Transaction in Own Shares

Hays PLC
19 December 2005

                                    Hays plc

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                             Purchase of own shares

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Hays plc announces that it has purchased the following number of its ordinary
shares of £0.01 each on the London Stock Exchange via UBS Investment Bank.



Ordinary shares:

Date of purchase:                                             19 December 2005

Number of ordinary shares purchased:                          2,379,857

Highest price paid per share:                                 124.5p

Lowest price paid per share:                                  124.25p

Volume weighted average price per share:                      124.4995p



Hays intends to hold the purchased shares in treasury.



Following the purchase of these shares, Hays holds 148,445,458 of its ordinary
shares in treasury and has 1,500,651,108 ordinary shares in issue (excluding
treasury shares).




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