Quarterly survey report

Spring 2010

Employee outlook
Recovery yet to
reach the workplace
Contents

Summary of key findings 2

Job satisfaction 4

Employee attitudes towards management 7

Communication, consultation and employee advocacy 10

Workload and pressure at work 12

Work–life balance 14

Employee attitudes and the recession 16

Bullying and harassment 22

Job-seeking 24

Conclusions 25

Background to the survey 27

Employee outlook: Recovery yet to reach the workplace    1

Summary of key findings
Job satisfaction
Overall job satisfaction remains low at +36, representing
just a 1% net increase since last quarter and substantial
decrease compared with spring 2009 (+46).
As with previous quarters, men (+36) continue to be
less satisfied with their jobs than women (+38).
Young people of 18–24 continue to be most
dissatisfied with their jobs (+7) with those who are 55
or older most satisfied (+59).
Overall, those employees working in the charity/
voluntary sector remain the most satisfied (+44),
although this net score has dipped by 11 points since
last quarter. Private sector employees (+36) are for the
first time more satisfied than employees in the public
sector (+34).
Attitude towards role
Most employees either agree (47%) or strongly agree
(25%), that the work they do is worthwhile. These
results are broadly similar to 2009 and indicate that
the drop in job satisfaction has not negatively
impacted on perceptions of how worthwhile
employees’ jobs are.
Interestingly, more people strongly agree (25%) this
spring that they get excited when they perform their
job well. The challenging economic circumstances
might well have provided them with more
opportunities to demonstrate good performance.
Employee attitudes towards management
Employees continue to be generally positive in their
attitudes towards their immediate line managers, with
scores broadly similar to last quarter, but all ratings
have dropped since April 2009. Employees are most
likely to feel that their managers always/usually treat
them fairly (68%) and are committed to their
organisation (68%). On the other hand, employees are
2    Employee outlook: Recovery yet to reach the workplace
most likely to say their manager rarely/never coaches
them on the job (47%), discusses their training and
development needs (39%), or gives them feedback on
how they are performing (28%).
Employee perceptions of their senior managers
Overall, respondents continue to be less positive in
their attitudes towards their senior managers. Most
items show a decrease from last quarter and all items
show a decrease from spring 2009. Trust in senior
leaders has reached an all-time low (–5) and negative
perceptions about consultation continue to be a
worrying issue (–27).
Looking at the sector split, perceptions of leadership
are much worse in the public sector – in fact every
item has a negative net satisfaction score and these
scores have worsened since last quarter.
Communication, consultation and employee
advocacy
When it comes to employee perceptions of
communication, only half feel fairly or fully informed
about what is happening within their organisation.
This has worsened slightly since spring 2009.
Employees from the voluntary/charity sector are most
likely to say they feel either fairly or fully informed
(58%) compared with 49% in the private sector and
49% in the public sector.
Workload and pressure at work
The proportion of employees saying they are under
excessive pressure at work, either everyday or once or
twice a week, has increased to 44%, from 41% from
the previous quarter and from 38% compared with 12
months ago.
The proportion of people saying they are under
excessive pressure every day has steadily increased
over the 12 months to 17%, compared with 14% last
quarter and 12% a year ago.
A third of employees (33%) feel their workload is too
much compared with the previous quarter when the
figure was 29%. Just over half (56%) say their
workload is about right and 10% say it is too little.
Work–life balance
Nearly six in ten respondents (57%) agree they are
satisfied they achieve the right balance between their
work and home lives, slightly down from the previous
quarter’s figure of 59% and almost unchanged from
the figure for the spring 2009 survey of 56%.
Women are marginally more likely to be satisfied with
their work–life balance (61%) than men (54%). People
aged 55 and above are significantly more likely to
agree they are satisfied they achieve the right balance
between work and home (69%) than employees in
other age groups.
Private sector employees are more likely to agree they
are satisfied with their work–life balance (58%), than
voluntary sector staff (56%) or public sector
employees (52%).
Employee attitudes and the recession
In all, 19% of employees think it likely or very likely
that they could lose their job as a result of the
economic climate, unchanged from the previous
quarter and a slight increase compared with the figure
for 12 months ago of 18%.
Private sector employees are marginally less pessimistic
about the chances of losing their jobs as a result of the
economic climate than a year ago; 20% think it likely
or very likely compared with 23% 12 months ago.
However public sector staff are now much less
confident over job security compared with a year ago;
18% of public sector employees think it likely or very
likely they could lose their job compared with just 7%
a year ago.
Employees are marginally less optimistic about their
chances of finding a new job than they were this time
last year. Just 11% of employees believe it would be
easy or very easy to find a new job, while 63% think it
would be difficult or very difficult. In comparison, 12
months ago 12% of employees thought it would be
easy or very easy to find a new job and 61% thought
it would be difficult or very difficult.
The proportion of employees saying their organisation
has made redundancies has increased to 34% compared
with 30% last quarter, and 22% 12 months ago.
In all, 39% of public sector employees report their
organisation is planning to make redundancies, compared
with just 9% of those working in the private sector. In
contrast, a year ago 17% of private sector employees
said their employer was planning redundancies compared
with just 14% of public sector staff.
Bullying and harassment
The proportion of people who have experienced
bullying or harassment in the last two years has, at
15%, remained virtually unchanged compared with 12
months ago.
Nearly three in ten respondents report seeing
colleagues bullied in the last two years, 4% have
witnessed sexual harassment and 3% racial
harassment. In all, 4% have seen people at work
subjected to violence or the threat of violence. Public
sector staff are more likely to have witnessed any of
these incidents compared with private or voluntary
sector staff.
Job-seeking
Just over a quarter of all employees (27%) are
currently looking for a new job. This has increased
from 22% last quarter and 25% in spring 2009.
Voluntary sector employees are most likely to be
looking for a new job this quarter (29%), compared
with 27% of private sector employees and 24% from
the public sector.
When asked if they would ideally like to change jobs in
the next year, 41% of employees said they would. This
represents a slight increase from last quarter (37%) and
compared with spring 2009 (37%). While public sector
employees are least likely to be looking for a new job
currently, they are the group that would ideally most
like to change jobs within the next year (46%).
Employee outlook: Recovery yet to reach the workplace    3
Job satisfaction

Overall job satisfaction remains low at +36, representing
just a 1% net increase since last quarter and substantial
decrease compared with spring 2009 (+46).
As with previous quarters, men (+36) continue to be
less satisfied with their jobs than women (+38).
Young people of 18–24 continue to be most
dissatisfied with their jobs (+7) with those who are 55
or older most satisfied (+59).
Overall, those employees working in the charity/
voluntary sector remain the most satisfied (+44),
although this net score has dipped by 11 points since
last quarter. Private sector employees (+36) are for the
first time more satisfied than employees in the public
sector (+34).
There have been increases since last quarter in job
satisfaction for sole traders (+72) and those employees
working in micro (+53), small (+41) and medium (+32)
businesses, but a decrease in job satisfaction for
employees working in larger organisations (+24).
Job satisfaction is highest for those employees
working in education (+53), construction (+46) and
community, social and other services (+44). It is lowest
for employees working in wholesale (+26), public
administration and defence (+29) and transport (+29).
Regional variations show that those employees in the
south-west (+52%) and the south-east (+40%) are
most satisfied with their jobs, while those in the
north-west (+24) and north-east (+28) are least
satisfied. Those employees working in London are the
third least satisfied with their jobs (+32).

Table 1: Employee net satisfaction by age

Spring 2010 Winter 2010 Spring 2009
18–24 +7 +5 +35
25–34 +27 +24 +44
35–44 +33 +35 +45
45–54 +33 +34 +40
55+ +59 +54 +60

Table 2: Employee net satisfaction by sector and size of organisation

Spring 2010 Winter 2010 Spring 2009
Overall +36 +35 +46
Charity/voluntary sector +44 +55 +54
Private sector firm or company +36 +34 +46
Public sector +34 +35 +45
Sole traders +72 +60 +71
Micro businesses +53 +48 +59
Small businesses +41 +33 +46
Medium businesses +32 +29 +40
Large businesses +24 +29 +38

4    Employee outlook: Recovery yet to reach the workplace

Attitude towards role
We wanted to explore employees’ attitudes to their
work roles in further detail and see whether there have
been any changes since we first surveyed in spring 2009.
Most employees either agree (47%) or strongly agree
(25%) that the work they do is worthwhile. These
results are broadly similar to 2009 and indicate that
the drop in job satisfaction has not negatively
impacted on perceptions of how worthwhile
employees’ jobs are. Younger employees, the 18–24-
year-olds, are least likely to say that the work they do
is worthwhile, while those who are 55 and over are
most likely to say this. Employees in the private sector
are also least likely out of the three sectors to say the
work they do is worthwhile.
Interestingly, more people strongly agree (25%) this
spring that they get excited when they perform their
job well. The challenging economic circumstances
might well have provided them with more
opportunities to demonstrate good performance.
Overall, fewer people feel emotionally detached from
their job (less than a third) and this has stayed fairly
consistent over the course of the year. Again, younger
employees, the 18–24-year-olds, are the age group
most likely to say that they feel emotionally detached
from their roles with 36% either agreeing or strongly
agreeing. Those working in the charity/voluntary
sector are least likely to feel emotionally detached
from their job, with only 16% either agreeing or
strongly agreeing.
Finally quite a high proportion of employees say they
often think about other things when performing their
job. Over half (52%) either agree or strongly agree
with this and these figures are broadly consistent with
those from spring 2009. Employees working in the
public sector are most likely to agree or strongly agree
(55%) that they think of other things and younger
employees are the age group most likely to agree or
strongly agree (68%).

Table 3: The work I do in my job is worthwhile (%) Table 4: I get excited when I perform my job well
(%)
Spring Spring Spring Spring
2010 2009 2010 2009
Strongly agree 25 28 Strongly agree 25 16
Agree 47 47 Agree 47 51
Neither agree nor Neither agree nor
17 16 21 22
disagree disagree
Disagree 6 6 Disagree 6 8
Strongly disagree 4 3 Strongly disagree 2 2

Table 5: I often feel emotionally detached from my Table 6: I often think about other things when
job (%) performing my job (%)
Spring Spring Spring Spring
2010 2009 2010 2009
Strongly agree 7 4 Strongly agree 12 9
Agree 21 21 Agree 40 42
Neither agree nor Neither agree nor
23 28 21 24
disagree disagree
Disagree 33 36 Disagree 20 21
Strongly disagree 16 11 Strongly disagree 7 4
Not sure 1

Employee outlook: Recovery yet to reach the workplace    5

Professional development
We were interested to find out how many employees
would class themselves as being on a talent
programme which is designed to manage, support and
develop the talent of employees to allow them to
perform to the best of their ability. Only 6% indicated
that they were on such a talent programme, 89% said
they were not and a further 5% were unclear whether
they were on such a scheme. Men (7%) were more
likely than women (4%) to be on a programme. The
age group most likely to be on a programme is the
18–24-year-olds (9%) and the sector is private (7%),
compared with public (3%) and voluntary (6%).
We also asked employees the extent to which they
believe their organisation is interested in developing
6    Employee outlook: Recovery yet to reach the workplace
their potential. The results are somewhat mixed – 37%
strongly agree (8%) or agree (29%), while nearly as
many (36%) disagree (21%) or strongly disagree
(15%) that their organisation is interested in
developing their potential. Those between 18–24 years
are most likely to agree (44%), as are people working
for micro businesses of 2–9 people (44%).
For those employees who say they work for
organisations that are interested in developing their
potential, 23% are a lot more loyal and 43% are a
little more loyal as a result.
For those employees who say they work for
organisations that are not interested in developing
their potential, 45% are a lot less loyal to their
organisation as a result and 31% are a little less loyal.
Employee attitudes towards
management

Employee attitudes towards line management
Employees continue to be generally positive in their
attitudes towards their immediate line managers, with
scores broadly similar to last quarter, but all ratings
have dropped since April 2009. Employees are most
likely to feel that their managers always/usually treat
them fairly (68%) and are committed to their
organisation (68%). On the other hand, employees are
most likely to say their manager rarely/never coaches
them on the job (47%), discusses their training and
development needs (39%), or gives them feedback on
how they are performing (28%).
The item that has dropped the most since spring 2009
(a 5% drop) is: ‘my manager discusses my training and
development needs with me’. Private sector employees
are significantly less likely than the public and charity/
voluntary sector to say this always or usually happens.

Table 7: To what extent does your immediate supervisor/manager or boss always or usually do each of the
following? (%)

Spring 2010 Winter 2010 Spring 2009

Consults me on matters of importance to me 54 52 53
Discusses my training and development needs with me 36 40 40
Recognises when I have done a good job 52 57 57
Makes me feel my work counts 49 48 53
Gives me feedback on how I am performing 43 44 46
Is open and honest 56 55 60
Is supportive if I have a problem 60 62 64
Keeps me in touch with what’s going on 48 47 51
Makes clear what is expected of me 55 56 58
Listens if I have a suggestion to make 60 61 63
Treats me fairly 68 68 70
Is committed to my organisation 68 68 71
Makes sure I have the resources to do the job 51 51 54
Coaches me on the job 27 28 30

Employee outlook: Recovery yet to reach the workplace    7

Employee perceptions of their senior managers
Overall, respondents continue to be less positive in
their attitudes towards their senior managers. Most
items show a decrease from last quarter and all items
show a decrease from spring 2009. Trust in senior
leaders has reached an all-time low (–5) and negative
perceptions about consultation continue to be a
worrying issue (–27).
Looking at the sector split, perceptions of leadership
are much worse in the public sector – in fact every
item has a negative net satisfaction score and these
scores have worsened since last quarter. Perceptions of
consultation and trust are worse and the score for
confidence in leaders is significantly worse than in the
other two sectors. There have also been substantial
dips in the leadership scores for employees working in
the charity/voluntary sector with large falls in scores for
trust and confidence.

Table 8: Net satisfaction scores with the following statements about directors/senior managers (%)

Spring Winter Spring

2010 2010 2009
They consult employees about important decisions –27 –28 –24
They treat employees with respect +9 +11 +11
I trust them –5 –1 –1
I have confidence in them +1 +2 +2
They have a clear vision of where the organisation is going +15 +17 +17

Table 9: Net satisfaction scores by sector (spring 2010 and winter 2010) (%)

Private Public Charity

Spring Winter Spring Winter Spring Winter
They consult employees –25 –27 –45 –41 –12 –3
about important decisions
They treat employees with +12 +14 –15 –12 +22 +38
respect
I trust them +2 +4 –34 –30 –1 +30
I have confidence in them +9 +7 –33 –27 –2 +27
They have a clear vision of +23 +22 –8 –7 +6 +34
where the organisation is
going

8    Employee outlook: Recovery yet to reach the workplace

Leadership at all levels
We were interested in finding out how many
organisations are developing leadership at all levels
within their organisations.
Over three-quarters (76%) of employees are to a great
extent (17%) or some extent (59%) empowered to
make decisions without referral to a more senior
member of staff. Men (22%) are more likely than
women (13%) to feel empowered to a great extent,
while 18–24-year-olds are the age group least likely to
feel empowered to a great extent (2%).
Of those that are empowered, 35% believe this
approach to decision-making has benefited their own
performance a lot and a further 49% believe it has
benefited their performance a little. Additionally 32%
believe it has benefited their team’s performance a lot,
with a further 49% believing it has benefited their
team’s performance a little.
The importance of leadership at all levels or distributed
leadership has emerged as part of our Shaping the
Future action research project associated with
developing sustainable performance. The findings here
also seem to support the benefits that empowerment
and distributed decision-making can bring to both
individual and team performance.

Table 10: To what extent are you empowered to

make decisions without referral to a more senior
member of staff? (%)

To a great extent 17
To some extent 47
Not at all 22
Don’t know 1

Table 11: To what extent has this approach to decision-making benefited your ...? (%)

Own performance Team performance

Benefited a lot 35 32
Benefited a little 49 49
Has not benefited at all 13 10
Don’t know 4 8

Employee outlook: Recovery yet to reach the workplace    9

Communication, consultation and
employee advocacy

When it comes to employee perceptions of
communication, only half feel fairly or fully informed
about what is happening within their organisation.
This has worsened slightly since spring 2009.
Employees from the voluntary/charity sector are most
likely to say they feel either fairly or fully informed
(58%), compared with 49% of both private and public
sector employees.
Just over half (55%) feel that they can usually or always
believe the information they receive about what is
happening within their organisation. This again has
worsened slightly since spring last year, where 59% felt
this. Employees from the public sector are least likely to
say this (47%), compared with 57% from the private
sector and 60% from the voluntary/charity sector.

Table 12: How well informed do you feel about what is happening within your organisation? (%)

Spring 2010 Spring 2009

I feel fully informed 7 10
I feel fairly well informed 43 46
I receive only a limited amount of information 36 33
I get to hear very little about what goes on 13 10
Don’t know 1 1

Table 13: To what extent can you believe the information you receive about what is happening within your
organisation? (%)
Spring 2010 Spring 2009
I can always believe it 10 13
I can usually believe it 45 46
I can believe it about half of the time 28 24
I can seldom believe it 11 10
I can never believe it 3 2
Don’t know 3 5

10    Employee outlook: Recovery yet to reach the workplace

Just over a third (36%) are either satisfied or very
satisfied with the opportunities within their organisation
to feed their views upwards and 28% in total are
actively dissatisfied. Again, these figures show a slight
worsening since spring 2009. Employees from the public
sector (27%) are least satisfied, compared with 38%
from the private sector and 41% from the voluntary/
charity sector.
Table 14: How satisfied are you with the opportunities that exist to feed your views/issues/ideas upwards? (%)
Very satisfied
Satisfied
Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied
Dissatisfied
Very dissatisfied
Employee outlook: Recovery yet to reach the workplace    11
Loyalty and employee advocacy
Most employees feel either a lot (41%) or some (31%)
loyalty towards their organisation. This is broadly similar
to how employees felt a year ago in spring 2009 and
shows that despite a decrease in job satisfaction, the
recession and downturn have not reduced employees’
feelings of organisational loyalty across this period.
Employees from the public sector are most likely to say
they feel no or only a little organisational loyalty (33%),
compared with 26% of both private sector and
voluntary/charity sector employees.
Over half (51%) would also recommend their
organisation as an employer, while 12% would be
unlikely and 10% very unlikely to do so.
Spring 2010 Spring 2009
8 8
28 31
36 35
22 21
6 5
Workload and pressure at work

The proportion of employees saying they are under
excessive pressure at work, either every day or once or
twice a week, has increased to 44% from 41% the
previous quarter, and from 38% compared with 12
months ago.
The proportion of people saying they are under
excessive pressure every day has steadily increased over
the 12 months to 17%, compared with 14% last
quarter and 12% a year ago.
A degree of pressure at work is of course desirable as
it can motivate and energise people, however when
the level of pressure individuals are under exceeds
their ability to cope – in other words stress – it has a
negative impact on productivity and health. Long-term
exposure to stress is linked to mental health conditions
such as anxiety and depression, as well as heart
disease. CIPD research into poor mental health at work
also finds that people suffering from stress and other
common mental health problems find it harder to
concentrate, put off challenging tasks and are less
patient with customers or clients.
Men are more likely to report being under excessive
pressure at work, with 47% saying this is the case
either every day or once or twice a week compared
with 40% of women.
Employees aged between 35 and 44-years-old are most
likely to feel under excessive pressure, while younger
workers aged between 18 and 24-years-old and older
workers aged 55 and above are least likely to.
Public sector workers in particular report feeling under
excessive pressure at work, with nearly a quarter
(23%) saying they feel under excessive pressure every
day compared with 13% a year ago.
The proportion of voluntary sector employees feeling
under excessive pressure every day has also increased
from 10% to 18% over the last 12 months.
In all, 16% of private sector respondents report being
under excessive pressure every day, up from 12% from
the spring 2009 survey.

Table 15: Proportion of respondents feeling under excessive pressure in their job (%)

Private Public Voluntary

All Men Women sector sector sector
Every day 17 18 16 16 23 18
Once or twice a week 27 29 24 27 29 23
Once or twice a month 25 24 27 25 24 24
Less frequently than once a month 22 21 23 23 18 23
Never 10 8 11 10 6 12

12    Employee outlook: Recovery yet to reach the workplace

Workload
A third of employees (33%) feel their workload is too
much compared with the previous quarter when the
figure was 29%. Just over half (56%) say their workload
is about right and 10% say it is too little. There is very
little difference between men and women in their
attitudes to workload. However, respondents aged
between 35 and 44 are more likely to say their
workload is too much than older or younger workers,
particularly than those aged 55 and above and those
between 18 and 24-years-old.
In all, 48% of public sector workers say their workload
is too much compared with 38% saying this was the
case last quarter. Just over a third (36%) of voluntary
sector staff say their workload is too much, a significant
rise from 22% for the last quarter. Just under one in
three (29%) private sector employees report their
workload is too much compared with 28% for the
previous quarter.

Table 16: The proportion of employees saying their workload is too much or too little (%)
Private Public Voluntary
All Men Women sector sector sector
Too little 10 10 11 12 4 7
About right 56 56 56 58 48 54
Too much 33 33 32 29 48 36
Don’t know 1 1 2 1 1 3

Employee outlook: Recovery yet to reach the workplace    13

Work–life balance

Nearly six in ten respondents (57%) agree they are
satisfied they achieve the right balance between their
work and home lives, slightly down from the previous
quarter’s figure of 59% and almost unchanged from
the figure for the spring 2009 survey of 56%.
Women are marginally more likely to be satisfied with
their work–life balance (61%) than men (54%). People
aged 55 and above are significantly more likely to
agree they are satisfied they achieve the right balance
between work and home (69%) than employees in
other age groups.
Private sector employees are more likely to agree they
are satisfied with their work–life balance (58%), than
voluntary sector staff (56%) or public sector employees
(52%).
Over the last year the proportion of public sector
employees agreeing they are satisfied with their work–
life balance has fallen by 5%, while for private sector
employees it has increased by 3%. Voluntary sector
satisfaction with work–life balance is unchanged.
In all, 34% of respondents say their organisation
provides support to help them manage their work–life
balance, a slight increase from the figure of 32% for
spring 2009. More than a third (36%) of women
agree their organisation provides support to help them
manage their work–life balance, compared with 31%
of men.
However, there have been some sector changes over
the last year. The proportion of private sector workers
who say their organisation supports their work–life
balance has increased from 28% to 34%, while the
proportion of public sector workers agreeing their
organisation provides support to help them manage
their work–life balance has fallen from 41% to 34%.
For voluntary sector staff the proportion of staff
agreeing their organisation supports their work–life
balance has also fallen, from 40% to 31% over the
last 12 months.

Table 17: Proportion of employees agreeing or disagreeing they are satisfied with their work–life balance (%)

Private Public Voluntary

All Men Women sector sector sector
Strongly agree 13 12 15 14 9 13
Agree 44 42 46 44 43 43
Neither agree nor disagree 17 18 15 44 43 43
Disagree 19 22 17 18 24 26
Strongly disagree 7 6 7 7 8 3
Not sure 0 0 0 0 0 0

14    Employee outlook: Recovery yet to reach the workplace

 Table 18: My organisation provides support to help me manage my work–life balance (%)

Spring 2010 Spring 2009

Private Public Voluntary Private Public Voluntary
All sector sector sector All sector sector sector
Strongly agree 8 8 6 8 6 5 8 8
Agree 26 26 28 23 26 23 33 32
Neither agree
27 27 26 35 22 23 22 22
nor disagree
Disagree 22 22 24 24 21 20 23 21
Strongly disagree 16 16 16 10 13 13 12 13
Not sure 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 2

Nearly four in ten (37%) respondents agree their manager

provides support to help them manage their work–life
balance, a slight increase from the figure for 12 months
ago of 33%. Compared with 12 months ago a greater
proportion of private sector workers now agree their
manager provides work–life balance support, up from
29% to 35%. In contrast the proportion of public sector
workers agreeing their manager supports their work–life
balance has fallen from 43% to 41%, while for voluntary
sector staff this figure has fallen from 45% to 43%.

Employee outlook: Recovery yet to reach the workplace    15

Employee attitudes and the
recession

In all, 19% of employees think it likely or very likely
they could lose their job as a result of the economic
climate, unchanged from the previous quarter and a
slight increase compared with the figure for 12
months ago of 18%.
However beneath the top-line figures there have been
significant changes from a sector perspective.
Private sector employees are marginally less pessimistic
about the chances of losing their jobs as a result of
the economic climate than a year ago, with 20%
thinking it likely or very likely compared with 23%, 12
months ago. However public sector staff are now
much less confident over job security compared with a
year ago. In all, 18% of public sector employees think
it likely or very likely they could lose their job
compared with just 7% a year ago. Voluntary sector
employees are marginally more positive compared with
12 months ago with 12% thinking it likely they could
lose their job compared with 16% a year ago.
Employees are also marginally less optimistic about
their chances of finding a new job than they were this
time last year. Just 11% of employees believe it would
be easy or very easy to find a new job, while 63%
think it would be difficult or very difficult. In
comparison, 12 months ago 12% of employees
thought it would be easy or very easy to find a new
job and 61% thought it would be difficult or very
difficult.
Compared with a year ago, the proportion of private
sector workers thinking it would be easy or difficult to
get a new job if they lost their current one has
changed very little. However a smaller proportion of
public sector staff think it would be easy to find new
work compared with 12 months ago and a larger
proportion think finding a new job would be difficult.
Voluntary workers are also more likely to think finding
a new job would be difficult compared with a year
ago. See Table 20.

Table 19: How likely do you think it is that you could lose your current main job as a result of the economic climate?
(%)
Spring 2010 Spring 2009
Private Public Voluntary Private Public Voluntary
All sector sector sector All sector sector sector
Very likely 4 4 5 0 5 7 2 6
Likely 15 16 13 12 13 16 5 10
Neither likely
26 26 23 31 25 28 16 20
nor unlikely
Very unlikely 19 18 22 21 23 17 40 26
Don’t know 4 4 3 5 4 4 2 4

16    Employee outlook: Recovery yet to reach the workplace

 Table 20: If you were to lose your job, how easy do you think it would be to find another one? (%)

Spring 2010 Spring 2009

Private Public Voluntary Private Public Voluntary
All sector sector sector All sector sector sector
Very easy 2 2 3 2 2 2 3 2
Easy 9 9 9 8 10 9 13 13
Neither easy nor
23 23 22 22 21 20 24 24
difficult
Difficult 38 37 36 49 37 38 35 38
Very difficult 25 26 27 17 24 27 21 17
Don’t know 3 4 3 2 5 5 5 6

The Employee Outlook survey has highlighted the
growing impact of the recession across different
sectors over the last year, with an increasing proportion
of employees reporting that the recession has affected
their organisation. Just 14% of respondents say their
organisation has not been affected by the recession,
compared with 25% in spring 2009.
The proportion of employees saying their organisation
has made redundancies has increased to 34%
compared with 30% last quarter and 22%, 12 months
ago. However the proportion of public sector staff
stating their employer has made redundancies has
jumped from 9% to 31%, compared with a smaller
jump among employees in the private sector reporting
redundancies in their organisation from 27% to 35%
over the same period.
The voluntary sector has also seen a significant
increase in the proportion of employees saying their
organisation has made redundancies.
On the face of it, the proportion of employees saying
their organisation is planning to make redundancies
has not changed much over the last 12 months,
edging up marginally from 15% to 16%. However this
masks a very significant contrast between the public
and private sectors. A year ago, 17% of private sector
employees said their employer was planning
redundancies compared with just 14% of public sector
staff. This quarter’s survey shows a dramatic reversal of
this situation, with 39% of public sector employee
reporting their organisation is planning to make
redundancies, in contrast to just 9% of those working
in the private sector.
Nearly a quarter of staff (24%) say their employer has
cut back on training compared with 17% a year ago.
From a sector perspective, about four in ten (39%)
public sector employees say training has been cut, with
27% of voluntary sector employees reporting this and
21% of those in the private sector.
The proportion of employees that have been affected
by pay freezes has soared over the last year. Just over a
third of respondents (37%) say their employer has
frozen pay compared with 35% last quarter and 18%,
12 months ago.
In all 39% of private sector employees say this is the
case compared with 22% this time last year, while the
proportion of voluntary sector workers affected has
also increased to 39% from 9% over the same period.
Public sector employees are least likely to say their
employer has frozen pay, with 30% saying this is the
case, but this is a significant increase from last year’s
figure of 7%.
The proportion of employees citing a pay cut has
increased to 8% from 6% for the previous quarter,
with private sector staff most likely to report this. We
did not ask respondents about pay cuts in the spring
2009 survey.
One in three (30%) respondents say their organisation
has frozen recruitment, a slight drop from the last

Employee outlook: Recovery yet to reach the workplace    17

quarter’s figure and a marginal increase from 25%
recorded in the spring 2009 survey. However nearly
44% of public sector employees say there has been a
recruitment freeze compared with 27% of private sector
employees and 28% of voluntary sector staff. A year
ago, just one in five public sector employees reported
that their organisation had frozen recruitment.
The proportion of people saying they have recognised
an increase in conflict at work between colleagues and
an increase in bullying by line managers has edged up
again, as it has every quarter since the survey series
started. See Table 22.

Table 21: In which ways, if at all, has your organisation been affected by the downturn? (%)

Spring 2010 Spring 2009

Private Public Voluntary Private Public Voluntary
All sector sector sector All sector sector sector
It has made
34 35 31 34 22 27 9 12
redundancies
It is planning
to make 15 9 39 17 16 17 14 16
redundancies
It has cut back
24 21 39 27 17 18 17 12
on training
It has cut back
on the number
22 24 17 15 16 20 8 7
of hours that
people work
It has increased
the number
8 8 6 8 * * * *
of hours that
people work
It has frozen pay
37 39 30 39 18 22 7 9

It has cut pay

8 10 5 1 * * * *

It has frozen
recruitment 30 27 44 28 25 28 20 16

It has reduced
the amount
contributed 5 5 4 15 * * * *
to employee
pensions
It has reduced
employee 16 17 14 11 13 15 8 8
benefits/perks
It has been
affected in some 23 21 32 31 27 27 25 33
other way
It has not been
affected by
14 15 7 10 25 23 34 26
the economic
downturn
Don’t know 5 5 6 5 7 6 11 12

18    Employee outlook: Recovery yet to reach the workplace

The proportion of respondents saying they have
noticed an increase in stress has dropped very slightly
since last quarter but remains at nearly 50%, while
one in five (20%) respondents report an increase in
people taking time off sick, a slight fall from the last
quarter but a slight increase from a year ago.

There has been a significant increase in the proportion

of public sector employees saying they have noticed an
increase in conflict at work, bullying by line managers,
as well as stress and people taking time off sick since
spring 2009. There has also been a jump in the
proportion of voluntary sector employees saying they
have noticed an increase in conflict and stress at work.
Compared with last year there has also been an
increase in the percentage of private sector respondents
citing an increase in conflict and bullying by managers,
as well as absence, however there has been a fall in the
proportion citing an increase in stress.

Table 22: As a result of the economic downturn have you noticed any of the following… (%)

Spring 2010 Spring 2009

Private Public Voluntary Private Public Voluntary
All sector sector sector All sector sector sector
An increase
in conflict at
21 20 23 21 15 16 14 12
work between
colleagues
An increase
in bullying by 15 16 17 10 11 11 10 9
managers
An increase in
48 44 56 56 46 48 43 42
stress
An increase in
people taking 20 18 27 18 16 14 21 15
time off sick
None of these 43 44 36 43 47 46 51 55

Employee outlook: Recovery yet to reach the workplace    19

The survey asked respondents to agree or disagree
with a number of statements about how they as
individuals have been affected by the recession.
In all, 47% of employees agree they feel less secure in
their job with 26% disagreeing (net agree score 21).
Just under six in ten respondents agree they feel
worried about the future compared with 20% that
disagree (net agree score 34). Nearly four in ten
respondents agree they are concerned about being
made redundant with 33% disagreeing (net agree
score 6).
Respondents are most likely to disagree they have
more opportunities to progress (net agree score –56).
Compared with the spring 2009 survey, respondents
are more likely to agree there is more office politics,
there is more stress at work and that their workload
has increased. See Table 23.
Personal standard of living
Compared with last quarter there has been a very
marginal increase in the reported standard of living,
however respondents are still more than twice as likely
to say their standard of living worsened (28%) in the
last six months than they are to say it improved (13%).
Younger workers aged between 16 and 24-years-old
are most likely to report that their standard of living
has improved (28%) with older workers aged 55 and
above least likely to (7%). Employees aged between
45 and 54-years-old are most likely to report their
living standards worsened over the last six months.
In all, 16% of voluntary sector employees report their
standard of living has increased in the last six months
compared with 13% of both public and private sector
employees. Private sector employees are most likely to
say their standard of living has worsened over the
same period with 29% saying this is the case,
compared with 26% of public services workers and
22% of voluntary sector staff.

Table 23: Ways in which individuals have been affected by the economic downturn

Net agree score

Spring 2010 Winter 2009 Spring 2009
I feel less secure in my job 21 18 22
I am learning new skills –10 –18 –19
There are more opportunities to progress –56 –58 –49
I feel confident of finding work elsewhere –44 –43 –42
I feel worried about the future 34 32 38
There is more office politics 22 16 10
There is more conflict in the workplace –3 –6 –8
There is more stress at work 40 39 34
I am concerned about being made redundant 6 8 8
I am less trusting of colleagues –26 –27 –26
I am less trusting of my manager –8 –8 –9
My workload has increased 21 14 7

20    Employee outlook: Recovery yet to reach the workplace

Just over a quarter (26%) of employees say that the
number of hours they work in a typical week has
increased in the last three months, while 66% report
their hours have not changed and 9% say they have
decreased. This compares with the last quarter when
22% of respondents reported an increase in hours,
70% said their working hours had not changed and
8% said they had decreased. Public sector and
voluntary sector employees are most likely to report an
increase in their working hours this quarter compared
with last quarter.

Table 24: Thinking about the last six months, has

your personal standard of living… (%)
Spring Winter
2010 2010
Improved 13 9
Stayed the same 60 62
Worsened 28 29

Table 25: in the last three months, have the number of hours you work in a typical week... (%)

Spring 2010 Winter 2010

Private Public Voluntary Private Public Voluntary
All sector sector sector All sector sector sector
Increased 26 25 26 31 22 23 19 24
Stayed the same 66 65 71 63 70 69 76 75
Decreased 9 10 3 5 8 8 5 2

Employee outlook: Recovery yet to reach the workplace    21

Bullying and harassment

The proportion of people who have experienced
bullying or harassment in the last two years has
remained virtually unchanged compared with twelve
months ago. See Table 26. Women are marginally
more likely than men to say they have experienced
bullying in the last two years. Public sector staff are
more likely to have experienced bullying than private
sector or voluntary sector employees. Public sector
staff are also more likely to have experienced violence
or been threatened with violence.
Younger workers aged 18–24-years-old are most likely
to have experienced sexual harassment in the last two
years, with 3% of these respondents reporting this.

Table 26: Which, if any, of the following forms of bullying or harassment have you experienced yourself at work in
the last two years? (%)

Spring 2010
All Men Women Private Public Voluntary
Sexual harassment 1 1 2 1 1 1
Racial harassment 1 1 1 0 1 1
Bullying 13 11 14 12 18 12
Violence or threat
2 3 2 2 5 3
of violence at work
Picked out for
4 5 4 4 4 4
redundancy
None of these 83 84 81 84 78 84

Table 26 continued: Which, if any, of the following forms of bullying or harassment have you experienced yourself at
work in the last two years? (%)

Spring 2009
All Men Women Private Public Voluntary
Sexual harassment 2 1 3 1 2 4
Racial harassment 1 1 1 0 1 2
Bullying 13 11 14 12 18 12
Violence or threat
2 3 2 2 5 3
of violence at work
Picked out for
4 5 4 4 4 4
redundancy
None of these 83 84 81 84 78 84

22    Employee outlook: Recovery yet to reach the workplace

Nearly three in ten respondents report seeing In all, 14% of respondents had observed people being
colleagues bullied in the last two years, 4% have picked out for redundancy, with results indicating this is
witnessed sexual harassment and 3% racial most prevalent in the voluntary sector (18%), followed
harassment. In all, 4% have seen people at work by the public (13%) and private sectors (14%).
subjected to violence or the threat of violence. Public
sector staff are more likely to have witnessed any of
these incidents compared with private or voluntary
sector staff.

Table 27: Which, if any, of the following forms of bullying have you observed happening to others at work in the
last two years? (%)
Spring 2010 Spring 2009
Private Public Voluntary Private Public Voluntary
All sector sector sector All sector sector sector
Sexual
4 4 5 2 5 4 7 7
harassment
Racial
3 3 6 1 4 3 5 4
harassment
Bullying 26 24 37 30 24 20 35 28
Violence or
threat of violence 4 4 6 4 5 4 9 4
at work
Picked out for
14 14 13 18 10 12 7 9
redundancy
None of these 64 66 57 58 67 70 59 65

Employee outlook: Recovery yet to reach the workplace    23

Job-seeking
Just over a quarter of all employees (27%) are currently
looking for a new job. This has increased from 22% last
quarter and 25% in spring 2009. Voluntary sector
employees are most likely to be looking for a new job
this quarter (29%), compared with 27% of private
sector employees and 24% from the public sector.
Of the 4% of employees who have moved jobs in the
last six months, half (50%) are receiving more money
and 21% less. This seems to have shifted favourably for
new employees. Last quarter 36% were receiving more
money and 40% receiving less.
24    Employee outlook: Recovery yet to reach the workplace
When asked if they would ideally like to change jobs in
the next year, 41% of employees said they would. This
represents a slight increase from last quarter (37%) and
compared with spring 2009 (37%). While public sector
employees are least likely to be looking for a new job
currently, they are the group that would ideally most
like to change jobs within the next year (46%).
A third of employees (33%) are very or fairly optimistic
that they will be able to change jobs within the next
year. This is the same as last quarter and less than a
year ago in spring 2009 (39%).
Conclusions
This quarter’s survey is particularly noticeable for the
increasingly negative views of public sector workers
towards their jobs and management, as the impact of
the recession in the workplace continues to spread
from the private to the public sector.
Public sector job satisfaction levels have edged down
further to a new low with a net score of +34,
compared to +35 last quarter and +45 in spring last
year. There is also little sign yet that job satisfaction
levels are recovering in the private sector, with a net
satisfaction score for this quarter of +36, a slight
increase from +34 for the last quarter but down
significantly from spring 2009’s figure of +46.
Employees in the voluntary sector are most satisfied
with their jobs but for the first time, the Employee
Outlook survey has recorded a significant drop with
this quarter’s net job satisfaction score +44, compared
to +55 last quarter and +54 in spring 2009.
One reason for the drop in public sector job
satisfaction could be a perceived reduction in job
security. There has been little overall change in the
proportion of staff thinking it likely they could lose
their jobs, however beneath the top-line figures there
have been significant changes from a sector
perspective. Private sector employees are marginally
less pessimistic about the chances of losing their jobs
as a result of the economic climate than a year ago,
however public sector staff are now much less
confident over job security compared with a year ago.
Public sector and voluntary sector staff are also more
likely to think it would be hard to find a new job if
they lost their current one.
The survey showed that the proportion of public
services respondents saying their employers are
planning to make redundancies has increased to nearly
four in ten compared with just over one in ten, twelve
Employee outlook: Recovery yet to reach the workplace    25
months ago. In contrast private sector employees are
less likely to report this is the case compared with this
time last year.
It is likely that job cuts in the private sector and the
increasing prospect of job cuts in the public sector
against the backdrop of a depressed labour market has
contributed to an increase in pressure at work
highlighted in this quarter’s survey. Since last year’s
spring Employee Outlook survey there has been a
significant increase in the proportion of employees
reporting that they are under pressure either every day
or once or twice a week, across all sectors but
particularly in the public sector.
Across all sectors, the proportion of people saying they
have recognised an increase in conflict at work
between colleagues, stress and an increase in bullying
by line managers has edged up again, as it has every
quarter since the survey series started. The proportion
of employees saying they have noticed an increase in
stress has also increased since spring last year. Again
the proportion of public sector employees reporting
these trends has increased noticeably.
Although employees continue to have generally
positive attitudes to their immediate line manager, they
are less positive than spring last year. This deterioration
may reflect an increase in the amount of pressure that
line managers are under as a result of the recession,
leaving them less time to manage their people. The
survey highlights particular areas of people
management which many line managers struggle with.
For example, less than half of respondents report their
line manager usually or always gives them feedback on
their performance, discusses their training or makes
them feel their work counts. Only just over half say
their manager usually or always makes clear what is
expected of them or makes sure they have the
resources to do the job.
It is employees’ attitudes to senior leaders that are
most negative and which have steadily deteriorated
over the last 12 months. Just a quarter of respondents
say their senior management team consults employees
about important issues and just a third say they trust
them. Perceptions of leadership are much worse in the
public sector, with respondents less satisfied with their
senior management teams over consultation, trust,
confidence, as well as over whether they have a clear
vision for the organisation.

In this quarter’s survey we were interested in finding

out how many organisations are developing leadership
at all levels within their organisation. More than three-
quarters of respondents say they are empowered to
make decisions without referral to a more senior
member of staff. Of these, a large majority thought
this benefited both their own and their team’s
performance. These findings support an emerging
theme from the CIPD’s Shaping the Future action
research project highlighting the importance of
distributed leadership.

One reason employees have negative opinions towards

their organisations’ senior leadership teams might be
some dissatisfaction over the level of communication.
Just half of respondents feel fairly or fully informed
about what is happening in their organisation.

26    Employee outlook: Recovery yet to reach the workplace

Background to the survey
The CIPD has commissioned a quarterly survey among
UK employees and sole traders to identify their opinions
of and attitudes towards working life today, particularly
during these difficult economic times.
YouGov conducted the latest quarterly online survey for
the CIPD of 2,026 UK employees at the end of March
2010. This survey was administered to members of the
YouGov Plc GB panel of more than 185,000 individuals
who have agreed to take part in surveys. The sample
was selected to be representative of the Great Britain
workforce in relation to sector (private, public,
voluntary), industry type and full-time/part-time working
by gender. The responding sample is weighted to the
profile of the sample definition to provide a
representative reporting sample. The profile is normally
derived from census data or, if not available from the
census, from industry-accepted data.
Employee outlook: Recovery yet to reach the workplace    27
An email was sent to panellists selected at random from
the base sample according to the sample definition,
inviting them to take part in the survey and providing a
link to the survey.
Respondents were drawn from a mixture of public
(20%), private (71%) and voluntary/charity
organisations (5%). The remaining classified their
organisation as ‘other’.
Size of organisation was classified in the following way:
sole trader (one-person business), micro business (2–9),
small business (10–49), medium (50–249) and large
(more than 250).
Net scores refer to the proportion of people agreeing
with a statement minus those disagreeing.
We explore leading-edge people management and development issues through our research.
Our aim is to share knowledge, increase learning and understanding, and help our members
make informed decisions about improving practice in their organisations.

We produce many resources on employee relations issues including guides, books, practical tools,
Issued: April 2010 Reference: 5223 © Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development 2010
surveys and research reports. We also organise a number of conferences, events and training
courses. Please visit www.cipd.co.uk to find out more.

Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development

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