This is a five percentage point increase from 26 percent in Q1 this year, and on a par with Q3 2015 (32 percent). Confidence amongst millennials (18-34 year olds) is even lower. Nearly two fifths (39 percent) claim they fear losing their job in the next six months, up by more than 10 percentage points since Q1 2016 (28 percent).
Further data reveals employers have implemented a series of negative changes in the workplace over the past six months. Amongst those employees who reported their companies had made negative changes in their place of work, 39 percent claim their employers have reduced or failed to pay bonuses, 20 percent have made changes to compensation structure, 12 percent of employers have initiated or communicated pay reductions and 11 percent have reduced health and/or dental benefits. Each of these changes are at the highest level since the ECS began in Q1 2014.
In addition to outlook on finding a new job, confidence in pay rises remains high in line with Q1 this year. Two fifths (40 percent) of employees are confident they will get a pay rise in the next twelve months, a factor which remains at a two-year high. However, young workers (16-24) expecting a pay rise in the next twelve months has fallen from 44 to 40 percent this year.
Diarmuid Russell, Glassdoor Head of International says, “There has been a big increase in fear of redundancy, particularly amongst millennials, since the first quarter of this year. Interestingly, this doesn’t seem to be dampening people’s overall confidence in finding a new job that matches their abilities - over a third of employees believe they can find another equivalent job within six months, the highest level since we began measuring employee sentiment over two years ago. So whilst people feel less secure in their current roles, they also feel well placed to cope by finding a new job.”
The Glassdoor UK Employment Confidence Survey tracks four core indicators of employment confidence including: salary expectations, job market optimism, business outlook and job security.
Additional highlights from the Glassdoor UK Employment Confidence Survey include:
Business outlook:
Two-fifths (40 percent) of employees believe that business outlook will improve over the next six months, this increases to almost half of employees in the North West (48 percent) and over half in London. Across the UK, this is consistent with Q1 2016 and therefore remains at the highest level since the UK study began in Q1 2014, at which point the figure was 34 percent. Men are more bullish than women, with 44 percent having a positive outlook compared to 35 percent of women. Only one in ten employees believes things will get worse at their company in the next six months - a sentiment which is stronger in Scotland at 16 percent.
Job security:
Forty percent of employees are concerned colleagues will be made redundant over the next six months. More men (46 percent) worry about their employer making colleagues redundant than women (32 percent). This fear of redundancy amongst co-workers reaches 50 percent in Scotland, the highest in the country.
Negative changes in the workplace:
In the last six months, 42 percent of employees reported that their employer had made negative changes in the workplace. Amongst employees who reported negative changes in their workplace, 16 percent have taken away company benefits such as a canteen, 13 percent have initiated unpaid leave, 12 percent have initiated or communicated pay reductions and more than one in ten (11 percent) have reduced health and/or dental benefits.
Salary expectations:
Confidence remains at one of the highest points since our study began in Q1 2014: 40 percent of employees believe they will receive a pay increase within the next 12 months. Men are feeling far more confident (45 percent) which is nine percentage points higher than their female counterparts. Although minimal differences across the regions, employees in the East of England (45 percent) and London (44 percent) are the most confident about receiving a pay rise.
Job market optimism/ Re-hire probability:
Of those currently unemployed, 39 percent believe they will find a job over the next six months. Amongst those employed and unemployed, half (50 percent) of 16-24 year olds feel confident of finding a new job matching their experience in the next six months – almost double those in the 45+ range at just 27 percent. Across the regions, employees in the North East of England report the highest levels of confidence in when it comes to finding a new job (41 percent), ten percentage points higher than those in Wales at just 31 percent - the lowest in the UK.
Methodology
1 The Q3 2016 survey of 2,028 people, among whom 902 are employed full-time/part-time, was conducted online within Great Britain by Harris Interactive on behalf of Glassdoor from 19/09/16 to 23/09/16. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables, please contact pr@glassdoor.com.