Close to 30 percent of workers polled in Hong Kong say they could lose their jobs in the coming year, according to a worldwide survey of nearly 10,000 workers in 18 countries conducted by Right Management Consultants.

A year ago the number of pessimists in Hong Kong stood at a quarter, now it's nearly a third. The survey covered both blue collar and white-collar employees and was conducted in the first half of March.

"We have the dubious distinction of being the world's most worried workers," said Steve Lazar, Right's Managing Principal for the Greater China Region. "Economic growth is seemingly headed upwards and might hit 5 or 6 percent this year, but employment and employment sentiment are still lagging."

He believes the workforce as a rule was demoralised by the high unemployment rates of the past two years and the standstill on salary increases at many companies. A Hong Kong stock market rally and a sudden property price boom that began last year haven't jolted employment sentiment upward. Mr Lazar said that although asset values were increasing, the prospect of some service industry jobs migrating to China or India has continued to dampen enthusiasm.

Overall, workers around the globe were slightly more optimistic about the job market and their career prospects than they were when Right last conducted its global Career Confidence Index survey six months ago.

The findings lifted the overall global Career Confidence Index to 50.0, up from 48.7 six months ago. Individual country results ranged from a low of 42.0 in Hong Kong to a high of 60.2 in Norway.

Workers in Hong Kong and Switzerland were the most concerned about losing their jobs, while workers in Norway and Sweden were the most confident about keeping them. In Norway, 92.9 percent of workers said there was little or no chance they would lose their job in the coming year. Eighty-eight percent of Swedes said the same. The global average for the perceived likelihood of losing a job was 17.1 percent. The average percentage of workers worldwide who said their job was not at risk was 78.6 percent.

When asked how easy or difficult it would be for the average laid-off worker to find comparable work at the same pay, 75 percent or more of workers in 15 of the 18 countries surveyed said it would be somewhat or very difficult. German (93.3 percent) and Swiss (88 percent) workers were the most pessimistic on this question. Koreans were the most confident about finding a new job: 29 percent said it would be somewhat or very easy for a laid-off worker to find a similar-paying job.

"Overall, worker confidence levels around the globe appear to be stronger than they were six months ago," said Richard J Pinola, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Right. "Even though nine countries registered an improved index and nine reported a drop, the increases were more significant than were the slight drops."

Countries that registered the most dramatic increases in worker confidence levels were: Ireland (from 44.9 to 49.9), Canada (47.6 to 52.2), the U.K. (45.7 to 50.2), Norway (56.2 to 60.2) and the United States (44.3 to 48.3).

Norway, home to the world's most confident workers, saw an impressive jump in an already high Career Confidence Index. Ninety-three percent of Norwegians said there was no possibility they would lose their jobs.