Almost one in four Canadians are currently worried about losing their job in 2009 because of the state of the current economy, according to a recent survey.

Different sectors have varying levels of anxiety. Leading the pack is manufacturing, of which 40 per cent of employees are worried, next is the private sector, at 27 per cent, and then the public sector at 14 per cent, said the Ipsos Reid Better Workplace Syndicated Study.

"We're seeing concerns throughout all levels the organizational structure," says JB Aloy, Ipsos' resident expert on employee research. "From managers, to technical specialists, to workers on the floor, there is a great concern across all career streams about what this crisis means for their job."

There were 129,000 jobs list in the month of January across Canada, according to Statistics Canada's Labour Force Survey. The majority of these losses were attributed to the manufacturing sector, with 101,000 jobs being eliminated.

Ontario lost 71,000 jobs in January, not surprisingly they have the highest anxiety level at 30 per cent being worried. In western Canada, where job loses are fewer, the level of worry is only 21 per cent.

How are companies responding to the way the economy is looking? Just under three-quarters have or are planning on freezing or reducing hiring levels, 88 per cent have or plan on cutting entertainment and travel budgets, 75 per cent have or will scale back employee events and 41 per cent have or will freeze salaries in the future, according to a Towers Perrin study.

But are companies doing enough to reassure their employee's that their job is safe? Over half of respondents said their organization had not explained their situation to them properly.

"With up to a quarter of the nation’s work force concerned about their future with their employers, management and human resource professionals have to make sure they reassure these anxieties and instill employee confidence in the organization," add Aloy. "In recessionary times, it is even more important to harness the creativity and resourcefulness of your people to get through the tough spots, but keeping productivity and efficiencies high is challenging when employees fear the worst."

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