Survey Shows Optimism Rising Among IT WorkersSurvey Shows Optimism Rising Among IT Workers

Optimism continued to rise among IT workers in August, reaching a high for the year so far, according to a study released Wednesday by IT outsourcing and staffing firm Hudson Highland Group Inc.

Since the beginning of the year, Hudson has been conducting phone interviews with about 9,000 workers in various industries, including about 350 IT workers. After hitting a low-point rating of 101.2 in May, confidence levels among IT workers rose to 112.2 in July and climbed to 115.9 in August. The base score is 100.

August was the second month this year that confidence levels among IT workers outscored the national score for all industries, which was 108.9 for the month. Other industries surveyed include aerospace, health care, and financial services.

A Hudson spokeswoman says the survey reveals that IT workers "are feeling better in their positions and less worried about layoffs." But it doesn't mean they're not still somewhat anxious about job security.

While confidence levels are improving, 22% of IT workers said they were concerned about losing their jobs; however, that's an improvement over July, when 26% reported being worried about being laid off.

The survey's findings also show that the number of IT workers expecting layoffs in their companies fell 3.5 percentage points to 18% in August.