Whilst the size of a pay packet may currently be more important than job security to those seeking employment – according to some reports – it hardly makes the new figures on job security confidence any less disheartening.
Legal & General’s latest Job Security Index shows that that confidence in job security has improved by just 1% since January, from 73% to 74%. And this represents a 4% drop in confidence since October, when levels reached 78%.
Meanwhile, two-thirds (67%) of part-time workers say they are confident about their job security, a mere 2% rise since last quarter, and 5% down on October.
When reflecting on the importance of job security to job seekers in general, there is some – if not total – corroboration with the recent survey from recruitment consultant Randstad. Notably, the proportion of workers actively seeking a new job due to concerns about their job security is at its highest since Legal & General’s Index began, with almost one in ten (9%) of workers saying that they are job hunting for this reason.
Added to this, just 29% of workers believe their job to be completely secure and are therefore not looking for a new role – this remains the same as last quarter.
Breaking it down into age groups reveals the following figures:
- Young workers, those aged 18-24, remain one of the most confident of all age groups; with nearly four fifths (78%) saying they are confident about their job security. However confidence among this age group has dropped 2% since last quarter.
- Employees aged 55 and over feel more confident than they did last quarter with nearly three quarters (74%) saying that they feel confident now, compared to 70% in January.
- Those that seem to be the most worried about their job security are workers aged between 45 and 54, the ‘sandwich generation’, with only 68% saying they feel secure.
Of further concern is the fact that one fifth of workers (21%) said that they were worried about how they would maintain their current standard of living over the next three months. This figure extends to 26% for part-time workers.
Moreover, almost one-in-ten workers (8%) said they were working an increased number of paid hours in their current job to generate additional income, compared with three months ago.
“With state benefits continuing to reduce, there is much more onus on individuals to take proactive steps to protect themselves”, said Mark Holweger, director of Legal & General’s general insurance business.
“The on-going squeeze on day to day finances and continuing job insecurity, whether young or old, it’s really important for workers to have a contingency plan in place which could help with regular payments such as rent or bills if their regular source of income were to suddenly stop.”
To conclude, it is pretty safe to say it will be a while yet until these figures are at a level which could confidently be described as ‘encouraging’, or even ‘satisfactory’. 
