It looks like a significant percentage of the workforce believes that the economic recovery is for real, according to the last survey numbers from Randstad US. The current Employee Confidence Index score is the highest seen since August 2007. Overall sentiments about the national economy and job availability are far higher than they were five years ago. And employers should know that a considerable number of professionals feel they'd be able to find a new job if they had to. For now, most have no plans to leave, but if the labor market gains more momentum, this could change. "We are continuing to see a renewed sense of optimism across the U.S. workforce," says Jim Link, managing director at Randstad US. "The data reveals employees are feeling an increased sense of security about their own jobs and the economy as a whole, despite relative global uncertainty. We encourage employers to take small steps to further bolster employees' outlook and loyalty to their company, such as recognizing exemplary work and enabling employees to acquire new skills." Several of the following findings also shed interesting perspective on differences in gender sentiment. More than 1,200 workers took part in the research, which was conducted by Harris Interactive. Randstad is an HR services/staffing company.

"What's better than working for a tech company? Working for a happy tech company!" So says CareerBliss.com, which has come out with this top 10 list of technology businesses in America with the most contented employees. Across the board, organizations that made the cut are praised for their compensation, benefits and overall culture. Employee satisfaction ratings were also driven by factors such as career advancement and the quality of innovation-focused opportunities, as well as how the company fares in terms of competitive advantage. To find out why having a happy workforce matters, check out recent research from Gallup: Departments that fall within the top half of their organization in terms of employee engagement nearly double their odds of success. Those in the top quarter of engagement experience 37 percent less absenteeism, 25 percent less turnover and 21 percent higher productivity than their counterparts in the lowest quarter. CareerBliss also includes average-salary information, along with each organization's overall "BlissScore" (on a scale of 1 to 5), both compiled from user reviews. CareerBliss is an online job posting/company review/professional advice site.

The firm developed a sustainability vision that focuses on decreasing its carbon footprint and helping employees adopt greener practices, including ride sharing.

A new public-private initiative spearheaded by First Lady Michelle Obama and involving tech vendors aims to retrain vets for careers in the IT industry.

It seems that employees behave in far more environmentally friendly ways when working from home than they do in the office, according to a recent survey from TeamViewer. They're more likely to save on paper and power when telecommuting, and they recycle more frequently, findings show. As for the biggest offenders? Look no further than our bosses, survey participants say, as midlevel and senior managers are more likely to use more paper than they need. So why do workers seem to do a "greener" job at home? It could simply boil down to personal finance, as paper and power consumption have a direct impact on household expenses. Clearly, many professionals aren't quite as motivated to conduct the same environmentally friendly practices in the corporate office, since it's not coming out of their pocket. (Sounds like an opportunity for a cost-savings incentive rewards program.) The survey also breaks down practices between men and women, and, across the board, female employees demonstrate greater willingness to recycle and reduce energy and paper waste. An estimated 500 American office workers took part in the TeamViewer research.

Believe it or not, the recent recession didn't kill the 401(k) plan. The vast majority of organizations kept their plans—and company matches—in place even after the economy took a dramatic dip in 2008, according to a recent survey from WorldatWork, a nonprofit association for HR professionals, in partnership with the American Benefits Institute, the research and education affiliate of the American Benefits Council. There's more good news: Fewer employees are seeking hardship distributions from retirement plans, or taking out loans based on their contributions. "Employers and employees value these plans as an integral piece of retirement planning," says Cara Woodson Welch, vice president of policy and public affairs for WorldatWork. "Employers' continued investment—seen though sustained contribution levels, enhanced plan choices and increased usage of automatic enrollment features—is further evidence that they view 401(k) plans as a fundamental part of an employee's total rewards package." For workers, there's still room for improvement, as far too many of them aren't contributing enough to receive the full company match. Nearly 500 members of WorldatWork and the American Benefits Council took part in the research.