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Fort Lauderdale, FL, October 24, 2006 — The IT Employee Confidence Index dropped 4.3 points to 54.1 in the third quarter, according to the latest IT Employment Report conducted by Harris Interactive® on behalf of Spherion Corporation (NYSE:SFN). Overall confidence declined primarily because fewer workers believe the economy is getting stronger.
Despite this decline in macroeconomic optimism, the Report also indicated that the number of IT workers that believe it is unlikely that they will lose their jobs grew to 73 percent, increasing three percentage points since last quarter.
“On the surface, this quarter’s data may seem contradictory, but the tech sector itself is operating counter-intuitively,” said Brendan Courtney, senior vice president of Spherion® Professional Services. “IT workers are still being enticed to stay with their current employers through a series of retention efforts which may explain why even more of them are confident in their own job security. However, recent news and rumors out of Silicon Valley may have IT workers more anxious about another tech bubble. Record highs for the Dow, billion-dollar Web 2.0 acquisitions and a flood of ‘me too’ start-ups going live every day could be giving some workers flashbacks of 2001, but I don’t think that is the case.”
IT Employee Confidence Index: The IT Employee Confidence Index was 54.1 for the third quarter of 2006, down 4.3 points from the previous quarter. During the same period, the U.S. Index decreased 0.3 points to 57.3. The Index, which measures adult workers’ confidence in their personal employment situation and optimism in the macroeconomic environment, primarily decreased because of a candidate-driven shift in the job market.
| IT Workers | U.S. Workers | ||||||
| 2Q 2006 | 3Q 2006 | % Point Change |
2Q 2006 | 3Q 2006 | % Point Change |
||
| Economy | Getting Stronger | 31% | 19% | -12 | 22% | 20% | -2 |
| Staying Same | 29% | 37% | +8 | 35% | 36% | +1 | |
| Getting Weaker | 40% | 44% | +4 | 43% | 44% | +1 | |
| Job Availability | More Jobs | 31% | 27% | -4 | 26% | 25% | -1 |
| Same Amount | 31% | 30% | -1 | 35% | 36% | +1 | |
| Fewer Jobs | 38% | 44% | +6 | 39% | 39% | 0 | |
| Ability to Find New Job | Confident | 57% | 52% | -5 | 57% | 58% | +1 |
| Neutral | 21% | 29% | +8 | 28% | 28% | 0 | |
| Not Confident | 21% | 19% | -2 | 15% | 14% | -1 | |
| Future of Current Employer | Confident | 63% | 59% | -4 | 65% | 64% | -1 |
| Neutral | 21% | 22% | +2 | 22% | 24% | +2 | |
| Not Confident | 16% | 17% | +1 | 13% | 12% | -1 | |
| Likelihood to Lose Job | Likely | 18% | 16% | -2 | 12% | 11% | -1 |
| Neutral | 12% | 11% | -1 | 11% | 10% | -1 | |
| Not Likely | 70% | 73% | +3 | 77% | 79% | +2 | |
| Likelihood to Look for New Job | Likely | 39% | 38% | +1 | 37% | 35% | -2 |
| Neutral | 11% | 15% | +4 | 10% | 10% | 0 | |
| Not Likely | 50% | 47% | -3 | 53% | 54% | +1 | |
About the Spherion Employment Report
As part of the Spherion Emerging Workforce® series of employment surveys, the quarterly Spherion Information Technology Employment Report provides a snapshot of the latest workforce trends among information technology professionals across the country. 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
This 2006 Spherion IT Employment Report was conducted online by Harris Interactive® on behalf of Spherion Corporation among 9,095 employed adults, of whom 492 work in information technology positions (aged 18 and over) within the United States between July 5-7, July 11-13, August 8-10, August 15-17, September 5-7, and September 11-13 2006. 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 was also used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online.
With a pure probability sample of 9,095 adults one could say with a ninety-five percent probability that the overall results have a sampling error of +/- 1 percentage point. Sampling error for the results of employed adults who work in information technology positions (n=492) is plus or minus 4 percentage points. However that does not take other sources of error into account. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no theoretical sampling error can be calculated.
About Spherion
Spherion Corporation (NYSE:SFN) is a leading recruiting and staffing company that provides integrated solutions to meet the evolving needs of companies and job candidates. As an industry pioneer for 60 years, Spherion has screened and placed millions of individuals in temporary, temp-to-hire and full-time jobs. Positions range from administrative and light industrial to a host of professions that include accounting/finance, information technology, engineering, manufacturing, legal, human resources and sales/marketing.
With approximately 650 locations in the United States and Canada, Spherion delivers innovative workforce solutions that improve business performance. Spherion provides its services to more than 8,000 customers, from Fortune 500 companies to a wide range of small and mid-size organizations. Employing 375,000 people annually through its network, Spherion is one of North America’s largest employers. To learn more, visit www.spherion.com.
For up-to-date career tips and trends, visit Spherion’s career blog, The Big TimeSM, at www.spherion.com/careerblog.
About Harris Interactive
Harris Interactive is the 12th largest and fastest-growing market research firm in the world. The company provides research-driven insights and strategic advice to help its clients make more confident decisions which lead to measurable and enduring improvements in performance. Harris Interactive is widely known for The Harris Poll, one of the longest running, independent opinion polls and for pioneering online market research methods. The company has built what could conceivably be the world’s largest panel of survey respondents, the Harris Poll Online. Harris Interactive serves clients worldwide through its United States, Europe and Asia offices, its wholly-owned subsidiary Novatris in France and through a global network of independent market research firms. The service bureau, HISB, provides its market research industry clients with mixed-mode data collection, panel development services as well as syndicated and tracking research consultation. More information about Harris Interactive may be obtained at www.harrisinteractive.com.
To become a member of the Harris Poll Online and be invited to participate in online surveys, register at http://go.hpolsurveys.com/PR.
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