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Majority of Americans Thankful for Their Jobs, Taleo Survey Reveals -- But Many Still Willing to Leave

^{Published on 2009-11-19 10:18:48 - Market Wire}
 

DUBLIN, CA--(Marketwire - November 19, 2009) - As the nation prepares to celebrate Thanksgiving in one of the roughest economies in decades, the "American Job Thankfulness" survey released today by Taleo (NASDAQ: [ TLEO ]), the leading provider of on-demand talent management solutions, confirms that while most Americans are thankful for their jobs, a fair amount are still ready to leave.

Among approximately 900 U.S. workers, 70 percent of respondents claim they are "very thankful" for their jobs. However, three out of 10 employees are not as grateful. Thirty percent said they may either:

 -- leave their current jobs after their next salary review or bonus, -- are failing to give their best effort at work, or -- are actively seeking a new position. 

In addition, nearly half (46 percent) said they do not feel they are being paid for performance, which suggests that employers are not measuring performance and aligning compensation for the work that is getting done -- one possible reason for disgruntled workers.

"The fact that a majority of Americans are extremely thankful for their jobs and careers proves many businesses do understand the importance of managing people," said Alice Snell, Vice President of Taleo Research. "But those businesses that are not doing their best to identify, engage and develop their best and brightest will lose workers. If companies don't make talent retention a high priority, employees that seem content now may be headed out the door when the economy turns."

In a volatile employment environment, where nearly half of the whopping 40% churn in US jobs this year came from employees voluntarily leaving their jobs, companies can not afford to ignore smart talent practices. Managing talent properly, important in all age groups, is even more imperative for younger workers (18-34), who were 62 percent thankful for their jobs, compared to 74 percent for those aged 35-64.

"The younger generation expects a higher level of engagement from employers than the rest of us and that's a social change that employers need to accept," Snell said. "Businesses can choose to respond as their employee base changes or stay in the past and settle for the workers willing to accept less engagement, opportunity and development. If I'm a potential employee, customer or partner, those aren't the businesses I want to work with."

Other results from the survey included:

 -- A sizable percentage of employees still lack timely performance feedback -- 30 percent do not receive feedback at least twice a year. -- Just 58 percent of those with high school level education were thankful for their work vs. 75 percent with college education. -- One quarter of women feel they are paid unfairly, as opposed to just 16 percent of men. 

* Telephone survey among 873 full- or part-time workers, 18 years of age and older, conducted for Taleo by KRC Research between October 21, 2009 to October 26, 2009.

About Taleo

Taleo (NASDAQ: [ TLEO ]) is the leader in on-demand unified talent management solutions that empower organizations of all sizes to better understand and engage their best talent for improved business performance. More than 4,200 organizations use Taleo for talent acquisition and performance management, including 46 of the Fortune 100 and over 3,500 small and medium sized businesses across 200 countries and territories. Known for its strong configurability and usability, Taleo runs on a world-class infrastructure and offers 99.9% availability. Taleo's Talent Grid harnesses the resources of the Taleo community of customers, candidates, and partners to power the talent needs of companies around the world.

Forward-looking Statements

This release contains forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the results from use of Taleo's solutions. Any forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based upon Taleo's historical performance and its current plans, estimates and expectations and are not a representation that such plans, estimates, or expectations will be achieved. These forward-looking statements represent Taleo's expectations as of the date of this press announcement. Subsequent events may cause these expectations to change, and Taleo disclaims any obligation to update the forward-looking statements in the future. These forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially. Further information on potential factors that could affect actual results is included in Part II, Item 1A of Taleo's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q/A, as filed with the SEC on November 4, 2009, and in other reports filed by Taleo with the SEC.