Employee Confidence Index Slips to Its Lowest Level this Year

The number of U.S. workers expressing confidence in the economy and in their personal
employment situation continued its decline in November, according to a recent survey from Spherion Corporation (NYSE: SFN) of 3,014 working adults.

The Spherion Employee Confidence Index, a monthly gauge of overall worker confidence, decreased by 3.5 points to 52.9 in November, its lowest level seen this year. The survey, conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of Spherion, reveals that fewer workers believe there are more jobs available and that the economy is getting stronger. Despite this, more than three-quarters of workers believe it is unlikely that they will lose their job in the next 12 months.

According to the survey, the percentage of workers who expressed confidence in their own job security increased two percentage points from 77 percent in October to 79 percent in November, while the percentage of workers who felt confident in the future of their current employer decreased four percentage points from October to 61 percent. Nearly one-third of workers, or 32 percent, reported that it was likely that they would seek new jobs in the next 12 months, a decrease of two percentage
points from last month.

"It appears that the volatile stock market, credit situation, housing slowdown and continued anxiety over fuel prices may be fueling apprehension among workers," says Roy Krause, president and chief executive officer of Spherion Corporation. "Though this month's Index decreased, data aggregated from specific survey questions indicate a clear majority of workers remain optimistic and confident about their own job security and the future of their current employer. Furthermore, the data shows that slightly fewer workers intend to seek new jobs in the next 12 months, which is could be good news for employers focused on retaining top performers. When considered along with a comparatively low 4.7 percent unemployment rate and continued job growth in industries such as professional services, healthcare and hospitality, we believe that the overall job market remains strong."

Confidence Levels Hit Lowest Level of the Year: The Spherion Employee Confidence Index dropped to its lowest level this year, decreasing 3.5 points to 52.9 in November. The Index, which measures workers' confidence in their personal employment situation and optimism in the macroeconomic environment, reveals that more workers were apprehensive about the economy, job market and the future of their current employers.

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Even Today, Couples Put More Emphasis on Husband's Career

Sociological research has shown that when couples move, the husband's career gets a boost, while the wife's career suffers. A University of Iowa professor investigated the reason behind the phenomenon and discovered that couples tend to put more emphasis on the man's career, even if the wife works full-time and is college-educated.

"This is bad news for people who are interested in men and women having equal success in the labor force," says Mary Noonan, associate professor of sociology in the UI College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. "Even for highly educated married women with prestigious occupations, employment still suffers when they move, while the husbands' careers benefit. These women likely share the role of breadwinner, earning a significant part of the family income, but their career is still seen as secondary within the dynamic of the couple."

Kimberlee Shauman, associate professor of sociology at the University of California at Davis, and Noonan reported the findings on their study on family migration in a recent issue of the journal Social Forces. Using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, an annual survey that tracks families over a 30-year period, they examined the experiences of 5,072 working men and 4,120 working women between ages 25 and 59, all of whom were married. They compared the employment status and salaries of those who moved from one metropolitan area to another (655 men, 371 women) to those who stayed put.

They found that a year after the move, nearly all of the men remained employed, but the women who moved were 22 percentage points less likely to remain employed compared to women who didn't move. The men who moved boosted their salary by an average of $3,000 that year, compared to an average increase of only $700 for men who stayed put. But women who moved reported average salary increases of $750 less than women who stayed put.

"Our results support the notion that families migrate to enhance husbands' careers," Noonan says. "Women are very unlikely to initiate the move. They're more likely to be the 'trailing spouse,' following their husbands in a move for his promotion, raise, or better opportunities down the road."

Sociologists have speculated that the type of jobs men and women choose could be the reason moving can help husband's careers but hurt wives' careers, Noonan said. Perhaps men are more likely to choose more specialized or in-demand positions, jobs for which they might be recruited and that have a steeper salary ladder. On the flip side, it's possible that women more often choose fields like teaching, secretarial work, or nursing, positions for which more workers are qualified and that typically involve a more gradual salary increase.

To test that theory, Shauman and Noonan developed a way to control for the characteristics of the occupation. They found that even when the playing field was leveled in regard to the type of job, moving still hurt women's careers.

"Whether you're a female nurse or secretary or a female CEO, you're facing the same negative consequences after the move," Noonan says. "Even today, when women are earning more money and are more likely to put an emphasis on their career, when it comes to marriage, gender roles are very entrenched. People still buy into the stereotypes of what it means to be a good wife. It means that caring for your children and supporting your husband's career is viewed as a wife's main priority. Working is fine, but that's not really a wife's primary role."

In future research, Noonan would like to design a qualitative study to find out how couples weigh decisions on whose career matters more.

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Nurses Working Extended Shifts Tired at Work, Sleep Little Are Likely to Drive Drowsy

Hospital staff nurses who work extended hours, work at night, struggle to remain awake at work, or obtain less sleep are more likely to experience a drowsy driving episode, according to a study published in the Dec. 1 issue of the journal Sleep.

The study, authored by Linda Scott, of Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids, Mich., focused on data that were collected from 895 full-time hospital staff nurses, who completed logbooks on a daily basis for four weeks providing information concerning work hours, sleep duration, drowsy and sleep episodes at work, and drowsy driving occurrences.

According to the results, almost 67 percent of the nurses reported at least one episode of drowsy driving, and three percent reported experiencing drowsy driving following every shift worked. On average, nurses reported experiencing an episode of drowsy driving one out of every four shifts they worked.

Two-hundred eighty-one episodes of motor vehicle crashes/near-motor vehicle crashes were reported during the study period. The majority of these incidents occurred following shifts that exceeded 12.5 hours in duration. The likelihood of a motor vehicle crash/near-motor vehicle crash significantly increased with longer shift durations. The risk for a motor vehicle crash/near-motor vehicle crash almost doubled when driving following shifts that exceeded 12.5 hours.

The risk for a drowsy driving episode doubled when nurses worked 12.5 or more consecutive hours. Working at night also significantly increased the risk for drowsy driving incident. In fact, 79.5 percent of the nurses who worked only night shifts reported at least one episode of drowsy driving.

Almost two-thirds of the nurses reported struggling to stay awake at work at least once during the study period, and 16.9 percent of the nurses actually fell asleep at least one during their work shift. Nurses who struggled to stay awake at work were significantly more likely to report struggling to stay awake driving home after work. In particular, the likelihood of a drowsy driving incident was tripled when nurses experienced episodes of drowsiness at work. The risk for a drowsy driving episode was also increased when nurses reported falling asleep on duty.

Although research on the effects of chronic sleep restriction has revealed that most adults require at least seven to eight hours of sleep each night to avoid developing chronic sleep debt with its accompanying performance deficits, the hospital staff nurses in this study frequently obtained less sleep than this critical threshold. Only 20.8 percent of the participants reported obtaining at least six hours of sleep prior to every shift they worked. The risk for a drowsy driving episode increased by nine percent for each hour of sleep lost.

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Light Humor in the Workplace is Good Thing, Says MU business Professor

It is commonly believed that kidding around at work isn’t a good thing. Well, it is, says a University of Missouri-Columbia researcher, who has examined how workplace humor affects the working environment.

Chris Robert, assistant professor of management in MU’s Robert J. Trulaske, Sr. College of Business, says that humor – particularly joking around about things associated with the job – actually has a positive impact in the workplace. Occasional humor among colleagues, he says, enhances creativity, department cohesiveness and overall performance. The conclusion was made by examining theories on humor and integrating literature from a wide variety of disciplines that touch on the subject. Several hundred sources were analyzed by Robert and collaborator Wan Yan, a business doctoral student, who have attempted to bring together literature from numerous disciplines to make the case that humor is serious business.

“Humor has a significant impact in organizations,” says Robert, who also teaches psychology in MU’s College of Arts and Science. “Humor isn’t incompatible with goals of the workplace. It’s not incompatible with the organization’s desire to be competitive. In fact, we argue that humor is pretty important. It’s not just clowning around and having fun; it has meaningful impact on cohesiveness in the workplace and communication quality among workers. The ability to appreciate humor, the ability to laugh and make other people laugh actually has physiological effects on the body that cause people to become more bonded.”

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