Survey: Accounting Workers' Confidence Falling

A quarterly employment report from staffing company Spherion Corp. finds that more accounting and finance workers are pessimistic about the economy and their ability to find a new job.

The report's Accounting and Finance Employee Confidence Index, a measure of confidence among accounting and finance workers in the United States, decreased to 61.9 during the period between November 2005 and January 2006, compared to 63.8 during the previous quarter, according to a recent survey by Spherion. Most of the workers saying that they were pessimistic about the economy and their ability to find a new job had originally been neutral on the economy's and their own prospects.

Workers remained confident in their job security, however, with 78 percent believing their jobs would not be eliminated in the next year.

Despite the drop in the overall confidence index, accounting and finance workers are more likely than the overall U.S. workforce to believe the job market and economy are improving and to have confidence in the future of their employer and in their ability to find a new job.

"In our recruiting business, we continue to see high demand for all types of accounting and finance workers across the country, especially those that have experience working with large public accounting firms," said Spherion Professional Services vice president Brendan Courtney, in a statement. "We don't see this trend cooling anytime soon, as the need for skilled workers continues and the talent pool shrinks."

The Accounting and Finance Employment Report is based on data Harris Interactive gained from an online sample of 8,805 employed adults, 425 of whom work in accounting or finance positions and were interviewed in a series of polls.