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UK productivity levels plummet in uncertain jobs climate

The British workforce is in a fragile state because of the credit crunch, with more than a third (36%) of employees saying they feel less motivated in their job now than they did a year ago.

The findings come from greetz.co.uk an online greetings card provider. It wanted to find out the mood of the nation during the slowdown. The report shows a third (34%) of the workforce are worried about their jobs.

60% of employees said the emotions they experience most often in relation to their jobs are "frustration", "resentment" or "anxiety", while only 11% were "enthusiastic" about their job and a mere 3% "excited" about going to work.

Commenting on the findings Tom Redman, professor of HR management and director of research at Durham Business School, said: "The economic climate does not directly affect engagement but there are other causes that can. The climate might lead to redundancies in a business or a decline in training and resources - it is these things that will have an impact on employees' engagement."

Steve Huxham, chairman of The Recruitment Society, said: "I'm not at all surprised by these findings. They show that employers should be working all the harder during the slowdown to keep staff happy. A lot of employees might have wanted to change jobs, but hesitated because of the credit crunch, so this is employers' perfect chance to invest in staff development to re-engage their teams."