Press Room

FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla., October 10, 2006 — According to the latest Spherion^® Workplace Snapshot Survey, 60 percent of workers would not post their resume on social networking sites such as MySpace, Facebook or Friendster for employers to see. Further, even if they knew their employer could see it, 37 percent say they would not remove any content they have posted on their MySpace, Facebook or Friendster site.

Conversely, the survey found that 19 percent of workers would post their resume on such sites, while a third (33 percent) would remove content from their MySpace, Facebook or Friendster site if they knew their employer could see it.

“At the moment, it appears that most workers are using their social networking sites for just that—socializing—rather than mixing business with pleasure by posting their resumes or altering their site content,” observed Nancy Halverson, Spherion vice president of talent development. “However, we believe that the number of workers who would post their resumes on such sites will grow dramatically, beyond the present 19 percent, in the next several years.”

The reason, according to Halverson, is that employers are beginning to use social networking sites as recruiting and prescreening tools.

“When you consider that MySpace is the third most popular site in the U.S., with 93 million profiles, it isn’t difficult to understand why employers would want to tap into this resource,” noted Halverson. “And in today’s increasingly tight labor market, organizations are beginning to use every means available to find—or screen out—potential workers, including social networking sites. In fact, many employers, including the U.S. Marine Corps, maintain their own profiles on MySpace as a way to actively recruit.”

Despite the fact that the majority of adults surveyed would not post their resumes on social networking sites for employers to see, it appears many workers acknowledge that companies’ recruiting and prescreening practices may shape the content of their sites, according to Halverson. “With one-third of adults saying they would remove content from their MySpace, Facebook or Friendster site if they knew their employer could see it, many workers are realizing that the World Wide Web is public domain and that anything posted on it can be seen by anyone—including current and prospective employers.”

Other results from the latest Spherion Workplace Snapshot Survey:

Workers aged 18–24 most likely to post their resume on social networking sites.

• 24 percent of adults aged 18 to 24 say they would post their resume on MySpace, Facebook or Friendster for employers to see.
• The percentage of adults who say they would post declines among older age groups, with 23 percent of those aged 25-29, 19 percent of those aged 30-39, 17 percent of those in the 40-49 and 50-64 age groups respectively, and 13 percent of adults aged 65 or older saying they would post.

Female workers less likely to post their resume on social networking sites.

• Only 16 percent of female adults said they would post their resume, compared to 22 percent of male workers who said they would post.

College graduates most likely to remove content if they knew their employer could see it.

• 42 percent of adults who graduated from college said they would remove content from MySpace, Facebook or Friendster if they knew their employer could see it, and 35 percent of post-grads would do so.
• By contrast, only 29 percent of adults with high school or less education, and 27 percent of those with some college education, say they would remove content from their sites if they knew their employer could see it.

Methodology
The September 2006 Spherion Workplace Snapshot 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 1,601 employed adults, aged 18 years and older, was interviewed in a poll conducted September 5-7, 2006. Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, income, education and region were weighted where necessary to bring them in line with their actual proportions in the population.

With pure probability samples, with 100 percent response rates, it is possible to calculate the probability that the sampling error (but not other sources of error) is not greater than some number. With a pure probability sample of this size one could say with a 95 percent probability that the overall results have a sampling error of +/- two 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 Time^SM, 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, visit http://go.hpolsurveys.com/PR.