Employee confidence dips; more workers apprehensive about strength of economy

The SFN Group Employee Confidence Index dropped 1.0 points to 51.6 in June. The index, which measures workers' confidence in their personal employment situation and optimism in the economic environment, decreased as a result of more workers being concerned with the strength of the economy.

"Mirroring other confidence reports just released, our latest Employee Confidence Index took a slight dip this month," said Roy Krause, president and CEO of SFN Group, Inc. "Workers are a bit more apprehensive about the state of economy given the market's reaction to the latest job reports, the Gulf Coast oil spill, as well as the European debt crisis. Given all this, the job situation isn't as grim as it may seem. The number of temporary help services jobs has increased since last October – this is a strong indicator of more employment growth to come. Within our own business, we are seeing a pick-up within the technology, mortgage services and administrative and clerical fields. In addition, we are also starting to see a rise in middle management searches within the finance and accounting field. Discussions with our clients are now moving towards how to support their increasing workloads and how to add flexibility to their workforce."

Confidence in Overall Situation:

• The SFN Group Employee Confidence Index dropped 1.0 points to 51.6 in June. The index, which measures workers' confidence in their personal employment situation and optimism in the economic environment, decreased as a result of more workers being concerned with the strength of the economy.

Confidence in Macroeconomic Environment:

• Twenty-four percent of U.S. workers believe the economy is getting stronger, down five percentage points from May.
• Fifty-seven percent of workers surveyed believe there are fewer jobs available, decreasing 2 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 43 percent in May.
• The percentage of workers reporting confidence in the future of their current employers increased by two percentage points to 65 percent.

Job Security:

• Sixty-nine percent of workers say they are unlikely to lose their jobs in the next year, decreasing 2 percentage points from the previous month.

Job Transition:

• Thirty-five percent of workers are likely to look for a new job in the next 12 months, showing no change from May's reading.

Confidence by Gender:

• Twenty-seven percent of males believe the economy is getting stronger compared to 22 percent of females.
• When asked if they are confident in their ability to find a new job, more males reported optimism, with 47 percent reporting confidence (vs. 37 percent of females).
• Less females than males reported that they are likely to look for a new job in the next year (33 percent of females vs. 37 percent of males).

Confidence by Age:

• According to the latest results, 28 percent of workers ages 55 and older believe that the economy is getting stronger, the highest among all age brackets.
• Workers ages 35 to 44 are the most confident in the future of their current employer, with 71 percent of workers in this age group indicating so.
• Forty-eight percent of workers between the ages of 18 and 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 $75,000 or greater are the most confident in the strength of the economy, with 29 percent indicating so compared to 20 percent of those earning less than $35,000.
• Forty-three percent of workers earning less than $35,000 are likely to look for a new job in the next year. This is the highest reading across all income cohorts.