U.S. Employee Confidence Level Reaches Seven-Year High

ATLANTA, July 1, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Reports of positive economic indicators during the past several months have resonated with U.S. workers, whose confidence levels in the job market, economy and their personal employment situations all rebounded to multi-year highs. In June, the Randstad U.S. Employee Confidence Index rose 2.6 points to 58.1, the highest level on record since August of 2007 before the start of the recession. Meanwhile, the Randstad macroeconomic confidence index rose to 46.7, an increase of 2.1 points from 44.6 last month and its highest level in nearly a year.

The study, conducted online by Harris Poll on behalf of Randstad among 1,126 employed U.S. adults ages 18 and older, also shows workers' confidence in their personal employment situation jumped in June, reaching 69.4 from 66.4 in May and its highest level since September 2008. Contributing to the uptick is workers' improved outlook on their own job prospects and also their current employers' future. Half of all workers feel confident in their ability to find a job, up from 47 percent last month, and more than six-in-10 (61 percent) are confident in the future of their current employer.

"We've seen many months of reserved and cautious optimism regarding the sustainability of an economic recovery, but our findings suggest workers now have sufficient evidence to feel the nation is on the right track," said Jim Link, Chief HR Officer, Randstad North America. "Uncertainty regarding employees' job security levels is truly diminishing, with 75 percent of the U.S. workers indicating it's unlikely they will lose their job in the next 12 months. Furthermore, less than 30 percent of the workforce now believes the economy is getting weaker—which is an improved statistic in the past several months."

In line with the Randstad Employee Confidence Index, findings from The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index continue to improve. The Index now stands at 85.2, up from 82.2 last month, and marks its highest level since January 2008. June's increase was driven primarily by improved current conditions and consumers' assessment of business conditions. In fact, consumers stating jobs are 'plentiful' edged up to 14.7 percent from 14.2 percent in May, while those claiming jobs are 'hard to get' declined to 31.8 percent from 32.2 percent.

"The positive reports that moved the dial on employee confidence levels have also influenced U.S. employers to loosen the reins on budgets," said Link. "We see organizations taking a more aggressive approach to hiring as they move out of a recession mindset to one of growth and market expansion."

While the upturn in the economy is good news, it generates greater competition for talent. According to Link: "In our improved economy, workforce planning takes on greater importance to ensure the right talent is in the right position at the right time to help drive innovation and meet revenue goals."

Randstad, the second largest staffing and HR services firm in the world, has been tracking workforce trends and publishing the U.S. Employee Confidence Index since 2004.

About Randstad US
Randstad US is a wholly owned subsidiary of Randstad Holding nv, a $22.0 billion global provider of HR services. As the third largest staffing organization in the U.S., Randstad holds top positions in permanent placement, office and administrative, IT and accounting and finance. From professional services, commercial staffing, recruitment process outsourcing, to managed services and more, Randstad delivers a comprehensive range of temporary, temporary-to-hire, permanent placement and outsourced placement services. With its 5,324 employment experts, Randstad puts an average of approximately 100,000 people to work in the U.S. each week, through its network of nearly 1,000 branches and client-dedicated locations.

Learn more at www.randstadusa.com and access Randstad's panoramic U.S. thought leadership knowledge center through its Workforce360 site that offers valuable insight into the latest economic indicators and HR trends shaping the world of work.

Methodology
This 2014 Randstad Employment Tracker was conducted online within the United States by Harris Poll on behalf of Randstad between June 4-6, 2014 among a U.S. sample of 1,126 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, the words "margin of error" are avoided 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 Poll surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the adult population. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in the online panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

About Nielsen & The Harris Poll
On February 3, 2014, Nielsen acquired Harris Interactive and The Harris Poll.  Nielsen Holdings N.V. is a global information and measurement company with leading market positions in marketing and consumer information, television and other media measurement, online intelligence and mobile measurement. Nielsen has a presence in approximately 100 countries, with headquarters in New York, USA and Diemen, the Netherlands. For more information, visit www.nielsen.com.

SOURCE Randstad US