MILL VALLEY, CA--(Marketwired - Apr 3, 2015) - As the topic of skills training takes center stage in the U.S. after President Obama announced a new TechHire program last month, the Glassdoor U.S. Employment Confidence Survey¹, conducted by Harris Poll, found that employment and socioeconomic status impact the quantity of on-the-job training employees² and job seekers receive, contributing to a skills gap in America's workforce.

When it comes to income, education and gender, there are significant differences between the amount of access various socioeconomic groups have to on-the-job training from their employers:

• Nearly three in four (73 percent) employees earning higher household incomes ($100,000+) report receiving on-the-job training in the past 12 months when compared to employees whose household incomes are less: $75,000-99,999 (57 percent), $50,000-74,999 (58 percent), less than $50,000 (57 percent).

• Seventy percent of employees with college degrees report receiving on-the-job training in the past 12 months compared to 56 percent of employees with some college education and 58 percent of employees with or without a high school diploma.

• Two-thirds of men (66 percent) have received on-the-job training in the past 12 months compared to 57 percent of women.

In addition, while more than three in five (62 percent) employees have received on the job training from their employer in the past 12 months, only one in four (24 percent) of those unemployed but looking for work (who have been employed within the past 12 months) have received training from their most recent employer in the past year. Further, when it comes to types of training, only 29 percent of employees have received technology training. When compared to those unemployed but looking for work, significantly fewer -- only 6 percent -- have received technology training from their most recent employer in the past year.

"As the national conversation heats up around the need for greater skills training opportunities, the Glassdoor survey underscores the importance of making sure skills training is available equally to all socioeconomic groups in the country," said Rusty Rueff, Glassdoor career and workplace expert. "Job market confidence in the U.S. is high, and in order for us to grow and harness the favorable economy, we must make sure our workforce has the information and access to training needed to advance their careers, companies and industries."

The Glassdoor Employment Confidence Survey also continues to track four core indicators of employment confidence on a quarterly basis: salary expectations, job market optimism, business outlook and job security.

• Salary Expectations: At a new high in more than six years, 45 percent of employees expect to receive a pay raise or cost-of-living increase in the next 12 months. This is up 2 percentage points from last quarter (43 percent). Thirty-seven percent do not expect a pay raise, unchanged over the past two quarters, while 18 percent don't know. Pay raise confidence is higher among men (50 percent), compared to women (40 percent).
  
  

• Job Market Optimism/Re-hire Probability: Half (48 percent) of employees (including those self-employed) report confidence in their ability to find a job matched to their current experience and compensation levels in the next six months. This remains consistent with the previous quarter's six-year high. Of those unemployed but looking for work, job market confidence increased 4 percentage points to 47 percent since last quarter and is also a new six-year high.
  
  

• Business Outlook Optimism: When it comes to business outlook, 47 percent of employees (including those self-employed) believe their company's business outlook will improve in the next six months, up 4 percentage points since last quarter and a high in more than two years, since Q4 2012 (40 percent). Forty-six percent believe it will stay the same and 7 percent believe it will get worse. Men are significantly more optimistic (52 percent) than women (40 percent) that business will get better in the next six months.
  
  

• Job Security: Sixteen percent of employees report concern of being laid off in the next six months, edging up 3 percentage points from last quarter. Twenty-eight percent of employees report concern about co-workers being laid off in the next six months, an increase of 5 percentage points since last quarter.
  
  

SURVEY SUPPLEMENT & GRAPHICS AVAILABLE: For more details, including breakdowns of survey results by age, income, geography and gender as well as quarter-by-quarter survey results, please see the full U.S. Q1 2015 Glassdoor Employment Confidence Survey Supplement: http://www.glassdoor.com/press/surveys. To request the survey supplement, graphics and/or complete survey methodology, please contact pr [at] Glassdoor [dot] com.

Methodology
¹ The Q1 2015 survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Poll on behalf of Glassdoor from March 19-23, 2015 among 2,024 adults ages 18 and older. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables, please contact pr@glassdoor.com.

² For the purposes of this study, "employees" were defined as U.S. adults 18+ employed full time and/or part time unless otherwise indicated.

About Glassdoor
Glassdoor is the most transparent jobs and career marketplace that is changing how people search for jobs and how companies recruit top talent. Glassdoor combines free and anonymous reviews, ratings and salary content with job listings to help job seekers find the best jobs and address critical questions that come up during the job search, application, interview and negotiation phases of employment. For employers, Glassdoor offers recruiting and employer branding solutions to help attract high-quality candidates at a fraction of the cost of other channels. Glassdoor, which has more than 27 million members and content from more than 190 countries, operates one of the most popular job apps on iOS and Android. The company launched in 2008 and has raised approximately $160 million from Google Capital, Tiger Global Management, Benchmark, Battery Ventures, Sutter Hill Ventures, DAG Ventures, Dragoneer Investment Group and others.

Glassdoor.com is a registered trademark of Glassdoor, Inc.

Image Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=2796398
Image Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=2796401