Canadian employees are more confident about
being able to find a comparable job if laid off than they were six months ago
as the Right Management Career Confidence Index hit its highest level in the
four years the survey has been conducted. The Canadian index reached 57.5, up
from 54.8 last May, according to the survey of 520 full-time employees
conducted for Right Management.
More Canadian employees said it would be “somewhat easy” or “very easy”
for an unemployed worker to find another job at the same salary – 33.5
percent, up from 26.5 percent last May. Fewer employees said it would be “very
difficult” for an unemployed worker to find similar employment if laid off,
19.5 percent, down from 27.5 percent last May.
However, there was a slight increase in the number of Canadian employees
who feel it is somewhat or very possible they could be laid off from their
jobs in the coming year – 18.2 percent, up from 17.5 percent last May.
Conversely, there were slightly fewer employees who feel there is little or no
chance they could be laid off in the next 12 months – 78.7 percent, down from
79.5 percent last May.
While fewer Canadian employees feel it would be “very difficult” to find
similar employment if laid off, more say it would be “somewhat difficult” –
44.2 percent, up from 41.6 percent last May.
“Canadian employees’ overall career confidence continued to be on the
upward trend that began earlier this year, with more workers feeling secure
about being able to find comparable employment if laid off,” said Bram Lowsky,
Senior Vice President and General Manager of Right Management in Canada.
“However, employees are also more concerned about future economic
conditions, so there was a slight increase in the number who feel they may
lose their jobs in the coming year,” Lowsky added. Even with a higher career
confidence level, about two-thirds of respondents, 63.7 percent, still feel it
would be difficult to find a comparable job if laid off, although that has
decreased from 69.1 percent last May, and 70.7 percent in November 2005.
According to Statistics Canada, the unemployment rate in Canada averaged
6.2% in October. But this average number breaks down into quite a range
coast-to-coast across the provinces. While Newfoundland’s October unemployment
rate was quite high at 14.2% (8%, St. John’s) it was considerably lower, in
contrast, in Alberta where the rate was 3.0% (3.2%, Calgary). Central Canada
sat in the middle with Ontario’s unemployment rate of 6.4% (6.7%, Toronto).
“Unemployment rates across Canada are a direct reflection of the local
economies’ current conditions which are currently quite diverse,” Lowsky adds.
“And the local economy must be taken into account when analyzing the current
Career Confidence Index for Canada.”
The survey covered nearly 9,100 workers in 18 countries. Among the
survey’s major findings were:
— Employees in Norway are once again the most confident workers in the
world. Only 3.8 percent of Norway’s workers believe there is a chance they
could lose their jobs in the coming year, while 95.5 percent say that is not
at all possible. Following Norway, employees in Denmark are the second most
confident in the world, with only 4.8 percent believing there is a chance they
could lose their jobs in the coming year, while 93.4 percent say that is not
at all possible.
— The United Kingdom has replaced Germany as having the world’s most
pessimistic workers. The UK had the lowest Career Confidence Index of any of
the 18 countries surveyed – 45.3, a steep decline of 6.9 points, or 13
percent, from an index reading of 52.2 in May 2006. Furthermore, the UK
experienced the biggest increase in the percentage of employees who feel they
could lose their jobs in the coming year. 30.4 percent of UK employees now
feel they may lose their jobs within the next 12 months, up from 22.2 percent
in May 2006.
— German workers are the most pessimistic in the world about finding a
similar job at a comparable salary if laid off. Just 6.3 percent of German
employees feel it would be easy to find a similar job if laid off. In
comparison, globally, 30.7 percent of full time employees feel it would be
easy to find a comparable job.
— American workers’ confidence in their job security during the past
six months reached an all-time high. 80.8 percent of U.S. workers predicted
there was little or no chance they would lose their jobs in the coming year –
up from 80.3 percent in May 2006. More U.S. employees than ever in the history
of the survey – 22.8 percent – feel it would be easy to find a similar job at
the same pay if they were laid off, up from 18.9 percent last May.
The survey asks workers two questions: how likely it is they could lose
their jobs, and how easy or difficult it would be for the average person who
was laid off from a job to find a similar job at the same pay.
