worker confidence hits four-year high
back to overviewhighest number of consecutive increases in macroeconomic confidence on record
NEW YORK, 04.02.12 – Reaching its highest level since October 2007, U.S. employees painted an overall rosy picture in regards to the economy, job market, and their personal employment situation in March 2012. According to the latest Randstad Employment Report, overall U.S. worker confidence reached 55.5 in March versus 53.9 in February. This also marks the third month of consecutive increases.
“Despite gas prices being one of the biggest concerns on the minds of workers, we remain pleasantly surprised with the steady increases seen in overall worker confidence," said Joanie Ruge, senior vice president and chief employment analyst for Randstad US. "It seems as though optimism in the employment picture is outweighing any mixed signals being given by other economic reports. In fact, the Index confirms, from a frontline perspective, an optimistic and hopeful outlook around the number job openings, job stability and the future strength of companies. Although the latest Index still remains five points below the historical high, it also stands 15.4 points higher than our Index’s all-time low of 40.1 in January 2007. We remain hopeful that this trend will continue.”
A Look Inside the Report
Employee Confidence Index Hits Highest Level Since October 2007:
- The Employee Confidence Index reached its highest level in four years, registering at 55.5 in March, signifying a hopeful and positive outlook from Americans on the economy, job market, and the future of their current employers.
Economic Confidence Rises for Seventh Consecutive Month for Highest Number of Consecutive Increases on Record:
- Almost a third (32 percent) of employees feel the economy is getting stronger.
- 22 percent of U.S. workers believe more jobs are available versus 19 percent in February.
Workers Confident Around New Job Prospects:
- Almost half of U.S. workers (45 percent) feel confident in their ability to find a new job—indicating a more optimistic outlook in career opportunities.
A Majority of Workers Feel Their Positions Are Stable:
- 73 percent of workers believe it is unlikely they will lose their jobs in the next 12 months, suggesting that employees are increasingly confident in their company's financial situation, and unconcerned around their individual expendability.
Employees Look to Future Career Prospects:
- While over half (55 percent) of U.S. workers are not likely to leave their current positions, 34 percent are likely to look for a new job—indicating a possible readiness to seek out other potential career paths.
Methodology
This survey was conducted online by Harris Interactive on behalf of Randstad from March 13-15, 2012 among 1,399 employed U.S. adults, aged 18 years and older. The survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. 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 agreed to participate in Harris Interactive surveys. The data has been weighted to reflect the composition of the U.S. adult population. As 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.
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