Randstad: US Employee Confidence Index Starts Fourth Quarter on High Note

NEW YORK, Oct. 31, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Randstad announced today its monthly Employee Confidence Index has increased for the second consecutive month to 54.3 in October, up 1.9 points from September's reading. The Index has steadily increased with more than 1,500 U.S. employees surveyed in October -- indicating workers are feeling more positive about the economy, jobs and their future employability.  

"We're seeing a positive increase in employee attitudes about the economy and their upcoming prospects for new jobs," said Jim Link, managing director of human resources for Randstad US. "Our October report clearly shows workers believe more jobs are available, but more importantly, over forty percent are optimistic in their personal ability to secure them. Interestingly enough, this sentiment continues to improve even with negative news coverage on economic conditions abroad, especially in Europe. However, September's improvement in the nation's unemployment rate, declining below 8 percent to 7.8 percent for the first time since 2009, is largely attributed to more previously unemployed people taking on part-time employment. This indicates to us companies may still be taking a wait-and-see approach to hiring, but they appear to be loosening their reigns a bit to keep up with demand and productivity. One thing is certain -- everyone will be eyeing the final monthly jobs report this Friday leading up to the election."

Look Inside the Report:

Employee Confidence Increases For Second Month

• The Employee Confidence Index has increased 1.9 points from last month's reading (8.7 point increase from October 2011; 4.2 point increase from October 2010)

Confidence Rises around Jobs & the Economy

• Sixty-six percent of employees believe the economy is getting better or staying the same versus 59 percent in September
• There was a seven percentage point drop (46 percent in October vs. 53 percent in September) in employees who believe there are fewer jobs available

U.S. Employees Remain Confident in their Employability; More Likely to Transition to A New Job

• More than one-out-of-four workers (43 percent) are confident in their ability to find a new job; a number that has remained strong throughout 2012
• In October, 37 percent of employees indicated they plan to transition to a new job, up five percentage points from last month

Workers Optimistic in Employers & Job Security

• Employee confidence in the future of their current employers remains strong, but dipped slightly in October to 59 percent (from 63 percent in September)
• A majority of employees, 70 percent, continue to indicate a sense of strong security in their current jobs and are not concerned about being laid off (compared to 74 percent indicating so in the previous month)

The Randstad U.S. Employee Confidence Index measures workforce trends across the country since 2004.

About Harris Interactive

Methodology
This October 2012 Randstad Employment Tracker was conducted online within the United States by Harris Interactive on behalf of Randstad between October 8-10, 2012 among a U.S. sample of 1,555 employed adults, aged 18 years and older. Results were weighted as needed for age, sex, race/ethnicity, income, education, and region. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents' propensity to be online.

All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, Harris Interactive avoids the words "margin of error" as they are misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this ideal.

Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Interactive surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the U.S. adult population. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to be invited to participate in the Harris Interactive online research panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

About Randstad
Randstad is a $22.5 billion global provider of HR services and the second largest staffing organization in the world. From temporary staffing to permanent placement to inhouse, professionals, search & selection, and HR Solutions, Randstad holds top positions around the world and has approximately 28,700 corporate employees working from its nearly 4,700 branches and inhouse locations in 40 countries. Founded in 1960 and headquartered in Diemen, the Netherlands, Randstad Holding nv is listed on the NYSE Euronext Amsterdam.

Learn more at http://www.randstad.com.     

SOURCE Randstad