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Index Puts Bay Area Last In Job Confidence, Satisfaction

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By KEITH MORELLI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 1, 2007

Comment: Why Do You Think People Are Unhappy?

TAMPA - Workers in the Tampa Bay area were a bit happier last month but ranked dead last among the listed cities in job confidence and satisfaction, according to a survey released this week.

The Hudson Employment Index is a national survey that gauges the workforce's overall confidence in the job market. Through monthly telephone surveys, Hudson Employment tracks trends that include hiring intentions, financial security and job satisfaction.

The index calls 9,000 workers nationwide each month, including about 600 in the Tampa-St. Petersburg job market.

The October results were posted Wednesday on the index's Web site.

The survey concluded that workplace confidence here ended a five-month tumble and stabilized in October, "inching up .4 points to 85." That score was the lowest among the nation's metropolitan areas. At the top of the heap were the Dallas-Fort Worth jobbers, who posted a 109 rating.

The Tampa Bay market's measure of worker confidence remains about 25 points below where it was last year this time.

The overall national index rose 3.7 points in October to 100.8, and the index in Florida jumped more than 11 points to 105 in October, meaning Tampa Bay workers lag far behind the state and nation.

In Tampa, these results were posted on the Hudson Employment Index Web site:

There was a 3-percentage-point increase, to 27 percent, in the number of workers who expected their company to hire in October.

The number of workers anticipating job cuts fell by 3 percentage points, to 23 percent.

Fewer workers were worried about job security in October (20 percent) than in September (23 percent).

Fifteen percent of the workforce rated its finances as "poor" in October, compared to 19 percent in September.

Compared to September, when 49 percent of employees surveyed said their financial situation was getting worse, just 46 percent agreed with that statement in October.

The one factor that wasn't promising in October was job satisfaction — fewer workers were happy at work in October (71 percent) than in September (74 percent).

Fernando Sarchi of Tampa can attest to that.

Sarchi held a long pole with a dust mop on the end. He was dusting cobwebs from an outside corner of the Fifth Third Bank building in downtown Tampa on Thursday morning. Like many in the survey, he isn't totally happy in his job. He worries about being laid off, and his salary just isn't where he wants it to be.

"I got a lot of bills," he said.

Saul Figueroa works security at Bank of America. A recent transplant to Tampa from Connecticut, Figueroa said the salaries here aren't what they are in New England. But his job is only temporary, he said, as he plans to attend school to land a better job one day.

"The pay here is OK," he said. "But I'm always looking for something better."

People like John Koop may have boosted the survey's results.

He just started an information technology job at Salem Law Group in downtown Tampa on Thursday. He had dabbled in real estate, but when that didn't pan out, thanks to the housing slump, he went back to what he did before.

"In the IT field, it's pretty good," he said, depending on the person and the employer, of course.

"This field is awesome," he said. "If you apply yourself and get your credentials, it's just awesome."

Among occupations measured by the index, IT had the highest job satisfaction.

It scored a 111.7 ranking, followed by the accounting and finance field, which held a 109 score.

Manufacturing was at the bottom of the occupational list, with an 87.8 ranking.

Reporter Keith Morelli can be reached at (813) 259-7760 or at kmorelli@tampatrib.com.

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