U.S. Employment Report: Employee Confidence Index Reached Highest Level Since November 2007

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., May 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The SFN Group Employee Confidence Index rose by 3.9 points to 53.1 in April. The Index, which measures workers' confidence in their personal employment situation and optimism in the economic environment, reveals an increase in workers' personal confidence in the future of their current employer and in their ability to find a new job.

"Our latest Index is very encouraging," said Roy Krause, president and CEO of SFN Group, Inc. "Reaching its highest level since November 2007, this month's report indicates U.S. workers are not only feeling more personally confident in their employment situation, but they are also more optimistic about the strength of the economy. Coupled with this confidence, consumer spending rose at its fastest pace in three years, the U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of 3.2 percent in the first quarter, and the temporary help sector continued its positive trend since October 2009, posting a 26,200 gain in April. Although unemployment levels are still high, our economy added an average of about 140,000 jobs a month in the first four months of the year and temp jobs numbers are showing strong growth. This bodes well for our company and our industry and I feel confident in saying that the job market is beginning to turn the corner."

A Look Inside the Report:

Confidence in Overall Situation:

The SFN Group Employee Confidence Index rose by 3.9 points to 53.1 in April. The Index, which measures workers' confidence in their personal employment situation and optimism in the economic environment, reveals an increase in workers' personal confidence in the future of their current employer and in their ability to find a new job.

Confidence in Macroeconomic Environment:

• Thirty-one percent of U.S. workers believe the economy is getting stronger, up seven percentage points from March.

• Sixty percent of workers surveyed believe there are fewer jobs available, decreasing three 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 36 percent in March.

• The percentage of workers reporting confidence in the future of their current employers increased by eight percentage points to 68 percent.

Job Security:

• Seventy-two percent of workers say they are unlikely to lose their jobs in the next year, decreasing one percentage points from the previous month.

Job Transition: 

• Thirty-six percent of workers are likely to look for a new job in the next 12 months, increasing one percentage point from March's reading.

Confidence by Gender:

• Thirty-six percent of males believe the economy is getting stronger compared to 25 percent of females.
• When asked if they are confident in their ability to find a new job, more males reported optimism, with 47 percent of reporting confidence (versus 37 percent of females).
• More females than males reported that they are likely to look for a new job in the next year (39 percent of females and 34 percent of males).

Confidence by Age:

• According to the latest results, 41 percent of workers ages 55+ believe that the economy is getting stronger, the highest among all age brackets.  
• Workers ages 18-34 are the most confident in the future of their current employer, with 86 percent of workers in this age group indicating so.
• Forty-nine 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 40 percent indicating so compared to 20 percent of those earning between $35-49.9K.
• Forty-two percent of workers earning less than $35K are the most likely to look for a new job in the next year. This is the highest reading across all income cohorts.
• Twenty-nine percent of workers earning less than $35K are confident in their ability to find a new job versus 50 percent of workers earning $75K+.  

March Full Results and Archive Information

About the SFN Group Employment Report

Methodology                      

About Harris Interactive

About SFN Group, Inc.

SFN Group (NYSE: SFN) 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 nearly 600 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 160,000 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.