Glassdoor: Nearly 1 in 5 Workers Concerned About Layoffs

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newspaper roll According to Glassdoor’s Q1 2013 Employment Confidence Survey, nearly one in five employees (19 percent) is worried that they may be laid off from their job in the next six months. Another 25 percent, including self-employed workers, believe that, in the next six months, it’s unlikely they’ll be able to find a job matching their experience and current compensation should they lose their current positions. And the unemployed yet looking for work survey respondents were less optimistic this quarter as 31 percent think it’s likely they could find a job equivalent to their experience and compensation levels in the next six months, a six-point decrease from the last quarter.

The survey of 2,054 adults (ages 18 and older) also showed that despite layoff and re-hire probability concerns, almost half of employees (45 percent), including those self-employed, believe their company’s business outlook will improve in the next six months; 45 percent expect it to stay the same; and 9 percent expect it to get worse.

Other key findings include:

  • At 51 percent, men are more optimistic than women (40 percent) that their company’s business will perform better in the next six months. Yet, at 23 percent, men are more concerned than women (14 percent) that they could be laid off in the next six months.
  • Nearly one in three (32 percent) employees reported cutbacks at their organization during the past six months.
  • External factors affected an individual’s confidence in their personal employment situation. Top factors included: national economic news (38 percent), regional economic news (34 percent), new government legislation (26 percent) and indecision among lawmakers in Washington D.C. (26 percent).

“While employees are hopeful for the future of their company’s business outlook, they remain cautious as to how that optimism will impact their financial stability,” Rusty Rueff, Glassdoor career and workplace expert, said. “In addition, that sense of stability is often influenced by powerful external factors—like economic news and layoff rumors—and, as a result, today’s workforce is feeling increasing productivity pressure.”

See the complete survey results here.

By Shala Marks