Job confidence inches upward

Workers are beginning to feel more confident about job security, according to results of a survey by Right Management Consultants. Of the 1,000 full-time workers surveyed, more than 75% predict little likelihood of losing their job in the coming year.

This positive thinking boosted the consulting firm’s Career Confidence Index to 48.3, up from 44.3 six months ago. Calculated twice per year and based on phone interviews, this index measures career confidence among full-time workers at all levels and incomes. 

“Employees are feeling more confident than they did six months ago about the job market,” says Richard Pinola, chairman and CEO of Right Management Consultants. “But there is recognition that jobs are still neither plentiful, nor are they easy to land. Until the job market completely recovers, we are unlikely to see major shifts in worker confidence levels.”

Even though workers may feel relatively safe in their current jobs, they realize the difficulty they might encounter in landing a new one. In fact, nearly 80% of those polled said it would be somewhat or very difficult for an out-of-work employee to find a comparably paying job. Of that group, half maintained that achieving this goal would be “very difficult.”

Workers were almost evenly split about the possibility of climbing the ranks with their current employers. When asked about job advancement opportunities, 50% reporting it was very or somewhat possible, while 48.9% said it was not very possible or not possible at all. Among this group, 29% said there was no possibility of advancement.

Such views on job advancement are a wake-up call to employers, Pinola says. “Nearly one out of three American workers sees no possibility of career expansion in their current workplace. That serves as a strong reminder to employers that they need to identify and develop the talent they want in place for the future,” he says. “As the economy improves, more workers will begin looking to job-hop. Those who feel most disenfranchised will be the most likely to leave.”

For more information, go to www.right.com