Sunday, December 05, 2010

Employee Confidence Index on the Rise

The SFN Group Employee Confidence Index edged up 0.6 points to 50.7 in November. The index, which measures workers' confidence in their personal employment situation and optimism in the economic environment, shows that although less than a quarter (22 percent) of workers believe the economy is getting stronger, nearly three-fourths (73 percent) believe it is unlikely they will lose their jobs in the next 12 months.

"We are pleased to see a continuing upward trend in our Employee Confidence Index," said Roy Krause, president and CEO of SFN Group, Inc. "Workers are showing increased optimism in their ability to find new jobs and in the security of their current positions. Although November's job numbers were below expectations, our Report mirrors improvements in several macroeconomic areas, including early indications of healthy retail sales and third quarter productivity revised higher. With the economy adding an average of 86,000 jobs each month since last December and the four-week average of new jobless claims declining to its lowest figure since August 2008, we believe the economy entered the retail holiday shopping season on a reasonably optimistic note. This could indicate a return to healthier hiring activity sooner than anticipated."



A Look Inside the Report:

Confidence in Overall Situation:

The SFN Group Employee Confidence Index edged up 0.6 points to 50.7 in November. The index, which measures workers' confidence in their personal employment situation and optimism in the economic environment, shows that although less than a quarter (22 percent) of workers believe the economy is getting stronger, nearly three-fourths (73 percent) believe it is unlikely they will lose their jobs in the next 12 months.

Confidence in Macroeconomic Environment:

  • Twenty-two percent of U.S. workers believe the economy is getting stronger, an increase of one percentage point from October.
  • Fifty-nine percent of workers believe there are fewer jobs available, down from 60 percent who believed so last month.

Confidence in Personal Employment Situation:

  • Sixty-two percent of workers are confident in the future of their current employer, a decrease of one percentage point from October.
  • The amount of workers confident in their ability to find a new job increased in October, with 42 percent reporting confidence. This is a rise of two percentage points from the previous month.

Job Security:

  • More workers believe that it is unlikely they will lose their jobs in the next 12 months. Specifically, 73 percent believe it is unlikely versus 71 percent in October.

Job Transition:

  • Thirty-two percent of workers are likely to look for a new job in the next 12 months, representing an increase of three percentage points from the previous month.

Confidence by Gender:

  • More women are confident in the future of their current employer. Specifically, 66 percent of women reported confidence versus 59 percent of men.
  • Women are more likely to believe that there are fewer jobs available, with 62 percent indicating so. On the other hand, 56 percent of men share this outlook.

Confidence by Age:

  • Nearly half (46 percent) of workers ages 45-54 believe the economy is getting weaker, the highest among all age brackets.
  • Workers ages 18-34 are the most likely among all age brackets to indicate a likelihood of making a job transition in the next 12 months, with 42 percent reporting a job change is likely.

Confidence by Income:

  • Workers earning $75K or greater were the most confident in their job security, with 81 percent reporting that it is not likely they will lose their jobs in the next 12 months.
  • Forty-two percent of workers earning less than $35K are likely to make a job transition, the highest among all income brackets.

Summary

November Full Results & ECI Index Archive

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.

To learn more, visit www.sfngroup.com.

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