Employee Confidence Rebounds in Month Following Shutdown

NEW YORK, Dec. 3, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- American employees' confidence in the workplace was restored after a decline following the government shutdown in October, according to the Randstad Employee Index. The monthly tracker - which measures outlook on jobs, the economy, and careers prospects - rose three points during November to 54.5. The Randstad study was conducted online by Harris Interactive on behalf of Randstad and included 977 employed U.S. adults ages 18 and older.

Employees also reported higher levels of confidence in the economy and job market. The number of workers indicating the strength of the economy has improved increased by eight percentage points in November.

The government shutdown had a minimal impact on the job market," said Jim Link, Chief HR Officer, Randstad North America.  "Despite the recent macroeconomic events, we remain encouraged by high levels of worker confidence when it comes to their outlook on the strength of the economy and availability of jobs."

Link added, "More encouraging is the better than expected surge in retail sales posted in October. Economists are predicting retail hiring to potentially surpass last year's figures—which would be a nice boost in the road to economic recovery."

Randstad, the second largest staffing and HR services firm in the world, has been tracking workforce trends and publishing the U.S. Employee Confidence Index since 2004.  

About Randstad US
Randstad US is a wholly owned subsidiary of Randstad Holding nv, a $22.0 billion global provider of HR services. As the third largest staffing organization in the U.S., Randstad holds top positions in permanent placement, office and administrative, IT and accounting and finance. From professional services, commercial staffing, recruitment process outsourcing, to managed services and more, Randstad delivers a comprehensive range of temporary, temporary-to-hire, permanent placement and outsourced placement services. With its 5,660 employment experts, Randstad puts an average of nearly 100,000 people to work in the U.S. each week, through its network of more than 900 branches and client-dedicated locations.

Learn more at www.randstad.com and access Randstad's panoramic US thought leadership knowledge center through its Workforce360 site that offers valuable insight into the latest economic indicators and HR trends shaping the world of work.

Methodology
This 2013 Randstad Employment Tracker was conducted online within the United States by Harris Interactive on behalf of Randstad between November 6-8, 2013 among a U.S. sample of 977 employed adults, aged 18 years and older. 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.

About Harris Interactive
Harris Interactive is one of the world's leading market research firms, leveraging research, technology, and business acumen to transform relevant insight into actionable foresight. Known widely for The Harris Poll®, Harris offers proprietary solutions in the areas of market and customer insight, corporate brand and reputation strategy, and marketing, advertising, public relations and communications research across a wide range of industries. Additionally, Harris has a portfolio of multi-client offerings that complement our custom solutions while maximizing a client's research investment. Serving clients worldwide through our North American and European offices, Harris specializes in delivering research solutions that help our clients stay ahead of what's next. For more information, please visit www.harrisinteractive.com.

SOURCE Randstad