Capture Real-World Career Insight & Advice That Will Prep You for The Big Time

So Much to Do, So Little Time...

Spherion Workplace Snapshot Survey Finds Many American Workers Feel Burned Out by Their Jobs

FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla., May 15, 2005 --- While economic analysts are busy tracking the rising US productivity rates, many American workers are feeling the effects of "doing more with less." According to the Spherion Workplace Snapshot Survey released today, many American workers are feeling burned out by their jobs and feel they lack adequate resources to get their jobs done.

The survey found that one-third of workers between the age of 25 and 39 feel burned out by their job, and 28 percent of all workers feel the same. A contributing factor may be a lack of resources available to complete the job. According to the Spherion survey, only half of workers surveyed agreed with the statement "My team has adequate resources to get the job done."

"The combination of rising productivity rates and slower than expected hiring among US companies means workers today are being asked to do a lot more, with a lot less," said Roy Krause, Spherion president and chief executive officer. "Job burnout is a serious issue and one that could spell trouble for organizations down the road. With nearly 40 percent of workers already planning to leave their current jobs, according to Spherion workplace data, job burnout and inadequate resources may worsen the situation. Employers that don't focus on aggressive retention efforts to keep their valuable workers may find themselves lacking in resources to meet their business objectives."

Other results from the February Spherion Workplace Snapshot Survey:

Male workers are more apt to feel their team lacks adequate resources to get the job done.

• Nearly 25 percent of male workers said the resources to get the job done were not adequate, as compared to only 15 percent of female workers.

• Workers who earn an income between $25,000 to $34,999 are by far the most burned out on their jobs. Thirty-seven percent agreed with the statement "I feel burned out by my job," a full eight points higher than any other income category.

Methodology
The Spherion Workplace Snapshot Survey is based on data from the Harris Interactive QuickQuerySM online omnibus conducted monthly by Harris Interactive® on behalf of Spherion Corporation. A U.S. sample of 3,201 employed adults, aged 18 years and older, was interviewed in a series of two polls conducted between March 16-18 and March 22-24, 2005 (for February 2005 n=3,193). 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. ###