More Workers Apprehensive about Strength of Economy
July 2, 2010 
6 Comments
The SFN Group Employee Confidence Index dropped 1.0 points to 51.6 in June. 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 with the strength of the economy.
“Mirroring other confidence reports just released, our latest Employee Confidence Index took a slight dip this month,” said Roy Krause, president and CEO of SFN Group, Inc. “Workers are a bit more apprehensive about the state of economy given the market’s reaction to the latest job reports, the Gulf Coast oil spill, as well as the European debt crisis. Given all this, the job situation isn’t as grim as it may seem. The number of temporary help services jobs has increased since last October — this is a strong indicator of more employment growth to come. Within our own business, we are seeing a pick-up within the technology, mortgage services and administrative and clerical fields. In addition, we are also starting to see a rise in middle management searches within the finance and accounting field. Discussions with our clients are now moving towards how to support their increasing workloads and how to add flexibility to their workforce.”
A Look Inside the Report:
Confidence in Overall Situation:
The SFN Group Employee Confidence Index dropped 1.0 points to 51.6 in June. 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 with the strength of the economy.
Confidence in Macroeconomic Environment:
- Twenty-four percent of U.S. workers believe the economy is getting stronger, down five percentage points from May.
- Fifty-seven percent of workers surveyed believe there are fewer jobs available, decreasing two percentage points from the previous month.
Confidence in Personal Employment Situation:
- Forty-two percent of workers are confident in their ability to find a new job compared to 43 percent in May.
- The percentage of workers reporting confidence in the future of their current employers increased by two percentage points to 65 percent.
Job Security:
- Sixty-nine percent of workers say they are unlikely to lose their jobs in the next year, decreasing two percentage points from the previous month.
Job Transition:
- Thirty-five percent of workers are likely to look for a new job in the next 12 months, showing no change from May’s reading.
Confidence by Gender:
- Twenty-seven percent of males believe the economy is getting stronger compared to 22 percent of females.
- When asked if they are confident in their ability to find a new job, more males reported optimism, with 47 percent reporting confidence (versus 37 percent of females).
- Less females than males reported that they are likely to look for a new job in the next year (33 percent of females versus 37 percent of males).
Confidence by Age:
- According to the latest results, 28 percent of workers ages 55+ believe that the economy is getting stronger, the highest among all age brackets.
- Workers ages 35-44 are the most confident in the future of their current employer, with 71 percent of workers in this age group indicating so.
- Forty-eight percent of workers between the ages of 18-34 are likely to look for a new job in the next year. This is the highest among all age brackets.
Confidence by Income:
- Workers earning $75K or greater are the most confident in the strength of the economy, with 29 percent indicating so compared to 20 percent of those earning less than $35K.
- Forty-three percent of workers earning less than $35K are likely to look for a new job in the next year. This is the highest reading across all income cohorts.
Methodology
This June 2010 SFN Group Employment Tracker was conducted online within the United States by Harris Interactive on behalf of SFN between June 16-18, 2010 among a U.S. sample of 1,252 employed adults, aged 18 years and older (May 2010 n=1,466). Results were weighted as needed for age, sex, race/ethnicity, income, education and region. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online.
All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, Harris Interactive avoids the words “margin of error” as they are misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this ideal.
Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Interactive surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the U.S. adult population. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to be invited to participate in the Harris Interactive online research panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.
To learn more, visit www.sfngroup.com.
2010 SFN Professional Services LLC
Source: SFN Group, Inc.
Related Posts
Employment Report: Employee Confidence Index Reached Highest Level Since November 2007Employee Confidence Index Reaches Highest Level in Over a Year
Older Workers Trending Toward More Part-Time Work
Twenty-Six Percent of Workers Do Not Feel Loyal to Their Current Employer
Workers Less Willing to Jeopardize Job Security, Even for Love
Categories: Featured Articles, Job Trends, Jobs News, Research
Tags:
I thought things were looking up at our company but the last few months have been tough. I agree with this article, worker stress is at an all time high!
The weak economic situation will take some time to redirect its course, however, I would love to see a positive and constant change for the economy during the next 18 months. With the unemployment benefits bill passing for another 6 months, just maybe we can help people and the country return to more better and less stressful times. Resume Bear is great in getting us the facts.
This article is right on! Everyone I talk to is apprehensive about their company either downsizing or staying around. During the Great Depression, there were more millionaires made per capita (person-wise) than at any other time in our history – because those people looked for opportunities to take advantage of what was going on. Those opportunities are still out there. Another great article from ResumeBear – I hope the people who read it will start looking around for opportunities to create a financial safety net for themselves!
Apprehensive! the economy flat out sucks, July lost 131,000 jobs, Romer quits, Obama says,”things could be worse” and blames everybody else. It’s about time he takes some responsibility and tries something different, because what he is doing now sure ain’t working.
Have no fear. Obama is here! The economy is improving, people are going back to work, employers are hiring,stock market is going up.inflation is under control and Pelosi will win re-election and the democrsats will control congress. Just ask Obama He says so.So you know that Bush and the Republicans will not get back into power and screw things up again
Things will get better.People want things to happen over night,but it will not.We always bounce back always!!!!!!!
jimmy