U.S. Employment Report: Employee Confidence on the Upswing in 2011

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Feb. 4, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The SFN Group Employee Confidence Index increased 1.7 points to 52.8 in January. The Index, which measures workers' confidence in their personal employment situation and optimism in the economic environment, reveals for the second consecutive month that more workers believe that the economy is getting stronger, with four in ten workers also reporting that they are likely to make a job change in the next 12 months.

"Employees have begun 2011 with greater confidence than we have seen in nearly a year," says Roy Krause, president and CEO of SFN Group, Inc. "Following recent improvements in the stock and job markets, our Index reveals that workers are more secure in the economic recovery. As a result, many more workers are likely to make a job change. We believe many employees who were hesitant to entertain the idea of a job move in recent years, may now do so as they anticipate increased job creation in the months to come. As we speak with employers across the country, we maintain cautious optimism that more job creation is likely to take place in 2011. However, we may continue to see project and temporary positions becoming a larger part of the workforce."

A Look Inside the Report:

Confidence in Overall Situation:

The SFN Group Employee Confidence Index increased 1.7 points to 52.8 in January. The Index, which measures workers' confidence in their personal employment situation and optimism in the economic environment, reveals for the second consecutive month, an increase in amount of workers believing that the economy is getting stronger, with four in ten workers also reporting that they are likely to make a job change in the next 12 months.

Confidence in Macroeconomic Environment:

• More U.S. workers believe the economy is getting stronger. Specifically, 29 percent believe so, an increase of four percentage points from December.
• Fifty-seven percent of workers believe there are fewer jobs available, dropping two points from last month.

Confidence in Personal Employment Situation:

• Sixty-one percent of workers are confident in the future of their current employer, an increase of one percentage point from the previous month.
• Fewer workers are confident in their ability to find a new job, with 42 percent reporting confidence. This is a dip of one percentage point from December.

Job Security:

• Fewer workers believe that it is unlikely they will lose their jobs in the next 12 months. Specifically, 71 percent believe is it is unlikely versus 72 percent in December.

Job Transition:

• Four in ten workers are likely to look for a new job in the next 12 months, representing an increase of four percentage points from the previous month.

Confidence by Gender:

• Our latest Report reveals that men have higher levels of overall confidence than women. Specifically, the Employee Confidence Index stands at 54.9 for males and 50.3 for females.
• Men are also inclined to make a job transition, with 44 percent indicating the likelihood of doing so. On the other hand, 36 percent of women believe job change is likely.

Confidence by Age:

• Workers age 18-34 expressed the highest levels of overall confidence among all age groups, with 34 percent believing that the economy is getting stronger.
• Workers age 18-34 are also the most likely among all age brackets to indicate a likelihood of making a job transition in the next 12 months, with more than half (56 percent)reporting a job change is likely. This represents a seven percentage point increase from December.

Confidence by Income:

• Workers earning $75K+ are the most confident among all income brackets, with an Employee Confidence Index of 57.6.
• On the other end of the income spectrum, workers earning less than $35K are the least confident, with an Index of 44.8.

Summary

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Methodology

About the SFN Group Employment Report

About Harris Interactive

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 550 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.