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California Employment Report: Worker Confidence Decreases

LOS ANGELES, Calif., December 19, 2008 – The California Employee Confidence Index decreased 0.7 points to 40.8 in November, according to the latest Spherion^® Employment Report. The monthly survey of California workers, conducted by Harris Interactive^® on behalf of Spherion Corporation (NYSE:SFN), indicates that although overall confidence decreased, more workers reported confidence in their ability to find a new job and revealed that they are more likely to do so.

Results from the California Employment Report:

Forty-one percent of workers reported that they are likely to look for a new job in the next 12 months compared to 31 percent in October.
Seventy-nine percent of workers believe there are fewer jobs available versus 74 percent in October.
More than half (51 percent) of workers are confident in their ability to find a new job, representing a 10 percentage-point increase from the previous month.
Eight in ten (80 percent) workers believe the economy is getting weaker compared to 73 percent in the previous month.

“Although this is the third consecutive month of decline, our Index suggests that workers appear to be more optimistic in certain areas,” explained Lauren Steel, territory vice president for Spherion. “Despite the fact that California’s unemployment rate is higher than the national average, our survey shows that more California workers are reporting confidence in their own ability to find a new job and more say that they are likely to look for new jobs in the next year. With a more personally confident candidate population considering a voluntary job move, this presents an excellent opportunity for employers looking to attract fresh talent.”

November 2008 Employment Report Results		California Workers			U.S. Workers
		Oct	Nov	% Point Change	Oct	Nov	% Point Change
Economy	Getting Stronger	5%	2%	-3	4%	4%	-0
	Staying Same	22%	19%	-3	19%	23%	+4
	Getting Weaker	73%	80%	+7	77%	73%	-4
Job Availability	More Jobs	7%	6%	-1	7%	6%	-1
	Same Amount	19%	15%	-4	22%	21%	-1
	Fewer Jobs	74%	79%	+5	71%	74%	+3
Ability to Find New Job	Confident	41%	51%	+10	41%	43%	+2
	Neutral	34%	27%	-7	36%	33%	-3
	Not Confident	25%	22%	-3	24%	25%	+1
Future of Current Employer	Confident	64%	65%	+1	65%	66%	+1
	Neutral	21%	20%	-1	23%	23%	0
	Not Confident	14%	15%	+1	13%	11%	-2
Likelihood to Lose Job	Likely	13%	10%	-3	14%	13%	-1
	Neutral	11%	12%	+1	11%	12%	+1
	Not Likely	76%	78%	+2	74%	75%	+1
Likelihood to Look for New Job	Likely	31%	41%	+10	31%	35%	+4
	Neutral	12%	6%	-6	12%	10%	-2
	Not Likely	57%	53%	-4	56%	55%	-1

About the Spherion Employment Report

Methodology

About Harris Interactive

About Spherion
Spherion Corporation (NYSE: SFN) is a leading recruiting and staffing company that provides integrated solutions to meet the evolving needs of companies and job candidates. As an industry pioneer for more than 60 years, Spherion has sourced, screened and placed millions of individuals in temporary, temp-to-hire and full-time jobs.

With approximately 700 locations in the United States and Canada, Spherion delivers innovative workforce solutions that improve business performance. Spherion provides its services to more than 8,000 customers, from Fortune 500 companies to a wide range of small and mid-size organizations. Employing more than 300,000 people annually through its network, Spherion is one of North America's largest employers. Spherion operates under the following brands: Spherion Staffing Services Group for administrative, clerical and light industrial workers; Technisource for technology professionals and solutions; The Mergis Group for accounting and finance and other professional positions; Todays Office Professionals for specialty administrative personnel; and Spherion Recruitment Process Outsourcing. To learn more, visit www.spherion.com.