SFN Group Employment Report: U.S. Employee Confidence Index Slightly Increases in May

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., June 3, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The SFN Group Employee Confidence Index increased 0.5 points to 53.9 in May. The Index, which measures workers' confidence in their personal employment situation and optimism in the economic environment, shows that more workers are confident in the strength of the economy and in their ability to find a new job. Moreover, two in five workers reported that they are likely to make a job transition in the next 12 months.

"Looking back over the past several months, our employee confidence index has tracked improvements alongside growing employer confidence in the health of the U.S. economy," says Roy Krause, president and CEO of SFN Group, Inc. "However, as current data suggests, we may be experiencing some inconsistency in the rate of economic recovery. 'Even amidst the volatility in the recovery, we continue to caution employers about the rising number of workers likely to make a job change. Now is the time for employers to ramp up retention efforts to ensure their best talent doesn't opt to seek other opportunities."

The online survey was conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of the SFN Group.  It surveyed 1,268 employed U.S. adults, aged 18 and over between May 10 and 12, 2011.

A Look Inside the Report:

Confidence in Overall Situation:

The SFN Group Employee Confidence Index increased 0.5 points to 53.9 in May. The Index, which measures workers' confidence in their personal employment situation and optimism in the economic environment, shows that more workers are confident in the strength of the economy and in their ability to find a new job. Moreover, two in five workers reported that they are likely to make a job transition in the next 12 months.

Confidence in Macroeconomic Environment:

• More U.S. workers believe the economy is getting stronger, with 28 percent expressing confidence in May as compared to a quarter in April.
• Fifty-one percent of workers believe there are fewer jobs available, representing no change from last month.

Confidence in Personal Employment Situation:

• Sixty-three percent of workers are confident in the future of their current employer, decreasing two percentage points from the previous month.
• Forty-six percent of workers are confident in their ability to find a new job, up three percentage points from April.

Job Security:

• Nearly three-quarters (72 percent) of workers believe that it is unlikely they will lose their jobs in the next 12 months. This is an increase of four percentage points from the previous month.

Job Transition:

• More workers are likely to look for a new job in the next 12 months. In May, 39 percent of workers indicated the likelihood to make a job transition versus 32 percent in April.

Confidence by Gender:

• Men are more confident in the strength of the economy. Specifically, 32 percent of men believe the economy is getting stronger as compared to 24 percent of women who believe so.
• Women are less likely than men to make a job transition in the next 12 months, with more than one-third (36 percent) indicating that belief. On the other hand, 41 percent of men expressed the same belief.

Confidence by Age:

• More than half (55 percent) of workers age 18-34 expressed confident in their ability to find a new job. This is the highest among all age brackets.  
• Workers ages 18-34 are also the most likely to make a job transition in comparison to all other age brackets of worker. Specifically, 54 percent of workers ages 18-34 reported that they are likely to change jobs in the next year.

Confidence by Income:

• Workers earning $75K+ feel the most secure in their job with 77 percent reporting that it is not likely they will lose their jobs. This is the highest among all income brackets.
• More than half (54 percent) of workers earning less than $35K are likely to make a job transition than last month. This is up significantly from the 37 percent of workers in this income bracket who reported so last month.

Full Results & ECI Index Archive

About the SFN Group Employment Report

About Harris Interactive

Methodology

This survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Interactive on behalf of SFN Group from May 10-12, 2011 among 1,268 employed adults ages 18 and older. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables, please click here.

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 65 years.

With approximately 560 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 170,000 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.

SOURCE SFN Group, Inc.