Economic Optimism Reaches 15-Month High Among IT Field Service Technicians
OnForce Confidence Index Reveals Economic Impact on Rapidly Growing and Often Overlooked Independent Workforce
BOSTON, Nov. 1, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Economic optimism among IT field service technicians is the highest it has been in at least 15 months, according to OnForce's Q4 Confidence Index released this morning. Current perception is at 46 points, up nine points from Q4 2011, and techs are even more optimistic when asked about the next six months – with the Future Index at 65 points, up 13 points from this time last year.
"While election years typically drive widespread economic optimism, more than 43 percent of the hundreds of independent tech contractors surveyed expect to see business opportunities increase as we head into 2013," said Peter Cannone, CEO of OnForce. "That's a 12 percent jump from this time last year, and speaks to the increase in demand IT professionals are finally seeing as innovation accelerates, and new technologies emerge."
| Current Index (Current economic perception) |
|||||
| Q4 2012 |
Q3 2012 |
Q2 2012 |
Q1 2012 |
Q4 2011 |
|
| Positive |
31% |
33% |
27% |
27% |
25% |
| Negative |
39% |
43% |
50% |
47% |
51% |
| No difference |
28% |
21% |
21% |
22% |
22% |
| I don't know |
2% |
3% |
2% |
4% |
2% |
| Current Index |
46 |
45 |
39 |
40 |
37 |
| Future Index |
|||||
| Q4 2012 |
Q3 2012 |
Q2 2012 |
Q1 2012 |
Q4 2011 |
|
| Positive |
43% |
38% |
40% |
40% |
31% |
| Negative |
14% |
21% |
20% |
19% |
27% |
| No difference |
15% |
16% |
14% |
18% |
19% |
| I don't know |
28% |
25% |
26% |
23% |
23% |
| Future Index |
65 |
56 |
60 |
61 |
52 |
The findings echo national sentiment. According to a recent Wall Street Journal / NBC News poll of 1,000 registered voters, 45 percent expect the economy to improve in the next 12 months. The September Jobs report undoubtedly contributed to widespread economic optimism, reporting the country's lowest unemployment rate (7.8 percent) in more than 3.5 years.
"While there are lots of measures of economic perception and stability – the ADP National Employment Report included, expected out later this morning – very few take into account the growing population of independent workers," said Cannone. "Today, there are nearly 17 million independent workers in the U.S., and experts say the number of independent workers will represent 50 percent of the American workforce by 2020. Their voices should be heard, which is exactly why we launched this index one year ago."
About the OnForce Confidence Index for IT Professionals
The OnForce Confidence Index reflects the opinions of IT field service decision makers with up to 100 employees and at least $10,000 in IT services billings yearly. The overall ranking is based on a 0-to-100 scale; a ranking above 50 indicates market optimism and below 50 indicates market pessimism.
The Q4 2012 forecast survey was conducted from October 10 - 11, 2012.
To learn more about OnForce, please visit http://www.onforce.com.
About OnForce
OnForce is the #1 source for on-site tech talent in field services in the cloud. By partnering with OnForce, service buyers can connect with thousands of highly skilled service professionals to fulfill on-site work throughout the US and Canada. With nearly two million service events completed, OnForce is a proven and trusted solution. Service buyers can gain extensive geographic coverage, lower service costs, extend skill-sets, and generate new streams of revenue on demand. The company supports more than 20 IT and CE categories, such as computers, printers, networking, VoIP, Point of Sale, and more. OnForce is the partner in service. For additional information, please visit www.onforce.com.
SOURCE OnForce
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