U.S. Employment Report: Confidence Dips in March

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., April 1, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The SFN Group Employee Confidence Index decreased 2.2 points to 51.4 in March. The Index, which measures workers' confidence in their personal employment situation and optimism in the economic environment, reveals a dip in overall confidence among workers, specifically in regards to confidence in the strength of the economy.

“Although worker optimism in the overall economic strength has dipped, it doesn’t appear to have greatly influenced confidence in their personal employment situation,” says Roy Krause, president and CEO of SFN Group, Inc. “Workers lack of confidence in the economy may in part be a result of recent global events, such as the Japan devastation, nuclear crisis and rising gas prices. Despite the current uncertainty seen in our latest report, when it comes to the labor market specifically, workers remain secure about their own job stability and even their interest in finding a new job. Workers appear to be making a clear distinction between their personal employment situation and the uncertainty in the global economy.”

The online survey was conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of the SFN Group.  It surveyed 1,233 employed U.S. adults, aged 18 and over between March 16 and 18, 2011.

A Look Inside the Report:

Confidence in Overall Situation:

The SFN Group Employee Confidence Index decreased 2.2 points to 51.4 in March. The Index, which measures workers' confidence in their personal employment situation and optimism in the economic environment, reveals a dip in overall confidence among workers, specifically in regards to confidence in the strength of the economy.

Confidence in Macroeconomic Environment:

• Twenty-four percent of U.S. workers believe the economy is getting stronger, decreasing five percentage points from February.
• More than half of workers (56 percent) believe there are fewer jobs available, up five percentage points from last month.

Confidence in Personal Employment Situation:

• Sixty-three percent of workers are confident in the future of their current employer, increasing two percentage points from the previous month.
• Forty percent of workers are confident in their ability to find a new job, showing no change from February.

Job Security:

• Seventy percent of workers believe that it is unlikely they will lose their jobs in the next 12 months. This has shown no fluctuation from the previous month.

Job Transition:

• A little over one-third (34 percent) of workers are likely to look for a new job in the next 12 months, representing an increase of one percentage point from the previous month.

Confidence by Gender:

• Women are less likely to make a job change in the next 12 months than men. Specifically, 30 percent of women are likely to make a job transition, versus 37 percent of men.
• More men are confident in their ability to find a new job, with 44 percent indicating that belief. On the other hand, 36 percent of women expressed the same confidence.

Confidence by Age:

• Workers age 18-34 expressed the highest levels of confidence in the strength of the economy, with 35 percent reporting that confidence. This is the highest among all age brackets.
• Nearly half (45 percent) of workers age 18-34 are likely to make a job change in the next 12 months.  Conversely, close to one-quarter (24 percent) of workers age 55+ are likely to make a job transition.

Confidence by Income:

• Workers earning $75K+ are the most confident in the future of their current employer, with 70 percent of workers revealing confidence.
• Nearly half (48 percent) of workers earning less than $35K are likely to make a job transition in the next 12 months.

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 March 16-18, 2011 among 1,233 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 60 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.