The Kenexa Research Institute

The Kenexa Research Institute Finds that Employee Confidence Increased in the Second Quarter 2009

-U.S. Employee Confidence Rose 5.3% since March-

Kenexa, a global provider of business solutions for human resources, today announced the results of its employee confidence study, a quarterly measure of worker opinions and component of the forthcoming Kenexa Composite.

Employee confidence has been found to relate to multiple economic and business performance outcomes at the individual, organizational, industry and country levels as well as being predictive of consumer confidence.

A high level of employee confidence is achieved when employees perceive their organization as being effectively managed and competitively positioned, and believe they have a promising future with their organization, job security, and skills that are attractive to other employers. Employee confidence influences individual behavior and has implications for organizational performance and economic conditions.

In June 2009, the global employee confidence index score was 98.9. Brazil (107.2), China (102.3), France (101.4) and Russia (100.9) had the highest levels of employee confidence, while Italy (97.8), Spain (96.0) and Japan (93.8) had the lowest levels. The United Statesí employee confidence index score was 98.9.

Jeffrey Saltzman, principal at Kenexa, stated that, ìIn the second quarter of 2009, employees from all of the studied countries reported an increase in employee confidence scores, becoming more positive, with the exception of Japan. China improved the most since the first quarter of 2009 (up 12.5 points). Interestingly, it was recently reported that Chinaís economy grew by 7.9% in the second quarter, evaluating this as ëa surprisingly strong showing given the world economic crisis.í

Saltzman continued, ìWhile most countries improved in the second quarter over the first, we saw especially strong gains in Russia, Germany, France and India. The counties with the smallest gains were Japan, Spain, Canada and the U.K. These rankings also match a recent report; there is exceptionally high unemployment in Spain; the U.K.ís economy is posting steep drops, which are dashing hopes for a quick recovery; and, Germanyís economic performance implies that the recession there could end sooner than expected.î

What had been the lowest scoring component of confidence, job security and having a promising future, has now been replaced by a workerís ability to find employment elsewhere. Saltzman continued, ìThis illustrates that the notion of a jobless recovery is very much in alignment with how the typical employee feels.î

There was an increase in employees who reported that their economic well-being will improve over the next six months. However, there are still quite a few who are worried about their current financial situation to a ìvery great extent,î with 35% of U.S. employees reporting concern, down from 40% in December 2008.