After years of a prolonged boom in the financial services industry, things came crashing down late last year when firm after firm were either acquired or went to the government for bailouts. According to new research from ORC Guideline, 350,000 jobs could disappear from financial services in 2009, not counting the 200,000 lost in 2008.
The report, “Employee Engagement In Times of Uncertainty,” goes further, stating that job losses in financial services alone account for approximately 8 percent of overall unemployment. While this has obvious implications for those laid off, it arguably affects employees who have survived the layoffs even more. The onus is on firms to keep them firing on all cylinders in relation to their jobs. ORC Guideline’s research finds many organizations aren’t doing a good job in that aim thus for, as it found 21 percent of workers are engaged in their work, and 38 percent are “partially to fully disengaged” (specific percentages were not broken down for the financial services sector).