Research by recruiter Robert Half found 89% of employers felt business conditions would improve this year compared to 2023, a sentiment shared by only 72% of workers.

What's driving employee pessimism?

There are several factors dampening workers’ optimism compared to their employers.

The top reasons cited by workers for having less confidence than their employer about growth this year were:

  • worse economic situation (74%)
  • reduced business opportunities (40%)
  • lack of financial resources/budget (33%)
  • restructuring/transformation uncertainty (26%).

Meanwhile, the top reasons employers felt more confident about this year were:

  • expanding business opportunities (44%)
  • increased product/service demand (42%)
  • an improved economic situation (38%)
  • increased financial resources/budget (36%)

Nicole Gorton, director at Robert Half, said: “Continued financial stresses placed upon household budgets, caused by recent mortgage interest rate rises and the rising cost of living may be behind why workers overwhelmingly see a different economic situation than their employers and therefore hold less growth confidence than them.” 

From a business leader’s perspective, Gorton said increasingly positive sentiment and encouraging employment numbers were early indicators that 2024 was going to be a year of recovery and growth.

"Companies are transitioning from survival mode to proactive mode,” she said.

Optimism differs between generations

The research also found a generational divide among workers, with younger staff more optimistic about growth prospects. Millennials (82%) and Gen Z (80%) were the most confident, followed by Gen X (76%) and Baby Boomers (65%). 

“While the quarterly average number of redundancies that occurred was lower in 2023 compared to pre-Covid, the continued squeeze on company profit margins may be unnerving older workers, particularly as they have experienced more economically challenging times during their working lifetimes than younger workers," Gorton said.

"However, as the national unemployment rate flatlines and interest rate rises are put on hold, Gen Z and Millennial employees may be more confident that better times lie ahead.”  

The study was conducted online in November 2023 by an independent research company. IT surveyed 500 hiring managers (including 100 CFOs and 100 CIOs) and 1000 office workers from companies across Australia.