The Kenexa Research Institute Finds That Employee Confidence Increased in the Second Quarter 2009
U.S. Employee Confidence Rose 5.3% Since March
| Source: Kenexa
WAYNE, PA--(Marketwire - August 11, 2009) - Kenexa® (NASDAQ : KNXA ), a global provider of
business solutions for human resources, today announced the results of its
employee confidence study, a quarterly measure of worker opinions and
component of the forthcoming Kenexa Composite.
Employee confidence has been found to relate to multiple economic and
business performance outcomes at the individual, organizational, industry
and country levels as well as being predictive of consumer confidence.
A high level of employee confidence is achieved when employees perceive
their organization as being effectively managed and competitively
positioned, and believe they have a promising future with their
organization, job security, and skills that are attractive to other
employers. Employee confidence influences individual behavior and has
implications for organizational performance and economic conditions.
In June 2009, the global employee confidence index score was 98.9. Brazil
(107.2), China (102.3), France (101.4) and Russia (100.9) had the highest
levels of employee confidence, while Italy (97.8), Spain (96.0) and Japan
(93.8) had the lowest levels. The United States' employee confidence index
score was 98.9.
Jeffrey Saltzman, principal at Kenexa, stated that, "In the second quarter
of 2009, employees from all of the studied countries reported an increase
in employee confidence scores, becoming more positive, with the exception
of Japan. China improved the most since the first quarter of 2009 (up 12.5
points). Interestingly, it was recently reported that China's economy grew
by 7.9% in the second quarter, evaluating this as a surprisingly strong
showing given the world economic crisis."
Saltzman continued, "While most countries improved in the second quarter
over the first, we saw especially strong gains in Russia, Germany, France
and India. The countries with the smallest gains were Japan, Spain, Canada
and the U.K. These rankings also match a recent report; there is
exceptionally high unemployment in Spain; the U.K.'s economy is posting
steep drops, which are dashing hopes for a quick recovery; and, Germany's
economic performance implies that the recession there could end sooner than
expected."
What had been the lowest scoring component of confidence, job security and
having a promising future, has now been replaced by a worker's ability to
find employment elsewhere. Saltzman continued, "This illustrates that the
notion of a jobless recovery is very much in alignment with how the typical
employee feels."
There was an increase in employees who reported that their economic
well-being will improve over the next six months. However, there are still
quite a few who are worried about their current financial situation to a
"very great extent," with 35% of U.S. employees reporting concern, down
from 40% in December 2008.
About the Kenexa Employee Confidence Index™
The Kenexa Employee Confidence Index™ (ECI) measures the degree of
confidence employees have in their employers' marketplace competiveness and
their own careers. The ECI is measured quarterly using opinions from
workers in Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan,
Russia, Spain, the United Kingdom and United States. Kenexa's ECI was
started in June 2008 and was normalized for each country to equal 100.
Subsequent scores are reported in percents above or below that starting
point. Data are available by country, industry, age, gender and job type.
About the Kenexa Composite™
The Kenexa Composite™ is a country-level indicator of economic health
and employment conditions. Using a combination of the Kenexa Employee
Confidence Index (ECI) and the Kenexa Jobs Index, the Kenexa Composite
tracks labor demand and employee optimism in the 12 largest economies,
accounting for 73% of the world's GDP.
The Kenexa Jobs Index™ is comprised of a fixed set of Forbes Global 2000
organizations and gauges their hiring activity. These organizations use
Kenexa's large-scale recruiting solutions.
About Kenexa
Kenexa® provides business solutions for human resources. We help global
organizations multiply business success by identifying the best individuals
for every job and fostering optimal work environments for every
organization. For more than 20 years, Kenexa has studied human behavior and
team dynamics in the workplace, and has developed the software solutions,
business processes and expert consulting that help organizations impact
positive business outcomes through HR. Kenexa is the only company that
offers a comprehensive suite of unified products and services that support
the entire employee lifecycle from pre-hire to exit. Additional information
about Kenexa and its global products and services can be accessed at
www.kenexa.com.