The recently released Randstad Employee Confidence Index is maintaining pre-recession highs. The overall confidence of employees remained steady at 56 percent. As in many indices of this type, a score above 50 indicates general optimism. Over half of employees are confident in their ability to find another job should they need to, and 62 percent feel sure of the future of their current employer.
The Employee Confidence Index is keeping pace with improvements in other areas that indicate economic performance and sentiment. Consumer confidence and housing prices are also rising, for example. On the whole, the picture presented of the American employee at this point is a positive one. Americans who are employed, whether as permanent or temporary workers, experience confidence in their jobs and their ability to make purchases, and those who are homeowners are experiencing a good possible return on that investment.
On the whole, the shape of the American economy continues to improve. This is good news not only for the consumer and employee, but also for those in the human resources administration community, who may take advantage of this opportunity to consider making new hires. As is typical in an economy working its way out of a recession, hiring contract workers or other contingent employees is currently a popular choice that should be considered.
