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Illinois Employment Report: Employee Confidence Remains Virtually Unchanged As More Workers Concerned About Job Market
CHICAGO, Ill., March 20, 2008 – The Illinois Employee Confidence Index remained virtually unchanged in February, increasing only 0.1 point to 49.8, according to the latest Spherion® Employment Report. The monthly survey of Illinois workers, conducted by Harris Interactive® on behalf of Spherion Corporation (NYSE:SFN), indicates that more workers are concerned about the number of jobs available and their ability to find a new job.
Results from the Illinois Employment Report:
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Only eight percent of workers believe the amount of jobs available has increased, a decline of 14 percentage points from January.
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More workers doubt their ability to find a new job, with 21 percent stating so, a five-percentage-point increase from the previous month.
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Fewer workers believe the economy is getting weaker, with 62 percent reporting that they believe the economy is getting weaker, compared to 71 percent in January.
“From what we are seeing in our own business, we still continue to see steady job growth,” explained Jodie Wood, regional director of Spherion Staffing Services in Illinois. “Although workers report that they are concerned about the number of jobs available, there have been positive gains in the areas of transportation, utilities, construction as well as educational and health services. We remain optimistic about the Illinois employment situation.”
| February Employment Report Results | Illinois Workers | U.S. Workers | |||||
| Jan | Feb | % Point Change | Jan | Feb | % Point Change | ||
| Economy | Getting Stronger | 9% | 7% | -2 | 9% | 6% | -3 |
| Staying Same | 20% | 30% | +10 | 23% | 26% | +3 | |
| Getting Weaker | 71% | 62% | -9 | 68% | 68% | 0 | |
| Job Availability | More Jobs | 22% | 8% | -14 | 16% | 13% | -3 |
| Same Amount | 27% | 44% | +17 | 32% | 34% | +2 | |
| Fewer Jobs | 51% | 48% | -3 | 52% | 53% | +1 | |
| Ability to Find New Job | Confident | 53% | 52% | -1 | 52% | 53% | +1 |
| Neutral | 30% | 27% | -3 | 31% | 30% | -1 | |
| Not Confident | 16% | 21% | +5 | 17% | 17% | 0 | |
| Future of Current Employer | Confident | 69% | 72% | +3 | 63% | 65% | +2 |
| Neutral | 12% | 18% | +6 | 23% | 22% | -1 | |
| Not Confident | 19% | 9% | -10 | 14% | 12% | -2 | |
| Likelihood to Lose Job | Likely | 12% | 12% | 0 | 12% | 12% | 0 |
| Neutral | 8% | 8% | 0 | 12% | 10% | -2 | |
| Not Likely | 80% | 80% | 0 | 77% | 78% | +1 | |
| Likelihood to Look for New Job | Likely | 37% | 34% | -3 | 38% | 36% | -2 |
| Neutral | 6% | 19% | +13 | 10% | 12% | +2 | |
| Not Likely | 57% | 46% | -11 | 52% | 53% | +1 | |
About the Spherion Employment Report
As part of the Spherion® Emerging Workforce® Series 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, which measures employees’ overall confidence in the economy, the future of their employer, the availability of jobs, and their ability to find other employment. The Employee Confidence Index is based on these four components, with a ‘score’ calculated for each 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 scaled from 0 (no confidence) to 100 (complete confidence). A reading above 50 indicates a positive confidence level.
Methodology
The February 2008 Spherion® Employment Report was conducted online within the United by Harris Interactive on behalf of Spherion Corporation between February 6 and 8 and February 11-13, 2008 among a U.S. sample of 2,649 employed adults, aged 18 years and older, of whom 89 are employed in Illinois (for Jan 2008 n=134). 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 have agreed to participate in Harris Interactive surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the U.S. adult population. Because 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.
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 more than 60 years, Spherion has sourced, screened and placed millions of individuals in temporary, temp-to-hire and full-time jobs.
With approximately 700 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 more than 300,000 people annually through its network, Spherion is one of North America's largest employers. Spherion operates under the following brands: Spherion Staffing Services Group for administrative, clerical and light industrial workers; Technisource for technology professionals and solutions; The Mergis Group for accounting and finance and other professional positions; Todays Staffing for specialty administrative personnel; and Spherion Recruitment Process Outsourcing. To learn more, visit www.spherion.com.
About Harris Interactive
Harris Interactive is a global leader in custom market research. With a long and rich history in multimodal research, powered by our science and technology, we assist clients in achieving business results. Harris Interactive serves clients globally through our North American, European and Asian offices and a network of independent market research firms. For more information, please visit www.harrisinteractive.com.
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