Poll Highlights Job Insecurity

After so many company closures and workforce reductions in the optical networking industry in the past year it’s perhaps not surprising that a lot of people feel very insecure in their jobs.

All the same, it may come as quite a shock to see the results of Light Reading’s February Work Poll, which shows just how deep that insecurity goes. More than 300 people have already taken the poll, and this is how the results are shaping up:

More than half of respondents (53%) say the chance of them losing their jobs this year is evens or higher. That doesn’t include the 15% of respondents who have already lost their jobs.

More than three quarters of respondents (81%) say the chance of them finding an equivalent job within three months is evens or lower.

41% of respondents say that large, established systems vendors offer the best job security right now. 26% say large, established service providers are the best. At the other end of the scale, startup service providers got the lowest rating (3%), followed by startup systems vendors (7%), and startup component vendors (9%).

Most respondents aren’t expecting an upturn in the job market any time soon. 38% think things will improve in 7 to 12 months and another 35% say it'll take one or two years.

Take the poll yourself by clicking here. Once you’ve taken the poll, you’ll see the full results so far.

— Peter Heywood, Founding Editor, Light Reading
http://www.lightreading.com