eLearners.com Career Confidence Poll Indicates a Confidence Crisis among Americans

Nov. 2, 2011 - PRLog -- Amid high unemployment rates and a volatile job market, new research released today by eLearners.com signals even greater concern among Americans.  Even those employed lack the confidence that they have what it takes to remain competitive in their careers.  The eLearners.com Career Confidence Poll found that 22 percent of Americans over the age of 18 don’t feel competitive long-term (5+ years) and that among the employed, nearly one in four (23 percent) don’t even feel they can remain competitive for the next two years.  

“America’s economic recovery and long-term competitiveness depends on a workforce with the confidence to perform,” said Tom Anderson, CEO of EducationDynamics, parent company of eLearners.com.  “The key to the future will be lifelong learning – staying ahead of the knowledge curve.”

Unfortunately, the research revealed even deeper insecurities among younger workers; more than one-third of 18-34 year olds don’t feel they have the training or education to stay competitive in their field for more than two years, while almost half (44 percent) don’t feel they can stay competitive for more than four years. This is particularly alarming when you consider the percentage of Americans currently unemployed, which means that they aren’t even getting “on the job” training.

Finally, the eLearners.com Career Confidence Poll found that women are more likely than men to lack confidence about remaining competitive long-term. Thirty-five percent of employed women reported feeling competitive for four years or less, compared to 29 percent of employed men.

“These findings should be a startling wake-up call for America,” continued Anderson.  “Whether it is corporate America facing an ill-equipped workforce or individuals whose confidence has been shaken, the only answer is education.”

Anderson shares five recommendations focused on improving Americans’ career confidence:

1.   Take advantage of every learning opportunity your company offers, whether tuition reimbursement, on-the-job training or internal webinars.
2.   Finish that degree.  Millions of Americans have some education, but didn’t have the chance to graduate. Go back and finish that bachelor’s or master’s degree that will increase your knowledge and marketability.

3.   Ask hiring managers or other company leaders about what in-demand skills they are seeking and find ways to continually sharpen your own skill set.

4.   Look for inexpensive learning options beyond the workplace – consider community college or online courses, volunteer opportunities, how-to books from the library, online tutorials, and courses offered by professional associations.

5.   Maintain a thirst for knowledge.  Never stop learning from senior leaders and the newer generations, all of which offer different and equally important insights and information.

Wakefield Research administered the eLearners.com Career Confidence Poll by telephone in September 2011 to a representative sample of 1,000 Americans over the age of 18. For the interviews conducted in this study, the margin of error is approximately +/- 3.1 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level and larger for sub-groups.

eLearners.com features a robust library of tools and resources about ongoing education, financial aid, online education and a variety of other topics.

About eLearners.com®
Since 1999, eLearners.com has been successfully connecting prospective students interested in online degree, certification and training programs with a wide selection of accredited colleges and universities. eLearners.com offers a powerful search engine that indexes thousands of program offerings online, as well as a variety of educational evaluation tools and financial aid resources. eLearners.com offers schools seeking prospective students a low-cost, performance-based method to gain national exposure and increase enrollments in their programs.

Contact:        
Jenny Foust
Communications Strategy Group
jfoust@csg-pr.com
(303) 433-7020