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Illinois Employment Report: Employee Confidence Index Declines to New Low

CHICAGO, Ill., December 18, 2008 – The Illinois Employee Confidence Index decreased 2.5 points to 35.4 in November, surpassing the lowest-level mark previously reached in October, 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 their job prospects and their employers’ future.

Results from the Illinois Employment Report:

Only 29 percent of workers are confident in their ability to find a new job, a decrease of seven percentage points from October.
More workers (84 percent) believe fewer jobs are available, an 11-percentage-point increase from the previous month.
Fifty-one percent of workers are confident in the future of their current employer, a decrease of 11 percentage points from October.

“The ripple effect of the nation’s job struggles continue to contribute to the state’s decline in job opportunities, and are echoed in our report,” explained Jodie Wood, regional director of Spherion Staffing Services in Illinois. “The new administration may be instrumental in job creation for state workers, if they follow through with their considerations for investing in infrastructure and additional stimulus. This would certainly give construction and manufacturing workers a jump start. Right now, we have to take a wait and see attitude, and advise companies that their best efforts may be spent on retaining top talent.”

November 2008 Employment Report Results		Illinois Workers			U.S. Workers
		Oct	Nov	% Point Change	Oct	Nov	% Point Change
Economy	Getting Stronger	5%	4%	-1	4%	4%	-0
	Staying Same	15%	13%	-2	19%	23%	+4
	Getting Weaker	79%	83%	+4	77%	73%	-4
Job Availability	More Jobs	5%	6%	+1	7%	6%	-1
	Same Amount	21%	10%	-11	22%	21%	-1
	Fewer Jobs	73%	84%	+11	71%	74%	+3
Ability to Find New Job	Confident	36%	29%	-7	41%	43%	+2
	Neutral	27%	45%	+18	36%	33%	-3
	Not Confident	37%	26%	-11	24%	25%	+1
Future of Current Employer	Confident	62%	51%	-11	65%	66%	+1
	Neutral	21%	34%	+13	23%	23%	0
	Not Confident	17%	15%	-2	13%	11%	-2
Likelihood to Lose Job	Likely	12%	18%	+6	14%	13%	-1
	Neutral	11%	16%	+5	11%	12%	+1
	Not Likely	77%	66%	-11	74%	75%	+1
Likelihood to Look for New Job	Likely	34%	39%	+5	31%	35%	+4
	Neutral	6%	12%	+6	12%	10%	-2
	Not Likely	59%	48%	-11	56%	55%	-1

About the Spherion Employment Report

Methodology

About Harris Interactive

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.