Daily News

View All News

Randstad employee confidence index hits eight-year high

January 05, 2015

The outlook among American workers rose in December to the highest level in eight years, according to Randstad’s US employee confidence index. The index rose to a reading of 60.0 in December from 58.7 in November. The index measures workers’ confidence in their personal employment situation and optimism about the economic environment. The last time the employee confidence index reached 60 or above was in February 2007 when it attained 60.4.

“We are pleased to see workers’ confidence levels soaring as a result of the economy having added at least 200,000 jobs for 10 consecutive months, the longest uninterrupted stretch at that level in more than three decades,” said Jim Link, chief HR officer, Randstad North America. “While economists applauded the impressive job creation numbers and the long-awaited wage increase in November’s employment report, those results likely have put many employers on high alert to aggressively address talent supply and demand issues. The United States created 2.65 million new jobs this year, which is the largest annual increase since 1999. One thing is quite clear, companies are looking for employees.”

Employees’ expressed high confidence in overall job availability, their ability to find a new job and the future of their current employer. The Randstad Personal Confidence Index, a measure of workers’ confidence in their own employment situation, rose to 69.6 in December from 68.5 the previous month.

Twenty-nine percent expressed increased confidence in the availability of jobs, unchanged from November. Meanwhile, half of workers felt confident in their ability to find a job, and 62 percent said they were confident in the future of their current employer in December.

The index is based on a survey of 1,056 employed US adults conducted between Dec. 2 and Dec. 4, 2014.