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Ohio Employment Report: Employee Confidence Dips 2.3 Points in February

COLUMBUS, Ohio, March 20, 2009 —The Ohio Employee Confidence Index dropped 2.3 points to 39.2 in February, according to the latest Spherion^® Employment Report. The monthly survey conducted by Harris Interactive^® on behalf of Spherion Corporation (NYSE:SFN), indicated that although more workers believe there are fewer job openings and lack confidence in their ability to find a new job, the majority of workers do not believe it is likely they will lose their own jobs.

Results from the Ohio Employment Report:

Fewer workers are confident in their ability to find a new job, specifically 34 percent versus 40 percent in January.
Eighty-five percent of workers believe there are fewer jobs available, an increase of five percentage point increase from the previous month.
The majority of workers (71 percent) believe that it is not likely they will lose their jobs, showing no change from January.

“The drop in February’s Ohio Employee Confidence Index is indicative of what is being seen on a national scale. Ohio’s steadily-increasing unemployment rate can largely be attributed to the mounting declines being seen in manufacturing,” said Robert Schulte, Spherion franchise owner in Ohio. “Although workers continue to cautiously anticipate the job growth that might be stimulated, workers are finding themselves doing more with less. Workers who find themselves in this situation will be better served to view this as an opportunity to build their skill set, as opposed to those who allow feelings of “survivor’s guilt” to impact their productivity.”

February 2009 Employment Report Results		Ohio Workers			U.S. Workers
		Jan	Feb	% Point Change	Jan	Feb	% Point Change
Economy	Getting Stronger	8%	6%	-2	7%	6%	-1
	Staying Same	22%	20%	-2	26%	24%	-2
	Getting Weaker	71%	74%	+3	67%	70%	+3
Job Availability	More Jobs	8%	9%	+1	6%	5%	-1
	Same Amount	12%	6%	-6	18%	17%	-1
	Fewer Jobs	80%	85%	+5	76%	79%	+3
Ability to Find New Job	Confident	40%	34%	-6	42%	38%	-4
	Neutral	35%	39%	+4	33%	34%	+1
	Not Confident	25%	27%	+2	25%	27%	+2
Future of Current Employer	Confident	65%	64%	-1	67%	63%	-4
	Neutral	22%	24%	+2	22%	24%	+2
	Not Confident	13%	12%	-1	11%	14%	+3
Likelihood to Lose Job	Likely	22%	18%	-4	16%	17%	+1
	Neutral	7%	11%	+4	12%	12%	0
	Not Likely	71%	71%	0	72%	71%	-1
Likelihood to Look for New Job	Likely	37%	36%	-1	34%	33%	-1
	Neutral	12%	13%	+1	12%	12%	0
	Not Likely	51%	51%	0	54%	56%	+2

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.