Majority Believe Recent Market Volatility will Impact Job/Career

The Glassdoor Employment Confidence Survey highlights four key indicators of employee confidence quarterly, in the areas of job market/re-hire probability, job security, pay raises, and company outlook. The Q3 2011 survey also asked employees how they think the recent market volatility may affect their job or career.

Highlights from the survey include:

•  More than half (56%) of employees think the recent volatility in the economy and financial markets will impact their job or career. Of these:
  –  30% think their career advancement will be slowed,
  –  28% think their job will be in jeopardy, and
  –  25% think their bonus or pay/commission will be reduced.

•  Nine in 10 (91% ) of unemployed job seekers think the market volatility will impact their ability to find a job. Of these job seekers:
  –  80% expect it will take longer to find a job,
  –  63% expect there to be fewer jobs available for qualified candidates,
  –  54% expect base pay to be lower, and
  –  45% say they are more likely to accept a job for which they are overqualified.

Uncertainty is rising among unemployed job seekers as 36% indicate they are uncertain whether they will be able to find a job in six months – the highest level in five quarters.

Pessimism about the job market grew again during the third quarter among employees (including those self-employed). One-third (33%) of employees and those self-employed believe it is unlikely they would be able to find a job matched to their experience and compensation levels in six months if they lost theirs – up two points from the second quarter (31%) and up four points from the first quarter (28%).

Employee optimism regarding pay raises remained flat in the third quarter. Slightly more than one-third (36%) of employees expect a pay raise in the next 12 months, a percentage that is unchanged from the second quarter.  Optimism for a pay raise is higher among men (40%) than women (32%), which is also unchanged from the second quarter.

Employee sentiment over company outlook retreated to the lowest level since January 2009 when Glassdoor started tracking this opinion. One-third (33%) of those employed and self-employed expect their company's outlook to improve in the next six months, which has fallen seven points from the second quarter (40%) to the lowest level since December 2008.  Overall optimism has fallen among men and women, but men have brighter outlook, with 38% expecting their company's outlook to improve, compared to 28% of women.

Employee concern over being laid off decreased by six points this quarter to 16% – the lowest level since the second quarter of 2010. However, nearly one-third (32%) are concerned about coworkers being laid off in the next six months, down two points from the second quarter.

The survey was conducted online within the U.S. by Harris Interactive on behalf of Glassdoor from September 19-21, 2011, among 2,291 adults ages 18 and older, of whom 1,375 are employed full-time, part-time and/or are self-employed, 1,247 are employed full-time and/or part-time, and 192 are unemployed but looking.

For more details and methodology of the survey, please see the full Q3 2011 Glassdoor Confidence Survey Summary and Methodology at http://www.glassdoor.com/press/surveys.