employees successfully balance work and private life.

Randstad Workmonitor results wave 2, 2010

In most countries more than 50% of the employees indicate that their workload has increased in the first months of 2010, according to the findings covered in the latest Randstad Workmonitor. Despite the increased workload, employees feel they are able to successfully balance work and private life. People are satisfied with the number of days off and with their holiday allowance.



Striking a successful balance between work and private life does not always mean that employees can separate the two. A third of the employees continue to think about work and/or receive calls and e-mails during their time off. Most employees worldwide say they perform noticeably better after a few days off.

Employee confidence remains stable

Employees estimate that the chance of job loss is equal to three months ago. In general, employees feel it will be easier to find a different job (72%), than to find a comparable job (64%) elsewhere. In Europe, the Norwegian and Czech employees are the most optimistic in finding a new job: 87% and 84% respectively. In Asia, Chinese employees are more positive about finding a different or comparable job (90% on average) than other Asian employees. Employee confidence is also high in Australia, Canada and Mexico (82%, 82% and 86%). In Norway, only a few employees think there is a big chance that they will lose their job in the next six months (3%). Norway shares this low estimate with neighbor Sweden and with Canada.

Mobility: young people expect to change jobs more often

Only in Belgium, Italy, Canada and India more people expect to change jobs within the next 6 months compared to Q1. Especially young people; for employees aged 18-24, the mobility index in Canada was 92 in the first quarter of 2010 and increased to 125 in Q2. In Italy too, the mobility index is much higher than three months ago for younger employees (from 83 to 108). In Belgium all employees younger than 44 have a higher expectation of their mobility. The exception is India, where the strongest increase in job change expectation is among employees between 55 and 65 years old.

Job satisfaction is high on average

Approximately 70% of all employees are (very) satisfied to work at their current employer. With Denmark (84%) and Norway (82%) at the top end, and China, Japan and Hungary below 50% satisfaction. In general, employees with a low income are less satisfied than people with higher incomes.

Personal motivation highest in Scandinavia

The most ambitious people can be found in Scandinavia; on average 70% of all employees in these countries are focused on a promotion. High satisfaction probably plays a role in the level of ambition. The Japanese are also strongly focused on a promotion, although probably not always within their current organization, since they are the least satisfied with their employer compared to employees in other countries.

The Randstad Workmonitor

After the successful introduction of the Workmonitor in the Netherlands in 2003 and more recently in Germany, the survey now covers 25 countries around the world, encompassing Europe, Asia Pacific and the Americas. The Randstad Workmonitor is published four times a year, making both local and global trends in mobility regularly visible over time.



The Workmonitor's Mobility Index, which tracks worker confidence and captures expectations surrounding the likelihood of changing employers within a six month time frame, provides a comprehensive understanding of job market sentiments and employee trends. In addition to measuring mobility, also employee satisfaction & personal motivation, as well as a rotating set of themed questions are part of the survey.



The quantitative study is conducted via an online questionnaire among a population aged 18-65, working a minimum of 24 hours a week in a paid job (not self-employed). The minimal sample size is 400 interviews per country, using Survey Sampling International. Research for the 2nd wave was conducted May 7-18, 2010.