New Survey Reveals Employees Believe Lay Offs More Likely to Happen to Coworkers; 4 in 5 Employees Have No Concerns about Being Laid Off in Next Six Months

Should Pink Slips Loom, Majority of Employees Would Be Willing to Work Longer
Hours and Take on More Projects and Responsibilities but Not Willing to Take Pay
Cuts or Forfeit Vacation

SAUSALITO, Calif.--(Business Wire)--
Despite the high number of December layoffs, and increasing rates of
unemployment across the country, employees1 have a surprisingly high level of
confidence relating to their own jobs and compensation in the next six to 12
months, according to a year-end survey2
of 1,331 employed adults conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of
Glassdoor.com. A summary of survey highlights is below:

Not me! Employees think layoffs more likely to happen to "someone else"

While about half (52%) of employees admit they are working harder to avoid
layoffs given the current economic climate, about four out of five (79%)
employed adults say they are not concerned about being laid off from their job
in the next six months. It appears optimism for coworkers isn`t quite as high.
Forty-two percent of employees say they are concerned their company will lay off
other employees in the next six months yet half as many, or about one in five
(21%) employees, are concerned they will be laid off during the same period.

Many employees say they expect pay raises and bonuses in the short term despite
economic climate

* Even amid widespread company cost-cutting, 40 percent of employees say they
expect a pay raise or cost of living increase in the next 12 months while 40
percent do not expect a raise and 20 percent say they are unsure.
* Of those eligible for an annual bonus, 57 percent expect a bonus and 40
percent do not expect a bonus3. Of those who expect a bonus,

* 41% expect it to be about the same as last bonus
* 28% expect it to be less than last bonus
* 15% expect it to be more than last bonus
* 16% are unsure of the amount

Employees favor more work and longer hours over pay cuts or losing vacation to
avoid a layoff

More employees say they would be willing to take on more work or forego other
benefits than those willing to take a cut in salary or wages, lose vacation or
take unpaid leave. In fact, 61 percent of employees went so far as to say they
would not be willing to take a pay cut if they discovered their job was in
jeopardy. In order to keep their jobs, employees would be willing to:

74% take on more projects or responsibility

60% increase amount of hours worked

46% give up perks like commuter subsidies, on-site cafeteria, child care, dry
cleaner, gym access

32% accept a reduction in health and dental benefits coverage

30% accept a cut in salary or wages

24% forfeit paid time off or vacation

24% take an unpaid leave or sabbatical

Employees in companies that have already cut jobs have more concerns and lower
expectations

Nearly half (49%) of all employees say their company has made changes to the
number of employees or benefits and/or perks in the past six months. About one
in four (26%) say their company has laid off employees or communicated plans to
lay off employees and another one in four (25%) say their company has changed
compensation or reduced pay. Those employees who work in companies that have
reported lay offs have more concerns about future job cuts and lower
expectations than those who work in companies that have not reported layoffs. A
summary of the break down is below:

Employees who work for companies that have reported layoffs versus those that haven`t are more likely to: Total Employees from Employees from

companies that have
companies who have

n=1,331
communicated
not communicated layoffs within the past

layoffs
six months

within the
n=1004

past 6 months

n=327

Have concerns about being laid off in next six months 21% 45% 12%
Have concerns coworkers will be laid off in next six months 42% 87% 26%
Be working harder to avoid a lay off given the current state of the economy 52% 69% 46%
Not expect a pay raise in next 12 months 40% 49% 36%
Not expect a bonus 25% 32% 22%
To take on more projects and responsibilities to avoid a lay off 74% 84% 70%

What does this mean?

"This data reinforces the need for employers to be more open and transparent
with their plans for the company and people. It is human nature to always think
that something bad will happen to someone else but never to me. Employees often
think them personally -- or their company -- will be insulated from layoffs and
that someone else will lose their job, not them, often causing shock and denial
when notified their job has been eliminated," said Rusty Rueff, co-author of
Talent Force: A New Manifesto for the Human Side of Business and former HR
executive at Electronic Arts and Pepsico, who is also a member of Glassdoor`s
board of directors. "Fourth quarter layoffs may just be a prelude of what`s to
come and both employers and talent should take time now to communicate and plan
short-term options and contingencies. In today`s environment there`s no reason
to continue to have people surprised and not prepared for the worst."

"Salary and total compensation are very important to employees so we aren`t
surprised more than half of employees are unwilling to take pay cuts to avoid a
lay off. We are surprised, however, that so many employees say they are not
personally concerned about layoffs, particularly given the frequency we`re
seeing people discuss layoffs in their Glassdoor reviews over the past few
months," said Robert Hohman, co-founder and CEO of Glassdoor.com, a career and
workplace community bringing greater transparency to salaries and workplaces.

1) For the purposes of this study "employees" were defined as U.S, adults 18+
employed full time or part time.

2) The survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris
Interactive on behalf of Glassdoor.com between Dec.16-18, 2008 among 2,281 U.S.
adults 18+ of whom 1,331 are currently employed (full time or part-time). This
online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimates of
theoretical sampling error can be calculated. A full methodology, including
weighting variables, is available.

3) Respondents were asked about an annual bonus Dec. 16-18, 2008. While some
companies pay out year-end bonuses, many companies do not pay bonuses until
year-end books are closed and reported during the following first quarter.

About Glassdoor.com

Glassdoor.com is a new career and workplace community where anyone can find and
anonymously share real-time reviews, ratings and salary details about specific
jobs for specific employers -- for free. Designed to deliver greater
transparency around our work life, Glassdoor enables employees, job seekers,
employers and recruiters to simultaneously see -- for the first time - unedited
employee opinions about a company`s work environment along with details of pay,
benefits and CEO approval ratings. Glassdoor was founded in 2007 and launched
its public beta in June 2008. Glassdoor is headquartered in Sausalito, Calif.
and was founded by Richard Barton, Robert Hohman and Tim Besse.

About Harris Interactive

Harris Interactive is a global leader in custom market research. With a long and
rich history in multimodal research that is powered by our science and
technology, we assist clients in achieving business results. Harris Interactive
serves clients globally through our North American, European and Asian offices
and a network of independent market research firms. For more information, please
visit www.harrisinteractive.com.

Glassdoor.com
Dawn Lyon, +1-415-846-4706
pr(at)glassdoor(dot)com

Copyright Business Wire 2009