The Kenexa Research Institute Finds That Many Employees Are Confident They Will Land on Their Feet if They Lose Their Job
Which Employees Are Confident They Will Be Able to Find Another Job That Uses Their Skills and Experiences?
| Source: Kenexa
WAYNE, PA--(Marketwire - November 13, 2008) - In these turbulent times with layoffs and
downsizings, there is an increasing level of uncertainty among employees
regarding job security. The Kenexa Research
Institute (KRI) explored just how confident employees in the United
States are about their being able to find a similar job in another
organization. In other words, if they lose their job, do they feel their
skills and experiences would allow them to land on their feet?
The results from a randomly selected group of more than 16,000 workers from
12 countries indicate that employees in Russia (81%) and India (80%) have
the highest overall confidence in their ability to find a similar job,
followed by those in Brazil (76%), Canada (75%) and France (73%). Those in
Japan (40%) are the least confident.
As recently as the end of September 2008, in the United States, seven out
of 10 employees felt that they would be able to find another job that uses
their skills and experiences. Those findings were similar to the June 2008
report (68%).
Those working in the healthcare services (82%), hotel/lodging services
(80%) and high-tech manufacturing (79%) industries are the most likely to
believe that other organizations are hiring people with their skills and
experiences. On the other hand, employees in the transportation services
(64%), heavy manufacturing (61%) and light manufacturing, (54%) industries
are the least likely to feel organizations are hiring people with their
skills and experience.
American workers in service jobs (77%), professionals (75%) and senior
managers (74%) were the most confident about being able to find another job
that uses their skills and experiences; clerical workers (64%),
crafts/skilled trades (63%) and laborers (55%) were the least confident.
Jeffrey
Saltzman, a principal and industrial psychologist at Kenexa, stated,
"These results are very revealing and consistent with the larger United
States marketplace trends that are now emerging. However, some industry
sectors are more resilient to the current economic downturn, at least for
now. For instance, an economic downturn does not diminish the need people
have for healthcare. This explains the positive findings of those in the
healthcare industry regarding their ability to find another job if
necessary."
Saltzman continued, "In contrast, employees in the manufacturing and
construction industries were the first to feel the pain of high energy
prices and the housing bust, as well as a business climate that is the
worst it has been in almost two decades. These workers are seeing not only
their organizations' production activity strongly reduced, but are starting
to see layoffs become common practice. The retail industry is also in a
downturn, with more than 300,000 jobs lost since November 2007. Employees
in the retail industry are feeling this change and are only indicating a
moderate level of confidence that organizations would hire someone with
their skills and experiences (70%).
This study was part of a larger quarterly study that Kenexa undertakes to
measure business conditions in major markets. Kenexa has an unequalled
database of worldwide employee survey results from workers in Brazil,
Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Russia, Spain, the
United Kingdom and the United States that allows the company to provide
exceptional insights to organizations of all sizes on a global basis. This
business-critical information enables international organizations to better
maximize their overall performance.
About Kenexa
Kenexa (NASDAQ : KNXA ) is a global leader in building the world's greatest
workforces using a combination of software, employee research science and
business process optimization. Kenexa's global solutions include applicant
tracking, onboarding, recruitment process outsourcing, employment branding,
skills and behavioral assessments, structured interviews, performance
management, multi-rater feedback surveys, employee engagement surveys and
HR Analytics. Kenexa is headquartered in Wayne, Pa. (outside Philadelphia).
Additional information about Kenexa and its global products and services
can be accessed at www.kenexa.com.