Press Room

FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla., February 4, 2005 —With steady job growth continuing into 2005, U.S. workers’ confidence levels in personal employment and job security have increased to the highest levels recorded since the establishment of the Spherion^® Employment Report, according to the latest survey by Spherion Corporation (NYSE:SFN). The January Employment Report, conducted by Harris Interactive^®, also shows that confidence in the availability of jobs and the strength of the economy has also increased.

This month, Spherion is introducing its Employee Confidence Index in addition to its Job Transition and Job Security Indices. The Employee Confidence Index is derived from the results of a continuing set of questions about the strength of the economy, availability of jobs, confidence in their ability to find a new job and confidence in the future of their current employer. To provide a more complete picture on employee attitudes, the Employee Confidence Index has been subdivided into two additional indices:

• The Macroeconomic Confidence Index, which reflects workers’ views on the overall economy, its relative strength or weakness, as well as their opinion about the availability of jobs in the marketplace. 
• The Personal Confidence Index, which measures workers’ opinions of their own personal employment situation, their confidence in their own ability to find a job, as well as their confidence levels in their current employer.

The Employee Confidence Index rose from 57 last month to 59 in January, equaling the highest level recorded since July 2004. The Personal Confidence Index, measuring worker confidence in their personal employment situation, increased to 75, a two-point increase from December. The Macroeconomic Confidence Index, measuring worker confidence in job availability and the strength of the economy, rose from 41 in December to 44. For detailed information on the calculation of the Employee Confidence Index, please see the “About the Spherion Employment Report” section below.

In addition, the survey found that 79 percent of adult workers feel it unlikely that their jobs will be eliminated in the next year, up three percentage points from December.

"As the economy continues to expand and add jobs, the Spherion Employment Report shows that personal confidence continues to grow to even higher levels as workers see reinforcing evidence that their jobs are secure, their companies are performing well and that they are in a good position to go find a new job,” said Roy Krause, Spherion president and chief executive officer. “Despite this, some doubt still remains about the macroeconomic environment. But the fact that more workers are becoming confident in the strength of the economy and job availability indicates that the recent economic indicators and factors in their personal employment situation may be having an effect on their outlook.”

Results from the January Spherion Employment Report:

Employee Confidence Index: Personal Employment and Macroeconomic Confidence Rise

• Driven by increased confidence in the macroeconomic environment and personal employment situation by U.S. workers, January’s Employee Confidence Index level rose to 59, up two points from December.
  
  
• Macroeconomic Confidence Index : In January, U.S. workers’ confidence in the job market and strength of economy rose three points, from 41 in December to 44 in January, its highest level since July 2004 when the index level was 46.

Specific findings from Macroeconomic Confidence Index include:

• 24 percent of U.S. adult workers believe that more jobs are available, up from 21 percent in December.
• 30 percent of U.S. adult workers believe that the economy is getting stronger, up one percentage point from December

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• Personal Confidence Index : The level of personal confidence regarding employment increased to 75, the highest level recorded since the creation of the Employment Report in July 2004.

Specific findings from Personal Confidence Index include:

• 66% of adult workers in the U.S. feel confident in the future of their employer, up two percentage points from December.
• 62% of adult workers in the U.S. have confidence in their own ability to find a new job, compared to 56% last month.

Job Security Index: 79 Percent of Workers Feel Their Job is Secure

• Seventy-nine percent of adult workers feel it is unlikely that their jobs will be eliminated in the next 12 months, versus 76 percent in December.

Job Transition Index: Nearly 40 Percent Likely to Search for New Job

• Thirty-eight percent of adult workers in the U.S. said they are likely to look for a new job in the next year, compared to 37 percent last month.

About the Spherion Employment Report
As part of the Spherion^® Emerging Workforce^® seies of employment surveys, the monthly Spherion Employment Report provides a snapshot of the latest workforce trends across the country and is issued in conjunction with state and national labor market releases. Three key indices are measured: the Spherion Job Security Index, which captures how likely respondents think it is that they will lose their job or that their job will be eliminated in the next 12 months; the Spherion Job Transition Index, which captures how likely respondents are to look for a new job in the next 12 months and the Employee Confidence Index that measures employees' overall  confidence in the economy, their employer and their ability to find other employment. The Employee Confidence Index is calculated from the results of four components that reflect these aspects of employee confidence. For each component item a 'score’ is calculated by taking the difference of the percentage of positive responses and the percentage of negative responses. These four scores are then averaged to indicate an overall level of employee confidence and is scaled from 0 (no confidence) to 100 (complete confidence). A reading above 50 indicates a positive confidence level.

Methodology
The January 2004 Spherion Employment Report is based on data from the Harris Interactive QuickQuery^SM online omnibus conducted monthly by Harris Interactive^® on behalf of Spherion Corporation. A U.S. sample of 2,562 employed adults, aged 18 years and older, was interviewed in a series of two polls conducted between January 12-14 January 19-21, 2005 (for December 2004 n= 2,612). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, income, education and region were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting adjusted for respondents’ propensity to be online. In theory, with probability samples of this size, one could say with 95 percent certainty that the results have a sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points of what they would be if the entire U.S. population of employed adults had been polled with complete accuracy. This online sample was not a probability sample.

About Spherion
Spherion Corporation is a leader in the staffing industry in North America, providing value-added staffing, recruiting and workforce solutions. Spherion has helped companies improve their bottom line by efficiently planning, acquiring and optimizing talent since 1946. To learn more, visit www.spherion.com.

About Harris Interactive^®
Harris Interactive Inc. (www.harrisinteractive.com), the 15th largest and fastest-growing market research firm in the world, is a Rochester, N.Y.-based global research company that blends premier strategic consulting with innovative and efficient methods of investigation, analysis and application. Known for The Harris Poll^® and for pioneering Internet-based research methods, Harris Interactive conducts proprietary and public research to help its clients achieve clear, material and enduring results.

Harris Interactive combines its intellectual capital, databases and technology to advance market leadership through U.S. offices and wholly owned subsidiaries: London-based HI Europe (www.hieurope.com), Paris-based Novatris (www.novatris.com), Tokyo-based Harris Interactive Japan, through newly acquired WirthlinWorldwide (www.wirthlinworldwide.com), a Reston, Virginia-based research and consultancy firm ranked 25th largest in the world, and through an independent global network of affiliate market research companies.