U.S. Employment Report: Confidence Increases in April

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., May 6, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The SFN Group Employee Confidence Index increased 3.0 points to 53.4 in April. The Index, which measures workers' confidence in their personal employment situation and optimism in the economic environment, shows an overall increase in confidence. Namely, more workers expressed confidence in their ability to find a new job and in job availability.

"In line with our expectations, our Confidence Index continues to rise gradually and steadily as new jobs become available across more sectors and regions," says Roy Krause, president and CEO of SFN Group, Inc. "While the country has experienced accelerated job growth for some time now, the improvement in some employment sectors has been slower to materialize. However, as hiring and business expansion continues, workers are beginning to feel more confident in both the availability of, and their ability to land, new jobs. This renewed optimism is supported by more employers reporting their intent to increase hiring plans for college graduates."  

The online survey was conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of the SFN Group.  It surveyed 1,131 employed U.S. adults, aged 18 and over between April 12 and 14, 2011.

A Look Inside the Report:

Confidence in Overall Situation:

The SFN Group Employee Confidence Index increased 3.0 points to 53.4 in April. The Index, which measures workers' confidence in their personal employment situation and optimism in the economic environment, shows an overall increase in confidence. Namely, more workers expressed confidence in their ability to find a new job and in job availability.

Confidence in Macroeconomic Environment:

• One quarter (25 percent) of U.S. workers believe the economy is getting stronger, up one percentage point from March.
• Fifty-one percent of workers believe there are fewer jobs available, decreasing five percentage points from last month.

Confidence in Personal Employment Situation:

• Nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of workers are confident in the future of their current employer, increasing two percentage points from the previous month.
• Forty-three percent of workers are confident in their ability to find a new job, up three percentage points from March.

Job Security:

• Sixty-eight percent of workers believe that it is unlikely they will lose their jobs in the next 12 months. This is a drop of two percentage points from the previous month.

Job Transition:

• Fewer workers are likely to look for a new job in the next 12 months. In April 32 percent of workers indicated the likelihood to make a job transition versus 34 percent in March.

Confidence by Gender:

• Women are less confident in the strength of the economy. Specifically, 18 percent of women believe the economy is getting stronger as compared to 31 percent of men who believe so.
• More men are confident in their ability to find a new job, with nearly half (49 percent) indicating that belief. On the other hand, slightly more than one-third (36 percent) of women expressed the same confidence.

Confidence by Age:

• Workers age 18-34 expressed the highest levels of confidence in their ability to find a new job, with 50 percent reporting that confidence. This is the highest among all age brackets.  
• Workers age 45-54 are the most likely to believe there are fewer jobs available, with 65 percent expressing this belief. On the opposite end of the spectrum, one quarter (25 percent) of workers age 18-34 believe there are more jobs available.

Confidence by Income:

• Workers earning $75K+ are the most confident in their ability to find a new job, with 48 percent of workers revealing confidence.
• Fewer workers earning less than $35K are likely to make a job transition than last month. Specifically, 37 percent of workers are likely to make a job transition in the next 12 months as reported in April versus the 48 percent who believed so in March.

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 April 12-14, 2011 among 1,131 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.