Money Worries Dampens Mood Among Tech Workers, Says Report

September 5, 2007 06:00 AM


Worries about personal finances took a toll on job confidence among tech workers in August, according to the latest monthly report by outsourcing and staffing firm Hudson.
Compared to a base score of 100, job optimism among the 400-plus IT and telecom workers surveyed by Hudson fell 7.6 points to 105.1 in August.

Although that drop in confidence among tech workers was pretty steep last month, as a group they were still more upbeat about their jobs than the overall 9,000 workers across all the sectors that Hudson surveys. The composite index for all workers fell 6.6 points to 99.2.

Money concerns seem to be the root of jitters among techies -- as well as with all workers, including those in the accounting, finance, manufacturing, and health-care sectors that Hudson surveys.

"The housing market and stock market affected everyone ," said Tim Bosse, a Hudson executive VP, in an interview. "With the stock market, anyone looking at their personal investments or 401K gets worried. With the housing market, anyone looking into buying a new house, refinancing, or touching equity -- it's the same ."

In fact, there was a huge decline in the number of tech workers last month who rated personal finances "excellent" or "good," from 62% in July to only 54% in August. Also, only 43% of workers said their finances were improving in August, compared to 48% who felt that way in July.
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