Unemployment in the UK has dropped to a 20-year low in the past three months, according to this month’s figures from the Office of National Statistics. However, despite positive labour market statistics and indications that we can start to feel more confident in the economy, the majority of almost 2,000 voters who took part of Monster’s latest survey do not feel secure in their jobs.
The Monster Meter asked, How secure do you feel in your job? 1,849 Monster.co.uk site visitors responded, revealing:
39% (722) - I have a job but I don’t feel very secure
32% (583) - I am out of work at the moment
15% (279) - I feel very secure
14% (265) - I feel redundancy is imminent
Over a third of Brits don’t feel very secure in their jobs, and a significant amount (15%) feel that they are about to be made redundant. Have we just become accustomed to the climate of economic uncertainty that prevailed for the past few years, or are people’s fears of redundancy well-founded?
A similar UK survey conducted by Monster a year ago showed that the majority of respondents were either out of work (38%) or had a job, but were uncertain about the future (29%). Only 15% of Brits declared they felt very secure, that is the same percentage as in this year’s poll. These results are very similar and show that although there are signs of the economy picking up, the general public is still sceptical about the labour market and not as confident as during the pre-downturn period.
Having survived several rounds of redundancies, it feels like the worst is over, and I certainly feel a lot more secure in my job than I did, say, two years ago. comments Simon Baker, a London City trader. But I still think there is some way to go to restore people’s confidence, as is always the case after a recession.
Joe Slavin, managing director, Monster.co.uk, comments People can certainly have a lot more confidence in the job market now compared to this time last year. We are seeing companies steadily hiring more and more every month, and this is highlighted in the healthy national employment figures. Monster.co.uk has experienced a steady growth in the number of jobs being posted, and importantly the Sales category is retaining its position in the top three sectors for job postings. We see this as a good indication of economic growth and continued recovery.
The results of the current Monster Meter are based on votes cast by Monster.com visitors from 15th - 29th March 2004. Only one vote per user is counted toward the final tabulation. The Monster Meter, a product of Monster, the leading global online careers site and flagship brand of Monster Worldwide Inc., is a series of online polls that gauge users’ opinions on a variety of topics relating to careers, the economy and the workplace. Anyone interested in voting in Monster’s current online poll may do so by logging onto www.monster.co.uk.
Over half of Brits still do not feel secure in their jobs
Only 15% feel very secure, and 14% feel that redundancy is imminent.