Press Room

CHICAGO, Ill., November 20, 2008 – The Illinois Employee Confidence Index declined 10.2 points to 37.9 in October, reaching its lowest level since the survey’s inception, 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 have concerns about a weakening economy and job availability.

Results from the Illinois Employment Report:

• Seventy-nine percent of workers believe the economy is getting weaker, an increase of 13 percentage points from September.
• More workers (73 percent) believe fewer jobs are available, a 16-percentage-point increase from the previous month. 
• Thirty-six percent of workers are confident in their ability to find a new job, a decrease of 14 percentage points from September.

“The impact of the nation’s struggling economy has clearly taken its toll on Illinois workers as indicated by the significant decline in the Confidence Index,” explained Jodie Wood, regional director of Spherion Staffing Services in Illinois. “Some sectors are taking a hard hit, such as construction, but the hope is that the Illinois Works Jobs Plan will jump start the creation of construction jobs and get some employees back to work. Despite workers’ concerns and an increased unemployment rate, more Illinois workers are reporting that they are likely to look for a new job in the next 12 months. For those considering making a job transition, we anticipate to see some moderate growth during and after the upcoming holiday season.”

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 October 2008 Spherion® Employment Report was conducted online within the United by Harris Interactive on behalf of Spherion Corporation between October 7 and 9 and October 15 and 17, 2008 among a U.S. sample of 2,960 employed adults, aged 18 years and older, of whom 113 are employed in Illinois (for September 2008 n=126). 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 Office Professionals 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.