Jack Causa Senior VP and Group Executive The Mergis Group

The Accounting and Finance Employee Confidence Index, a measure of overall confidence among U.S. accounting and finance workers, decreased 6.4 points to 50.5 in the first quarter of 2008, according to a recent survey commissioned by The Mergis Group®, a professional placement division of Spherion Corporation (NYSE:SFN). Conducted by Harris Interactive®, the survey yielded the lowest Index level since the Study’s 2005 inception. The drop can be attributed primarily to increases in the number of workers who believe that the economy is getting weaker and that fewer jobs are available. 

Results from the Accounting & Finance Employment Report:
•    Sixty-six percent of accounting and finance workers believe the economy is getting weaker, an increase of 16 percentage points from the fourth quarter of 2007.
•    Fifty-six percent of accounting and finance workers believe that there are fewer jobs available, up 15 percentage points from the previous quarter.
•    Despite the nation’s economic instability and the recent job loss endured within the industry, the amount of workers likely to look for a new job increased to 35 percent, showing a seven percentage-point increase from the fourth quarter of 2007.

“Given the volatility within this sector over the last few months, the continued decline of the Accounting and Finance Confidence Index is not surprising. Workers are starting to be concerned with the current economy, but in reality we are seeing a host of positive hiring trends,” said Jack Causa, senior vice president and group executive for The Mergis Group. “In our business, we are continuing to see positive growth in this sector, especially for those with hard-to-find skills such as tax, financial reporting, corporate auditing and accounting for derivatives. This growth, coupled with the U.S. Department of Labor projection that candidates in accounting and finance have the best job prospects of any industry in 2008, suggests that 2009 should be just as robust.”
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The Mergis Group is a leading professional placement firm that specializes in recruiting for positions in finance and accounting, engineering and manufacturing, sales and marketing, legal and human resources. The firm provides recruiting services to Fortune 500 and small and mid-sized companies through its network of 46 offices nationally.

The Mergis Group is a division of Spherion Corporation (NYSE:SFN).

For more information, please visit www.mergisgroup.com.