Glassdoor Releases Q3 2013 Employment Confidence Survey, Layoff Fears Drop to Lowest Level in 5 Years

That's not a valid work email account. Please enter your work email (e.g. you@yourcompany.com)
Please enter your work email
(e.g. you@yourcompany.com)

line graph According to the Glassdoor Q3 2013 Employment Confidence Survey, 15 percent of employees feel less concerned about being laid off in the next six months, a low since Q4 2008.  The change is even a drop of seven percentage points since last quarter.

The survey of more than 2,000 working adults, conducted online by Harris Interactive, evaluated four key indicators of employee confidence: job security, business outlook, job market optimism/re-hire probability and salary expectations.

Just 18 percent of employees reported that their employer initiated large-scale hiring, a 15-percentage point decrease since last quarter and a low since Q2 2011. The decline in large-scale hiring and expected layoffs may affect employees’ optimism in their company’s business outlook over the next six months because:

  •  A little more than half (51 percent) believe their company’s business outlook will stay the same in the next six months;
  • 40 percent believe it will get better; and
  • 9 percent believe it will get worse.

Compared to last quarter, job market optimism remains unchanged as 43 percent of employees believe that if they lost their current job, in the next six months, they could find an equivalent role to their current compensation and experience levels. Confidence levels among job seekers also remained steady as 38 percent believe they could find a job in the next six months.

“This is the first quarter since the Great Recession where we are finally seeing signs of stabilization within the job market, and as a result, employees are feeling more secure in their current jobs than they have in several years,” Rusty Rueff, Glassdoor career and workplace expert, said. “The signal is clear for both companies and employees that we must remain calm, carry on, and stay focused on doing our best to help move the economy forward.”

According to the report’s salary expectations data, 37 percent of employees said they expect a pay raise or cost-of-living increase in the next 12 months, down three percentage points since last quarter. Yet 76 percent of employees reported that their employers added perks during the past six months. New perks included:

  • Option to work remotely
  • Casual dress
  • Flexible work hours
  • Receive new stock

By Shala Marks