Benefits May 5, 2004

Survey: More U.S. Workers Smiling

May 4, 2004 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - U.S. workers were among the top five among employees in 18 nations in showing a dramatic increase in their confidence levels about their jobs, a new survey found.
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The poll by Right Management Consultants found the U.S. employees scored a 48.3 on the firm’s Career Confidence Index – up four points from the 44.3 in the most recent survey in late 2003, the firm said in a news release.

With the U.S. tied for the fourth spot in the latest study, the rest of the top five were, in order:

  • Ireland – 49.9, up five
  • Canada – 52.2, up 4.6
  • U.K. – 50.2, up 4.5
  • Norway – 56.2, up four.

The findings lifted the overall global Career Confidence Index to 50, up from 48.7 six months ago.

“Overall, worker confidence levels around the globe appear to be stronger than they were six months ago,” said Richard Pinola, chairman and chief executive officer of Right. “Even though nine countries registered an improved Index and nine reported a drop, the increases were more significant than were the slight drops.”

The index is based on the answers to two questions with both sets of responses incorporated into a single number:

  • What is the possibility of you, yourself, being laid off from your job during the next year?
  • How easy or difficult do you think it would be for the average person who was laid off from his or her job to find a similar job at the same pay?

The index is based on telephone interviews with a random sample of 300 to 1,000 full time workers. These results are based on 9,785 interviews conducted in March and April. Workers in the following countries were surveyed: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States.

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