Press Room

FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla., June 3, 2005 — A recent survey by Spherion Corporation (NYSE:SFN) indicates that overall worker confidence, particularly when it comes to their outlook on the economy, has not been positively influenced by the rate of job creation this year, which has averaged nearly 180,000 new jobs per month in 2005. The Spherion^® Employee Confidence Index increased to 55.8 from 55.6 in April reflecting a slight increase in workers’ positive outlook on the economy and their optimism in their ability to find a new job. The May Employment Report survey, conducted by Harris Interactive^® on behalf of Spherion, also showed that workers are increasingly likely to begin a new job search. Thirty-nine percent of workers surveyed plan to look for a new job in the next year, a two-percentage point increase from last month.

The subscale Macroeconomic Confidence Index, which measures workers’ confidence in the overall economy and job market, increased from 39.1 in April to 39.2 in May as a result of a slight rise in optimism about the strength of the economy. The Personal Confidence Index, a subscale index measuring workers’ confidence in the future of their current employer and their ability to find a new job, remained at a high level in May, increasing to 72.4 from 72.2 last month. For detailed information on the calculation of the Employee Confidence Index and its subscale measurements, please see the “About the Spherion Employment Report” section below.

“Despite less than expected job growth in May, job creation is continuing at a healthy pace and is very much in line with our expectations for job growth this year,” said Roy Krause, Spherion president and chief executive officer. “As for employee confidence, our most recent report indicates that workers still remain positive, but their views on the macroeconomic environment still drag down the overall level. The somewhat erratic pattern of job growth this year has done little to bolster workers’ outlook on the economy. As we have noted in the past, however, the low levels of macroeconomic confidence haven’t greatly affected personal confidence, job security or desire to find a new job. This tells us that workers’ perception of the economic environment plays a very minor part in how they view their job and how they plot their next career move.” 

Results from the May Spherion Employment Report:

Employee Confidence Index: Workers’ Confidence Rises Slightly  

• The Employee Confidence Index was 55.8 in May, rising slightly from 55.6 in April as a result of a small increase in workers’ optimism in their ability to find a new job and the economic situation.
• Macroeconomic Confidence Index: Workers’ confidence in the macroeconomic environment increased from 39.1 in April to 39.2 in May as slightly more workers were optimistic about the strength of the economy. 

Specific findings from Macroeconomic Confidence Index include:

• 20 percent of U.S. adult workers believe that more jobs are available, compared to 22 percent in April.
• 24 percent of U.S. adult workers believe the economy is getting stronger, up three percentage points from the previous month. 

• Personal Confidence Index: Workers’ personal confidence was 72.4 in May, an increase from 72.2 in April.

Specific findings from Personal Confidence Index include:

• 62 percent of adult workers in the U.S. feel confident in the future of their employer, down two percentage points from April.
• 58 percent of adult workers in the U.S. have confidence in their own ability to find a new job, compared to 56 percent in the prior month.

Job Security Index: Percentage of Workers That Feel Their Job is Secure Unchanged  

• 77 percent of U.S. adult workers feel it is unlikely that their jobs will be eliminated in the next 12 months, unchanged from April.

Job Transition Index: More Workers More Likely to Look for New Job

• 39 percent of working adults in the U.S. said they are likely to look for a new job in the next 12 months, up from 37 percent in April.

About the Spherion Employment Report
As part of the Spherion^® Emerging Workforce^® Series of employment surveys, the monthly Spherion Employment Report provides a snapshot of the latest workforce trends across the country and is issued in conjunction with state and national labor market releases. Three key indices are measured: the Spherion Job Security Index, which captures how likely respondents think it is that they will lose their job or that their job will be eliminated in the next 12 months; the Spherion Job Transition Index, which captures how likely respondents are to look for a new job in the next 12 months and the Employee Confidence Index that measures employees’ overall confidence in the economy, their employer and their ability to find other employment. The Employee Confidence Index is calculated from the results of four components that reflect these aspects of employee confidence. For each component item a ‘score’ is calculated by taking the difference of the percentage of positive responses and the percentage of negative responses. These four scores are then averaged to indicate an overall level of employee confidence and is scaled from 0 (no confidence) to 100 (complete confidence). A reading above 50 indicates a positive confidence level. 

Methodology
The May 2005 Spherion Employment Report is based on data from the Harris Interactive QuickQuery^SM online omnibus conducted monthly by Harris Interactive^® on behalf of Spherion Corporation. A U.S. sample of 2,789 employed adults, aged 18 years and older, was interviewed in a series of two polls conducted between May 9-11 and May 16-18, 2005 (for April 2005 n=2,643). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, income, education and region were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting adjusted for respondents’ propensity to be online. In theory, with probability samples of this size, one could say with 95 percent certainty that the results have a sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points of what they would be if the entire U.S. population of employed adults had been polled with complete accuracy. This online sample was not a probability sample.

About Spherion
Spherion Corporation is a leader in the staffing industry in North America, providing value-added staffing, recruiting and workforce solutions. Spherion has helped companies improve their bottom line by efficiently planning, acquiring and optimizing talent since 1946. To learn more, visit www.spherion.com. 

About Harris Interactive^®
Harris Interactive Inc. (www.harrisinteractive.com ), the 15th largest and fastest-growing market research firm in the world, is a Rochester, N.Y.-based global research company that blends premier strategic consulting with innovative and efficient methods of investigation, analysis and application. Known for The Harris Poll^® and for pioneering Internet-based research methods, Harris Interactive conducts proprietary and public research to help its clients achieve clear, material and enduring results.

Harris Interactive combines its intellectual capital, databases and technology to advance market leadership through U.S. offices and wholly owned subsidiaries: London-based HI Europe (www.hieurope.com), Paris-based Novatris (www.novatris.com ), Tokyo-based Harris Interactive Japan, through newly acquired WirthlinWorldwide, a Reston, Virginia-based research and consultancy firm ranked 25th largest in the world, and through an independent global network of affiliate market research companies.