collaborate with PWPL in creating the 80-program Maintenance Technician Training online series for the petrochemical, utility and general manufacturing sectors. PWPL, a veteran leader in industrial skills training, will now deliver its array of maintenance and operations programs via the Web.

"A highly-skilled workforce is the linchpin to the superior service Fluor delivers its customers," said J. William Leistner, President of Operations & Maintenance for Fluor Global Services. "This alliance enables us to tap PWPL's extensive experience and rich content to provide thousands of our employees essential technical skills training while reaping efficiency benefits offered by online learning."

In addition to training Fluor employees, Fluor and PWPL plan to market the online courses to their customers. Beginning in April 2001, customers will be able to access the Maintenance Technician series through a PWPL-hosted 'vortal' site or can opt for on-site installations, enabling delivery via corporate intranets. Following completion of the series, the alliance partners plan to expand their online learning catalog to cover other topics relevant to the industrial sector, including automation control and instrumentation training, process operator training, and power plant operations training.

The alliance was formed in response to a growing demand for training content delivered via the Web. Online training is expected to double yearly, according to The MASIE Center, a research firm specializing in technology-based training.

"Businesses worldwide are turning to online learning as a flexible, cost-effective way to deliver training and to more closely align their performance improvement strategies with their business goals," said Josh Klarin, President and Chief Executive Officer of PWPL. "Our ultimate goal in forming this alliance is to leverage the combined strengths of Fluor's subject matter expertise and PWPL's multimedia training capabilities and content resources to produce technical skills training that improves our customers' bottom lines."

A study by PriceWaterthouseCoopers indicates that 70 percent of Fortune 1000 companies cite lack of trained employees as the primary barrier to sustaining growth. Online training provides businesses an attractive solution to this impediment because it reduces traditional training costs by more than 45 percent, according to a study by IDC, a technology research firm. Web-based training increases productivity, delivers consistent programming, and supports continuous learning, the report says.

Fluor Global Services is a premier provider of customized solutions to optimize the life cycle value of clients' capital assets and to allow clients to focus on their core business competencies. A Fluor Corporation enterprise, Fluor Global Services provides consulting and state-of-the-art services in telecommunications; operations and maintenance; program and asset management; industrial equipment and tools; property services; and federal services. Drawing from almost 100 years of experience, Fluor Global Services' workforce executes programs for cutting-edge facilities and delivers knowledge-based services to worldwide businesses, industrial markets, and the U. S. Government. Its exceptional safety record consistently sets a performance standard for the business services sector. Fluor Global Services serves industries as diverse as petroleum, chemicals, industrial process, power, manufacturing, and telecommunications.

With 2000, revenues of $10 billion, Fluor Corporation provides services on a global basis in the fields of engineering, procurement, construction, operations, maintenance, project management and business services.

PRIMEDIA Workplace Learning (PWPL), a Primedia (NYSE:PRM) company, is the leading provider of distance learning for more than 1.6 million viewers in the automotive, banking, fire, healthcare, industrial and law enforcement markets. For more details on PWPL, visit www.pwpl.com.

PWPL's Industrial Services Group is a one-stop source for industrial training. It provides maintenance, operations, technical and safety training products on the Web, video and CD-ROM for the process, discrete manufacturing and utility markets. Its products include Tel-A-Train, Industrial Training Systems (ITS) and NUS Training. For more details, see www.workplacetraining.com or call 972.309.4559.

PRIMEDIA Inc., with 1999 sales from continuing businesses of $1.7 billion, is a targeted media company with print, video and Internet businesses focused on consumer and business-to-business audiences. The Company publishes more than 220 magazines, and owns and operates approximately than 300 Web sites and other Internet properties. PRIMEDIA's stock ymbol NYSE: PRM