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California Employment Report: Employee Confidence Index Rises 5.5 Points

LOS ANGELES, Calif., February 27, 2009 – Although job losses continue to mount across the state, the California Employee Confidence Index rose 5.5 points to 43.2 in January, according to the latest Spherion® Employment Report. The monthly survey of California workers, conducted by Harris Interactive® on behalf of Spherion Corporation (NYSE:SFN), indicates that more workers believe that it is unlikely they will lose their jobs and more workers have confidence in their ability to find a new job.

Results from the California Employment Report:

Sixty-eight percent of workers believe that the economy is getting weaker, down nine percentage points from December.
Three-fourths (75 percent) of workers believe that they are unlikely to lose their jobs, representing an increase of five percentage points from the previous month.
Seventy percent of workers expressed confidence in the future of their current employers, representing no change from December.
Nearly half (46 percent) of workers are confident in their ability to find a new job, an increase of 13 percentage points from the previous month.

“The aftermath of the widespread economic challenges faced in 2008 has certainly taken its toll on worker sentiment over the past few months. Grim economic reports and rising unemployment rates continue to dominate the headlines,” explained Beth Noseworthy, region vice president for Spherion. “However, our Report indicates that California workers’ overall confidence increased in the first month of 2009 in spite of the ongoing housing, credit and financial crises. In fact, more workers in California revealed more confidence in their job security and the majority of workers remain confident in the future of their current employers. As employers continue to look for ways to do more with less, this allows forward-thinking workers to advance their skill-set and take on new responsibilities outside of their current scope. By taking this initiative, workers will ensure that they are in the driver’s seat of their careers and poised to come out of the economic downturn with a greater potential for career advancement.”

January 2009 Employment Report Results		California Workers			U.S. Workers
		Dec	Jan	% Point Change	Dec	Jan	% Point Change
Economy	Getting Stronger	2%	5%	+3	5%	7%	+2
	Staying Same	21%	28%	+7	20%	26%	+6
	Getting Weaker	77%	68%	-9	75%	67%	-8
Job Availability	More Jobs	0%	4%	+4	5%	6%	+1
	Same Amount	14%	18%	+4	17%	18%	+1
	Fewer Jobs	86%	78%	-8	78%	76%	-2
Ability to Find New Job	Confident	33%	46%	+13	39%	42%	+3
	Neutral	36%	29%	-7	33%	33%	0
	Not Confident	31%	25%	-6	28%	25%	-3
Future of Current Employer	Confident	70%	70%	0	66%	67%	+1
	Neutral	21%	22%	+1	23%	22%	-1
	Not Confident	9%	9%	0	11%	11%	0
Likelihood to Lose Job	Likely	10%	13%	+3	15%	16%	+1
	Neutral	19%	12%	-7	13%	12%	-1
	Not Likely	70%	75%	+5	72%	72%	0
Likelihood to Look for New Job	Likely	36%	34%	-2	33%	34%	+1
	Neutral	15%	13%	-2	12%	12%	0
	Not Likely	49%	53%	+4	55%	54%	-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 and breakout specialties 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 650 locations in the United States and Canada, Spherion delivers innovative workforce solutions that improve business performance. Spherion provides its services to approximately 10,000 customers, from Fortune 500 companies to a wide range of small and mid-size organizations. Employing more than 230,000 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.