Most Workers Believe Less Jobs are Available

September 7, 2010 – The SFN Group Employee Confidence Index remained virtually unchanged, decreasing 0.2 points to 48.2 in August. The index, which measures workers' confidence in their personal employment situation and optimism in the economic environment, revealed that slightly more workers believe the economy is getting weaker, although the percentage indicating that more jobs are available increased. Twenty-one percent of U.S. workers believe the economy is getting stronger, an increase of one percentage point from July. At the same time, 41 percent believe the economy is getting weaker (compared to 39 percent in July). Sixty-four percent of workers believe there are fewer jobs available, as compared to 62 percent the prior month. “Despite nominal movement in our latest Employee Confidence Index, there was quite a bit of good news inside our latest report,” said Roy Krause, president and CEO of SFN Group. “While recent economic figures show a mixed bag, we need to look at the bigger picture. Looking back to where we were as a nation one year ago, things have improved significantly. Given the current trends within our recruiting and staffing business, we are continuing to see solid growth for temporary help services.”