Worker Confidence Index™ Falls Significantly in Q2 2017, Ending Five-Quarter Streak of Growth

PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 06, 2017 -- Following five consecutive quarters of increases, American workers’ confidence fell significantly in Q1 2017 to a 12-month low, according to the national Worker Confidence Index™, a survey of U.S. workers from HRO Today Magazine and Yoh, the leading international talent and outsourcing company owned by Day & Zimmermann. The index gauges workers’ perceptions of the four key drivers of worker confidence: the perceived likelihood of job loss, the perceived likelihood of a promotion, the perceived likelihood of a raise, and the perceived overall trust in company leadership.

Overall, the index fell from 107.6 in the first quarter of 2017 to 99.7 in the second quarter of 2017. The largest decreases came from perceived likelihood of a promotion and perceived likelihood of a raise, which fell by 21.4 points and 11.1 points, respectively. Trust in company leadership dipped as well, decreasing by 3.4 points. The only category that saw growth was perceived likelihood of job security, which increased by 4.5 points in Q2 and rebounded from a dip in Q1 2017.

“As we’ve seen time and time again, employers cannot look only at balance sheets as the way to gauge the health of a company,” said Andy Roane, Vice President of Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) for Yoh. “Employee confidence is a key indicator and precursor to the future success of a company, and those who make talent a priority with strategies designed to meet employee expectations will be positioned for growth over the long term.”

Other takeaways:

• Workers’ trust in company leadership fell to its lowest level since Q3 2016 and now stands at 43.2%. There is a direct relationship between leadership and employees’ incomes and education levels, but an inverse relationship with employee age.
   
• Workers’ perceived likelihood of a promotion fell by a historic amount (21.4 points), led by significant decreases from those aged 25-44 and those making more than $50,000 annually. Likelihood of a raise fell back to 2016 levels, indicating Q1’s results were likely more of an aberration than a notable trend.
   
• For the last eight quarters, the Worker Confidence Index has aligned with trends in the Consumer Confidence Index, indicating consumer confidence is aligned with workers’ job security and health. The decline in the WCI in second quarter 2017 suggests that there could be a decline in the CCI at the end of September 2017.

To view the entire study, please visit, http://www.yoh.com/hro-today-employee-well-being-study.

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.

Contact:
Joe McIntyre
215-564-3200
[email protected]