U.S. Employment Report: Employee Confidence Declines as Workers Remain Apprehensive about Macroeconomic and Personal Employment Situation

Spherion
Published: August 6th, 2010

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. // PRNewswire // -- The SFN Group Employee Confidence Index dropped 3.2 points to 48.4 in July. The index, which measures workers' confidence in their personal employment situation and optimism in the economic environment, decreased as a result of more workers being concerned about the economy, job availability, and their personal employment situation.

"It is no surprise that workers feel increased anxiety, given recent headlines suggesting that the economic recovery is slowing and unemployment levels remain high," said Roy Krause, president and CEO of SFN Group, Inc. "Despite these mixed reports, it should be noted that more workers indicate that they are likely to look for a new job in the next year. Additionally, the number of people planning a job change not only rose from last month, but has consistently remained near forty percent despite the ebbs and flows of the economy. We continue to see positive signs within our own business, as an increasing number of clients are exploring ways to bring more flexibility to their workforce. I expect these positive trends to continue as we move forward."

A Look Inside the Report:

Confidence in Overall Situation:

The SFN Group Employee Confidence Index dropped 3.2 points to 48.4 in July. The index, which measures workers' confidence in their personal employment situation and optimism in the economic environment, decreased as a result of more workers being concerned about the economy, job availability, and their personal employment situation.

Confidence in Macroeconomic Environment:

• Twenty percent of U.S. workers believe the economy is getting stronger, down four percentage points from June.
• Only eight percent of workers surveyed believe there are more jobs available, a six percentage point decrease from the previous month.

Confidence in Personal Employment Situation:

• Fewer workers are confident in their ability to find a new job. Specifically, 39 percent versus 42 percent in July.
• The percentage of workers reporting confidence in the future of their current employers dropped six percentage points to 59 percent.

Job Security:

• Sixty-eight percent of workers believe they are likely to lose their jobs in the next year, decreasing one percentage point from the previous month.

Job Transition:

• Thirty-seven percent of workers are likely to look for a new job in the next 12 months, showing a two percentage increase from June's reading.

Confidence by Gender:

• More males than females believe the economy is getting weaker. Specifically, 42 percent of males believe the economy is getting weaker compared to 37 percent of females.
• Sixty-five percent of males believe there are fewer jobs available versus 60 percent of women.
• In July, women were less confident in their ability to find a new job compared to men. Specifically, 36 percent of women were confident versus 42 percent of men.

Confidence by Age:

• According to the latest results, 26 percent of workers ages 18-34 years old believe the economy is getting stronger, the highest among all age brackets.
• Workers ages 35-44 are the most confident in their ability to find a new job. Specifically, 43 percent are confident as compared to 38 percent of all other age groups surveyed.
• More than half (54 percent) of workers ages 18-24 revealed that they are likely to make a job transition in the next 12 months. This was the highest among all age brackets.

Confidence by Income:

• Workers earning less than $35K are the most likely to believe that the economy is getting weaker, with 42 percent of those surveyed in this income bracket believing so.
• Sixty-seven percent of workers earning $75K or greater are confident in the future of their current employer — the highest among all income cohorts.
• Forty-five percent of workers earning less than $35K indicated that they are likely to make a job transition in the next 12 months. This is the highest percentage amongst all income brackets.

Summary

July Full Results and Archive Information

Methodology

About the SFN Group Employment Report

About Harris Interactive

About SFN Group, Inc.

SFN Group is a strategic workforce solutions company that provides professional services and general staffing to help businesses more effectively source, deploy and manage people and the work they do. As an industry pioneer, SFN Group has sourced, screened and placed millions of individuals in temporary, temp-to-hire and full-time jobs for more than 60 years.

With approximately 550 locations in the United States and Canada, SFN delivers strategic workforce solutions that improve business performance. From outsourcing to technology to professional services to staffing, SFN delivers the best combination of people, performance, and service to improve the way work gets done. It provides its services to approximately 8,000 customers, from Fortune 500 companies to a wide range of small and mid-size organizations. The company employs more than 160,000 people annually through its network and is one of North America's largest employers. SFN provides its solutions through a family of specialized businesses: Technisource, Tatum, The Mergis Group, Todays Office Professionals, SourceRight Solutions and Spherion Staffing Services.

SOURCE SFN Group