U.S. Worker Confidence Index Falls Significantly in 2Q19

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American worker confidence is at its lowest level since Q2 of 2018. Following its all-time-high at the start of the year, the national Worker Confidence Index (WCI) has fallen 5.8 points from 110.7 in Q1 2019. The Worker Confidence Index is a survey of U.S. workers from HRO Today Magazine and Yoh, the leading international talent and outsourcing company owned by Day & Zimmermann, which gauges workers’ perceptions of the four key aspects of worker confidence: perceived likelihood of job loss, perceived likelihood of a promotion, perceived likelihood of a raise, and overall trust in company leadership.

During Q2 2019, three of the WCI’s four key indexes—likelihood of promotion, likelihood of a raise and trust in company leadership—saw substantial decreases. Only the job security index reported a quarterly increase and recovery from its drop in Q1 2019. Of the remaining three, perceived likelihood of a promotion took the largest hit in Q2, falling 11.1 points for the quarter. American trust in company leadership is lower than it’s been in more than a year at 100.6 points—1.7 points lower than Q2 2018.

“Although the U.S. economy is currently in its longest expansion since 1854, we have found that the market does not directly impact employee confidence. Rather, the WCI shows that employers must look beyond a company’s economic status to ensure employee satisfaction in the long term,” said Kathleen King, Senior Vice President, Enterprise Solutions, Yoh. “In fact, retention rates can be directly linked to employee confidence and trust in company leadership. Retaining a company’s high-performing talent is a key indicator of the future success of a company. Those who make talent a priority with strategies designed to meet employee expectations and needs will be best positioned for growth.”

Other takeaways:

Men’s perceived likelihood of a promotion fell in Q2 2019, but remain the more confident gender.
While both gender’s optimism for a promotion fell in the second quarter, 27.1% of males remain hopeful—an 11.2-point difference from the 15.9% of females that expect a promotion in the coming months. This gender difference has been a common trend throughout recent quarters. Results also show that millennials (those aged 35 or below) were the most inclined to anticipate a promotion compared to other age groups, with about 38% of millennials believing a promotion is likely in the next 12 months.

Q2 shows younger workers continue to feel insecure in their jobs.
Results continue to highlight the trend that exists between age and job security, showing that younger workers fear job loss more than older workers. In Q2 2019, those between 25–34 years old felt the least secure about their job stability, with 15.2% feeling it’s likely they could lose their jobs in the next 12 months. While it remains the least secure age group, those between 25-34 have reported the largest increase in perceived job security since 2017, up 3.6 percentage points from one year ago.

Results suggest that trust in company leadership declines with age.
More than half of the respondents aged 44 or younger trust their company’s leadership, contrasting sharply with those over age 45. Over 60% of the workforce in the 24 to 34 age group were likely to trust their company’s leadership, the only age segment up from the previous quarter and the previous year, up 1.3% and 1.5% respectively. Results also showed that more than 81% of people over the age of 65 do not trust company leadership, which is the lowest percentage the age segment has had in the past three years.

About YOH

For over 70 years, Yoh has provided the talent needed for the jobs and projects critical to our clients’ success by providing comprehensive workforce solutions that focus on Aerospace and Defense, Engineering, Health Care, Life Sciences, Information Technology and Telecommunications. Yoh fulfills immediate resource needs and delivers enterprise workforce solutions, including Managed Services, Recruitment Process Outsourcing, Vendor Management Systems, Independent Contractor Compliance, and Payroll Services. For more information, visit Yoh.com.