According to Kenexa UK, employee confidence increased by 2.6% in the fourth quarter of 2009 and showed an increase of 5.3% since the first quarter.
Kenexa reports that a high level of employee confidence is achieved when employees perceive their organisation as being effectively managed and competitively positioned, and believe they have a promising future with their organisation, as well as job security and skills that are attractive to other employers.
Employee confidence influences individual behaviour and has implications for organisational performance and economic conditions.
The survey takes into account the opinions of 15,500 employees across 12 countries. In December 2009 the global employee confidence index score was 98, a slight improvement on the third quarter (97.9). Brazil (107.5), China (105.6) and India (101.3) reported the highest levels of employee confidence, while France (94.9), Japan (94.0) and Spain (92.4) reported the lowest levels.
The UK's employee confidence index score was 99.8 (an increase from 97.2 in the third quarter).
For the year ending 31 December 2009, the 12 largest economies reported an increase in employee confidence index scores, with the exception of Japan, which reported a slight decrease for the year.
The global employee confidence index score for the fourth quarter of 2009 increased approximately 4 points, from 93.8 in the first quarter.
Countries that reported the most improvement in employee confidence index scores throughout 2009 were China (a 15.8 point increase), Italy (8.1) and Brazil (7.1).
Anne Herman, research consultant at the Kenexa Research Institute, said: "Employee confidence fluctuated throughout 2009, with the majority of the countries reporting both increases and decreases. India and China were the only two surveyed countries that had an increase in scores, quarter over quarter."
She added: "We enter 2010 on a positive note. Our studies have linked employee confidence to higher country-level GDP and stronger organisation performance, among other metrics. Therefore this indicates that as employee confidence increases, GDP and organisational performance should improve, indicating that we appear to be in a state of resurgence."
