Workforce Development - A Good Investment?

For work needing specialized skills, there's a labor shortage, not a jobs shortage

Preparing unemployed and underskilled workers for skilled positions

The other day I got a message from Laura Johnson, over at Public/Private Ventures in NYC.  She was telling me about a new study that had come out entitled "Tuning In to Local Labor Markets: Findings from the Sectoral Employment Impact Study" available on their website.

I did a quick review of it, and from my point of view and it's an impressive study, loaded with sound thinking, backed up by empirical data, and packaged to answer any question a reader may have.  Here's a synopsis from the report.

For American workers, having a high school or general equivalency diploma (GED)—which once represented a means of entrance to the middle class—is no longer adequate for finding steady employment. In fact, three quarters of low wage workers have these qualifications but lack the relevant occupational skills and connections to employers needed to launch a career. At the same time, in some regions of the country there are persistent skills gaps clustered in particular industries, such as manufacturing and healthcare.Many of these jobs are expected to grow and require specific technical skills that can be gained only through focused training that is closely linked to the needs of local businesses.

Over the past two decades, an innovative approach to workforce development known as sectoral employment has emerged, resulting in the creation of industry-specific training programs that prepare unemployed and under-skilled workers for skilled positions and connect them with employers seeking to fill such vacancies. Based on earlier outcomes studies pointing to the promise of this strategy, Public/Private Ventures (P/PV) set out to conduct a random assignment evaluation to assess whether sector-focused programs could in fact increase the earnings of low-income, disadvantaged workers and job.

This study focused on three distinct programs across the country:

1. an employer/union association,
2. a social venture and
3. a human service organization.

These programs had strong effects for participants, including higher earnings and better jobs (as measured by hourly wages and access to benefits).

In the conclusion, of the report the authors point out that as we emerge from the Great Recession, which has disproportionately affected disadvantaged workers, these strategies and the organizations that implement them may represent a key element in America’s economic recovery—for its workers and its employers.

In other words, the playing field has changed over the past 3 years, and the understandings and approaches that we as workforce managers need to change as a result.

 

 

How this recession is hitting people differently...

Economists say the untold story of this recession is how it has devastated people in certain job and income categories, while leaving the affluent mostly alone. 
 
Among the lowest-income — roughly the minimum-wage workers — unemployment nationwide is at true Depression-era levels of 20 to 30 percent, says a report last month by the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University.

However, it's only 3 to 4 percent for those making $100,000 or more.

The report, entitled "Labor Underutilization Problems of U.S. Workers Across Household Income Groups at the End of the Great Recession: A Truly Great Depression Among the Nation’s Low Income Workers Amidst Full Employment Among the Most Affluent" tells us what this recession has wrought — mainly an even greater widening of the gap between rich and poor than we had before — isn't getting more focus from the press and political leaders is a scandal, the Northeastern University economists suggest.

"Who will tell the people?" they write at the end of their paper. "Does anybody care?"

What are the most important skills to have in a recessionary climate?

Is it important to adapt your skills to the current economic "climate"?

I'm not convinced that this is a big issue, but want to ask you, my readers what you think.

I've come to believe that if you do your stuff right, you don't need to know if there is a 'climate' somewhere - you will succeed regardless.

Over the past 30 years my experience is that the principles and best practices don't change with economic cycles, that's why they are called principles - for their independence and priority over temporary factors.

You may change your short-term tactics according to circumstances, but they will still be subordinate to your long-term strategy, which is weather-proof.

Readers, your thoughts?

Are growth-oriented cities like Houston, Phoenix and Atlanta reflective of the future of global commerce?

What makes a city great, and relatedly, attractive for people to live and work?

That is the question posed by Joel Kotkin who has studied how many city planners today focus largely on aesthetics, the arts, and the perception of being “cool.” Academics and many economic-development experts link urban success to cities’ appeal to the “creative class” of college-educated young people.

In this calculus, the traditional practice of gauging a city’s success by studying patterns of population or employment growth, or noting the opportunities available for working-class or middle-class families to flourish, rarely registers as important.

One prominent academic, Rutgers University’s Paul Gottlieb, has even offered an elegant formula for what he calls “growth without growth”—focusing on increasing per-capita incomes without expanding either population or employment. Indeed, Gottlieb suggests that successful post-industrial cities might well do best if they actually “minimize” the influx of new people and jobs.

Kotkin, an accomplished American urbanologist, writes about the organic growth of cities as they really are, rather than as he might remake them with enough tax money and firepower, is passionate about challenging traditional beliefs about our urban culture. 

Whether you are en employee or an employer, this is information that you need to be thinking about, because it will affect the size and location of today's and tomorrows workforce.

Boomers Defy Traditional Retirement Through 'Re-careering'

Although the demand for talent continues to escalate as millions of Baby Boomers reach retirement age, a growing number of these professionals are "re-careering," or changing professions mid to late in their careers, according to more than 270 international recruiters surveyed by Korn Ferry

read more | digg story

Not All Jobs Are Created Equal

I recently read an interesting report entitled: "Top 200: The Rise of Corporate Global Power" that illustrates some dimensions of todays workforce that you may find interesting in understanding the complex dynamics of today's global workforce.

While the sales of the Top 200 corporations are the equivalent of 27.5% of world economic activity, these firms employ only a tiny fraction of the world's workers. In 1999, they employed a combined total of 22,682,166 workers, which is 0.78% of the world's workforce.

Between 1983 and 1999, the number of people employed by Top 200  firms grew 14.4%, an increase that is dwarfed by the firms' 362.4% profit growth over this period.

Corporate analysts may see the dramatic increase in the ratio between profits and employees as a positive sign of increased efficiency. The growing gap between profits and payrolls is at least partly the result of technological changes that has allowed firms to produce more with less people. Automation is not always a negative development, especially in the case of jobs that are dangerous or otherwise undesirable.

However, another factor is the trend towards outsourcing, particularly among large industrial firms, but also increasingly evident in other skilled areas including engineering. By shifting more and more of their production to contractors, companies can distance themselves from potential charges of labor rights abuses and other illegal behavior and keep labor costs low by forcing contractors to compete for business with an ever smaller number of giant purchasers.

The giant firms also have more freedom to hire and fire contractors to meet shifting demand. U.S. corporations have been at the forefront of this trend.  Add this to domestic "at will employment" policies in many states, employees feel justifiably uneasy about their long-term stability.

Chrysler (formerly known as DaimlerChrsyler since the merger with Daimler Benz), for example, purchases almost all of its parts, from brakes to seats, from suppliers. Hewlett-Packard relies on 10 different contractors and IBM relies on 8 to make their products.

In recent years, Japanese electronics firms, including Mitsubishi, NEC, Fujitsu, and Sony, have also begun to outsource. Still, Americans may be less concerned about the growing gap between profits and employees because of the country's record low unemployment rate.

What is often ignored in the mainstream media is the fact that unemployment problems remain prevalent elsewhere in the world, including in many countries where the Top 200 firms are enjoying strong profits.

In the European Union, the 1999 unemployment rate was 10 percent, compared to 4.2 percent in the United States.  The International Labor Organization estimates that one billion people worldwide are unemployed or underemployed.

Joblessness around the world hurts the United States because it reduces the capacity of consumers in other countries to purchase U.S. products and can lead to social instability that has international ramifications.

It is also harder to draw a bead on how the top firms are structuring their workforces.  There is much information that U.S. firms are not required to reveal to the American public:

• a breakdown of their employees by country

• locations of overseas facilities or contractors

• wage rates paid at overseas facilities

• layoffs and the reasons for layoffs

A full 5 percent of the Top 200s' combined workforce is comprised of Wal-Mart employees. The discount retail giant's workforce has skyrocketed from 62,000 in 1983 to 1,140,000 in 1999, making it the largest private employer in the world.

The next largest, DaimlerChrysler, has a workforce of 466,938 (less than half the size of Wal-Mart's).  Think about how any change in these statistics affects the jobs reports that come out of Washington.

Although Wal-Mart is indeed providing many new jobs, the company is notorious for its strategy of employing armies of workers on a part-time basis to avoid paying benefits.

The firm is also adamantly anti-union. In March, Wal-Mart announced it was closing the meat department in 180 stores two weeks after the meat cutters at one Texas store voted to form a union the first successful organizing drive at an American Wal-Mart.

At a time when workers are increasingly uneasy about job stability and coming to the realization that often the fate of the American worker is not considered in corporate decisions, it has to make you wonder if it is a surprise that young workers coming into the workforce are exceedingly skeptical about a long-term commitment to any employer.

Can't we do better?

2007-2008 ACEC Design & Construction Industry Trends Survey

2007-2008 ACEC Design & Construction Industry Trends Survey
Available from the ACEC

The 2007-2008 Design & Construction Trends Survey is the only national A/E/C survey asking all of the incisive questions to help firms make sound management decisions.

Some of the trends in the 2007-2008 Design & Construction Industry Trends Survey include:

• Standard of Care/Client Expectations of Perfection
• Infrastructure Funding
• Delivery Systems—Popularity of Design-Build and other alternative systems
• Design Software—Popularity of Building Information Modeling
• Perceived Lack of Qualified Engineers
• Commoditization of Engineering
• Costs of Healthcare—Concerns Over Rising Costs

This survey also includes sections explaining the economic, social, and political drivers behind various markets. You will find key questions and answers to firm finance and operations, employment and training, project management, design software, and business performance as calculated from multiple perspectives.

Here where the new jobs (and job growth) will be

There's a lot projected to happen as relates to skilled jobs, according to a recent report published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Among the interesting data of this report:

WHERE THE SKILLED JOBS WILL BE
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projections of employment in 2014 suggest that apart from IT-related occupations, most other scientific, technological, engineering and mathematical (STEM) professions are expected to grow moderately, at rates similar to those for the entire U.S. labor force. Only three specific STEM occupations are expected to actually decline in employment, and all of those projected declines are quite small.
High projected growth rates (20 percent or better):

• Forensic science technicians +36%
• Medical scientists & epidemiologists (summary) +34
• Hydrologists +32
• Biomedical engineers +31
• Computer specialists (summary) +31
• Network systems & data communications analysts +55
• Computer software engineers +46
• Network & computer systems administrators +38
• Database administrators +38
• Computer systems analysts +31
• Computer & information scientists, research +26
• Computer support specialists +23
• Computer specialists, all other +19
• Environmental engineers +30
• Computer & information systems managers +26
• Environmental engineering technicians +24
• Actuaries +23
• Life scientists (summary) +21
• Market and survey researchers (summary) +20
• Other life, physical, & social science technicians +20

Low projected growth rates (five percent or less):

• Sociologists +5
• Statisticians +5
• Architectural and civil drafters +5
• Chemical technicians +4
• Historians +4
• Mathematical technicians +3
• Computer programmers +2
• Electrical and electronics drafters +1
• Petroleum engineers -0
• Mathematicians -1
• Mining & geological engineers, incl. mining safety -2

 

• WOMEN INCREASE IN THE WORKFORCE - Also of note is the projection that over the 2004-14 projection period, the number of women in the labor force is projected to grow by 10.9 percent, faster than the 9.1 percent growth projected for men. As a result, women's share of the labor force is expected to increase from 46.4 percent in 2004 to 46.8 percent by 2014.

• GROWTH OF THE HISPANIC WORK GROUP -“By 2014, the Hispanic labor force is expected to reach 25.8 million, due to faster population growth resulting from a younger population, higher fertility rates, and increased immigration levels.
  
  Despite relatively slow growth, whites will remain the largest group, composing 80.2 percent of the labor force. Blacks will constitute 12.0 percent of the labor force. Asians will continue to be the fastest growing race group, climbing to 5.1 percent of the labor force in 2014.

and finally, a topic we've covered extensively both on this blogspace as well as my speaking engagements around the country:

• CHANGES IN THE MAKEUP OF THE LABOR FORCE -The labor force will change in composition, as a result of changes in both the composition of the population and in the rates of labor force participation across demographic groups. The projected labor force growth will be affected by the aging of the baby-boom generation — persons born between 1946 and 1964.
  
  In 2014, baby-boomers will be ages 50 to 68 years, and this age group will grow significantly over the 2004-2014 period. The labor force will continue to age, with the number of workers in the 55-and-older group projected to grow by 49.1 percent, nearly five times the 10 percent growth projected for the overall labor force. Youths between the ages of 16 and 24.will decline in numbers and lose share of the labor force, from 15.1 percent in 2004 to 13.7 percent in 2014.
  
  Prime-age workers. those between the ages of 25 and 54 also will lose share of the labor force, from 69.3 percent in 2004 to 65.2 percent in 2014. The 55-and-older age group, on the other hand, is projected to gain share of the labor force, from 15.6 percent to 21.2 percent.

Could Mom and Dad help keep young workers in the workplace?

Economists predict that a glut of job openings will wreak havoc on the economy, not to mention happy hour.
There have been plenty of blue-ribbon panels, forums and focus groups to address this issue, but none has answered the basic question: How do we persuade the best and brightest to stick around and help solve this looming worker shortage?

read more | digg story

Is Fraud or Incompetence Now a Skillset?

I am an avid reader of CFO magazine, an award-winning Economist Group publication, dedicated to providing relevant insights to senior financial executives around the world. Reaching an international audience of over one million corporate decision makers each month through specialized events, conferences and research, it is a highly credible "microscope" into the complex world of corporate finance.

Just for grins, I went back into the first three (3) weeks of headlines for September 2007 and discovered the following:

• Apple's Jobs Was Subpoenaed, Report Says
• Ex-CFO Says He Won't Be the "Fall Guy"
• Del. Court Slaps Staples on Backdating
• Retiree Miscount Leads to Restatement
• Quest's Quest for More Backdating Errors
• German conglomerate, embroiled in scandal
• Wachovia Sued over Drink Company's Spill
• Dynegy Settles Charges with Pensioners
• UTStarcom to Redo China Revenue Report
• Mentor to Fraud? Two Former Execs Settle
• SEC Charges Hedge Fund Head over PIPEs
• SEC Aims to Clean Up Grocery Spill
• Dried Dough: Krispy Kreme's Woes
• Fairchild Dumps KPMG
• CTRL-ALT-DELETE: Dell Frozen, Restarting
• Former HealthSouth CFO Back in Court
• Grand Theft Auto, for Real
• The Morality Play
• Shareholders Cry Foul in Calpine Plan
• Former CFO of a high-end car dealer is accused of embezzlement
• Ex-Controller Settles Fraud Case
• Unregistered Auditors Busted by SEC
• SEC Takes Aim at Ex-Nortel Finance Execs
• CFOs' Optimism Plummets to Six-Year Low
• CSC Tax Review Uncovers Years of Errors
• Wireless Company's CFO Takes a Leap
• Ace Discovers $154M Inventory Error
• Finite-risk Probe Halts Assurant Buyback
• Couple Guilty in "Pillow-talk" Case
• Top Exec Steps Down from FASB Parent
• Macau Gambling Plan Loses $1B in Loans
• Saks Settles SEC Vendor-Allowance Suit
• Motive Inc. Restates, Looks for Auditor
• Did Fake Purchase Orders Oust CFO?
• Overhill Farms CFO Goes over the Fence
• Internal Probe Stalls Retailer's Filings
• CEO Put on Leave Following Audit
• Uncollectibles Force SEC Settlement
• Internal Probe Stalls Children's Place Filings

I couldn't believe it - almost 40 headlines IN 21 DAYS showcasing matters relating to corporate fraud or incompetence (or both).

Makes me wonder?  Is fraud or mismanagement of company assets becoming a "corporate value?"  The headlines over three weeks would seem to indicate that is the case?  Has greed overtaken "core values" as being more desirable for workers than working hard, protecting company assets and keeping the customer satisfied?

Is the "I got mine" mentality, where managers and executives put their own self interest ahead of the employees, customers and shareholders leading to higher levels of frustration in the business world resulting in the attitude of "what the hell, everybody else is doing it?"

If this phenomenon is occurring on an increasingly widespread basis, what effect does this have on Workforce Development?  Do frustrated competent and honest workers leave for places they perceive as better or more ethical?  Does it become harder to attract and recruit top talent, when a cloud (either publicized or not) hangs over the business/organization?  Or do the "opportunists" flock to the firms being investigated in the hopes that they can profit from the "birds of a feather" mentality?

Readers - what do you say?

Its All About the Talent

FMI Corp's,  Ron Magnus, who heads their Talent Development division dropped me an email recently, alerting me to a new Construction Industry report on Talent Development that FMI has just published.

By 2008, it's an accepted fact that a wealth of skills and experience will disappear from the job market as the first members of the Baby Boom generation reach average retirement age. Talent development will become a critical strategic objective and differentiator for any competitive organization.

Magnus reaffirms that in order to remain successful in the knowledge-based, global economy building and construction firms must continually invest in their human capital. 

1. This is a great report, well worth your time, in a easy to read format. Click here Download USTReport2007.pdf for a copy. 

 

Why Do Women Only Represent 9% of the Engineering Workforce?

A report published by the American Society for Engineering Education paints a picture that should concern for all Americans.  While women represent 56% of  total U.S. undergraduate enrollment across all fields of study, Undergraduate engineering enrollment, is only 17% of the total at 366,361 in 2005, according to the ASEE study

Today, women represent only 9% of the Engineering workforce. 

There's a lot of good programs underway to turn this situation.  Women-in-engineering (WIE) programs, and the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) student chapters, other support mechanisms provide:

•   Outreach/ K-12 education
•   Learning and/or living communities
•   Forums for discussing concerns/questions
•   Connection with role models in academia, industry, government
•   Mentoring (peer and professional-student)
•   Advising
•   Professional development and career guidance

It's premature to call this game before all of the innings have played out.  Never before have the prospects for women in engineering been better, nor have there been a stronger advocacy and support system available.  Let's get the word out.

The Engineering Workforce Commission also cites decreasing female enrollments since 2001; enrollment numbers remain virtually unchanged since 1984, and although Doctoral degrees have recently increased, these gains are being undercut by decreasing B.S. enrollments in Engineering.

Ladies, Thinking About an Engineering Career? Here's Some Research

Anay over at Introduction to Womens Studies has done her homework !  I think you'll find the data she's uncovered interesting and helpful

read more | digg story

Stopping the Evaporation of Graduate Women Engineers

There's a wealth of information and resources that are available to facilitate young women that are seeking to enter the engineering discipline.

The following is a partial list of sources you may wish to investigate:


    Women in Engineering Programs and Advocates Network (WEPAN):

The mission of WEPAN is to be a “catalyst, advocate, and leading resource for institutional and national change that will result in the full participation of women in engineering”.

Society of Women Engineers (SWE): 

The mission of SWE is to “stimulate women to achieve full potential in careers as engineers and leaders, expand the image of the engineering profession as a positive force in improving the quality of life, and demonstrate the value of diversity.”

Yearly women in engineering literature reviews available

Assessing Women and Men in Engineering

Excellent annotated bibliographies, literature overviews

American Society for Engineering Education

Publishes Journal of Engineering Education, Prism Magazine, Engineering Colleges Profiles and Statistics, ASEE conference proceedings

Frontiers in Education conference proceedings

MentorNet: national electronic mentoring program

I've personally interacted with most of these organizations and can vouch for their passion and understanding of how to get more graduate engineers out of the "engineer pipeline"

Check them out!

Tougher US immigration leading to 'reverse brain-drain': study

The huge backlog in US immigration visas is leading to a "reverse brain-drain" that will force skilled workers to return to their home country, a report released Wednesday concludes.

read more | digg story

“Hidden” Costs of Turnover Can Greatly Exceed Numerical Calculations

Finding data on the cost of turnover is easy – many researchers have been able to quantify hard-dollar costs of losing valued employees.

However, many costs occur that can’t be assigned dollar amounts. These “costs’ can far outweigh the traditional, hard-dollar calculations – and organizations are incurring huge, unseen losses productivity, customer satisfaction, reputation among job-seekers and, significantly, in the morale of the departing employee’s co-workers.

When we take into account that about three-quarters of employees polled by the Society of Human Resource Management and the Wall Street Journal’s CareerJournal.com said they are looking for a job (according to information released by the Institute of Management and Administration in 2007), the costs of turnover can be nearly crippling to organizational finances and marketplace position.

Consider these examples, looking at the hard dollars incurred that result from unwanted turnover as determined by research studies plus the costs that can’t be measured precisely:

• Average employee turnover is 14.4% annually, according to the Bureau of National Affairs. And, turnover rates are on the rise, the Bureau now reports; turnover also varies widely among different industries.
  
  Yet, we can’t measure the blow to morale and increased job stress when remaining employees are burdened with the distribution of the departed employee’s workload. We also can’t always determine the negative impact on customer service.

• Replacement costs for a departing employee are estimated at one-third of his or her salary. Even at the former minimum wage, the cost to replace an employee is $3,700. The US Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates average costs to replace a worker in private industry at $13,996. (To determine an organization’s annual turnover costs, simply multiply turnover cost by the number of annual new hires.*)
  
  We can’t measure the future turnover of employees who are lured to other organizations by their friends who have departed. With all organizations in an industry competing for talent, informal networks are powerful resources for job seekers and friends often follow colleagues to other employers.

• The cost to replace a registered nurse is 1.2 to1.3 times his or her salary, which is substantially higher than for most other times of workers. We can’t measure the damage to an organization’s reputation when customer service falters due to low staffing levels. When customers are unhappy, research shows they’ll tell their stories to more people than they’ll share a tale of good service.
  
  Additionally, the current nursing shortage means that those remaining will have higher caseloads, possibly face mandatory overtime and incur greater job stress – all contributors, according to the research, to nursing turnover. Nearly half of all nurses under age 52 have said they expect to change jobs within five years.

• A 3,000-employee organization with average salaries of $45,000 that reduces turnover by just 1% can save $1.3 million, according to the Voluntary Hospitals of America.
  
  We can’t measure how employees feel when an admired, valued co-worker chooses to leave the organization. People naturally begin to consider their own options.

• Estimates have determined that lost knowledge that leaves with the departing employee can be as high as 50% of the exiting employee’s salary for one year of service; and, this figure grows by 10% for each year of employment.
  
  We can’t measure how many new ideas and innovations each employee might generate in the future to help the company. Nor can we determine his or her potential to be promoted to higher-level roles and leadership positions.

• On average, 30% of a financial advisor’s clients will move with their advisor if he or she changes firms.
  
  We can’t measure customer loyalty to staff. Customer loyalty often is people loyalty: Customers trust and build relationships with their contacts, often more so than to the organization. Out the door go not only the confidence in this employee, but future referrals from the employee’s loyal customers.

One element that can't be understated is the importance of building trust. 

James Kouzes and Barry Posner who authored the RedVector online course entitled
Leadership Challenge : Enable Others to Act cite the benefits that come to an organization when this is done.  The course poses some very insightful questions to learners:

• Do you appreciate the benefits of collaboration and encourage this in your workplace?
• How many leaders truly understand how to create an atmosphere of trust, which is the most significant predictor of individuals’ satisfaction with their organizations?
• Does existing management appreciate the value of quality listening?
• Who well does your organization understand the concept of positive interdependence and norms of reciprocity?
• Do you currently encourage face-to-face interactions in this age of technological communication?
• How well have you developed your own social skills and awareness of these skills in others?

The authors cite that the best work occurs when more than one person contributes, so this course will show leaders how to create a climate of trust and facilitate positive interdependence in order to maximize the potential for collaboration. One of your primary goals should also be the strengthening of others, so that they are empowered to do their personal best.

Increasingly, these skills are seen as essential, but organizations lacking these skills can see increased turnover, even when seeming to do all of the "technical" things correctly.

Readers, care to weigh in on this?

Statistics vs. Real Life

A recent article in Parade magazine discusses a concern about the "real" basis of government published workforce statistics.

The article cites:
Many Americans feel that government statistics don’t match their daily experience. “Inflation seems worse than official reports indicate,” says Arden Davis, who made $94,300 teaching geological engineering at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology last year. His view is widely shared. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) says inflation is low, but the cost of necessities like housing, utilities, health insurance and education is rising faster than wages for most Americans. “ The CPI is heavily influenced by the wealthy, who do most of the spending,” explains Zandi.

The Parade article continues, “It doesn’t reflect the budget of most Americans.” Gary Earl Ross, who earned $64,900 as an English professor and author in Buffalo, N.Y., agrees: “Any wage increase I’ve gotten is offset by increases in the cost of living,” he says, “and in the fall I’ll have two kids in college.” Marie Ouano made $75,000 last year performing X-ray and MRI exams as a radiology technician but says housing in San Francisco is so expensive, she’s not sure she can afford to buy a home on one income.

This has always interested me.  The CPI, against which many published economy statistics are grounded, generally excludes costs of housing, food, and energy costs, which have all been rising as of late. 

Does this make sense?

Report on America’s Dynamic Workforce

A report is now available, entitled America’s Dynamic Workforce: 2006, which "presents an overview of current conditions and notable trends affecting the American labor market and economic activity

This report is published by the office of the Assistant Secretary for policy at the U.S. Department of Labor

Highlights of America’s Workforce

Periodically the office of the Assistant Secretary for policy at the U.S. Department of Labor publishes market updates.  One recent publication, a workforce "factsheet" highlights the state of the American workforce.  The report provides current trends that illustrate the state of the economy and workforce.  It's a good report and well worth the read.

Why is aging of the workforce significant to employers?

Demographers have presented a compelling case: the 21 st century workforce is – and increasingly will be – different from the workforce of the last century. One important change is the aging of the workforce, a trend expected to continue for several decades. Labor force economists expect significant increases in the percentages of workers 55 and older who will be in the labor force by 2012.

The National Study Report,a research product of The National Study of Business Strategy and Workforce Development authored by Marcie Pitt-Catsouphes, Ph.D., Michael A. Smyer, Ph.D., Christina Matz-Costa, and Katherine Kane, looks deeply into the internal dynamics of workforce analysis and planning, and provides a rich and current set of options for employers to refer to when trying to make sense of today's dynamic workforce.

Employers increasingly understand that the success of their businesses often reflect the adaptations they make to new trends and changes occurring both inside and outside of their organizations. The reports shows conclusively how the “right” adaptations made “just-in-time” may produce competitive advantages; adaptations that are “not enough” or that occur “too late” could result in unanticipated vulnerabilities.

US corporate learning services market to reach $9.8 Billion by 2012

Research firm Ambient Insight, announced that the US Corporate learning services market will reach $9.8 Billion by 2012.  This article provides a link to a free pdf if you would like to get an overview of their research

read more | digg story

Blog :Global Labor Strategies

Global Labor Strategies an advocacy blog containing both accepted as well as highly controversial discussion of ideas and resources for the global labor movement caught my attention recently.  It is an excellent resource on what's happening in the organized labor community, and provides good insights on policies and activities of "players" in the global labor marketplace.  Stuff that we all need to stay on top of.

The authors include Tim Costello who has over 40 years of work and union experience in the area. He helped organize and served as Coordinator of the Boston based North American Alliance for Fair Employment, Brendan Smith is a legal expert (J.D. Cornell University Law School) specializing in national and international labor law and policy.  He is currently co-director of the UCLA Law School Globalization and Labor Standards Project, Jeremy Brecher a leading labor historian, writer, and documentary script writer who has for more than two decades collaborated with Costello in research and publishing numerous books about labor and globalization, and Claudia Torrelli of Montevideo, Uruguay. who handles GLS’s Latin American network, an activist the in labor—community based Hemispheric Social Alliance, and in other social movement organizations in Latin America.

In this blog, you will find insights not readily available elsewhere.  For example, a recent article "Why Labor Can and Should Lead a Reassessment of Approaches to China"  examines the role of the U.S. labor movement in the reassessment of approaches to China.

Great blog and excellent overall resource on this important aspect of todays global workforce.

Tackling engineering, construction skills a challenge, says report

Restoring or replacing the pipeline that produces the range of skills needed by the construction and engineering industry presents a comprehensive challenge. This was the "overwhelming" conclusion of an investigation into skills for infrastructure delivery by the Construction Industry Development Board

read more | digg story

When Taxes Drive Away Workers

Since I left upstate NY in the 70's due to cold weather and oppressive tax burdens (business and personal), the state has become even more economically unattractive to resident and non-resident workers.  Unless something changes, it will continue to struggle to find and retain the "best and the brightest"

This is also the thought of I can't Wait to Leave an article posted on The Knickerbocker Blog, a production of The Business Council of New York State, Inc. a group seeking to publish economic data, educate policymakers, and advocate ways to make the Empire State more attractive to businesses and workers.  They have their work cut out for them.

Despite its many and varied charms, New York is shrinking. The state lost 26,000 residents from July 2004 to July 2005. That's as if everyone is Saratoga Springs vanished.

That's a lot of resources to lose and it doesn't bode well for the future. Along with losing personal clout, the state will lose representation in Congress, if this trend continues.

The Business Council of New York State cites high taxes as the likely reason people are fleeing the state. No matter how nice a place is, people need to be able to pay the rent or mortgage with something left over for themselves or their families.

With tax season coming up, it's chilling to realize that New York's state and local tax burden is the highest in the nation at $4,645 per person. Florida and Texas have respective tax bites that are about $2,000 less. Not surprisingly, both gained population while New York lost it.

. . . .

Training talent critical to workforce development

Global trends indicate that economies, and companies, are developing knowledge-based business cultures. It is therefore becoming increasingly important that organisations measure themselves – not only in terms of profitability and turnover, nor product diversification and market share – but in terms of the fundamental cornerstone of business: people.”

According to CRF’s HR Benchmark™, the scientific research survey used to determine the best employers in the eight countries in which CRF operates, the current global business environment is characterised by an increasing war for talent. CRF maintains that human resource management and strategy is fast becoming the key organisational differentiator in this ‘war’.

As such, companies need to continually look for new measures to interpret their effectiveness in attracting top talent in the market, and retaining and investing in their A-perfomers.

“One of the primary aspects highlighted in the HR Benchmark™ is how companies manage talent in terms of training. 

“Over 30 percent of the leading employers that participated in the 2006 survey view training as a highly important facet in maximising the talents of their employees, and ultimately the success of their business. 

“Traditional training is still in place, but the introduction of ‘soft’ training programmes such as mentoring, emotional intelligence and coaching is becoming increasingly popular to develop graduates and executives,” says Baalbergen.

“What we found particularly interesting is that a quarter of respondents prefer to outsource their training. This indicates to us that the corporate view on staff training is become increasingly focused as they prefer professional trainers to inject real muscle into traditional in-house training methods,” continues Baalbergen.

Sierk Baalbergen, CRF Country Manager says, “The war for talent is on – this is a statement that is heard time and again in boardrooms around the world. Global trends indicate that economies, and companies, are developing knowledge-based business cultures. It is therefore becoming increasingly important that organisations measure themselves – not only in terms of profitability and turnover, nor product diversification and market share – but in terms of the fundamental cornerstone of business: people.”

“We also found that less than 5 percent of all surveyed organisations see HR as a key driver of internal skills growth. That, of course, presents one explanation as to why 25 percent choose to outsource their training function.

“However, it also indicates an ongoing lack of confidence companies have in their internal ability to properly manage talent. On the positive side, this does reveal that companies recognise the value of training as a business driver and it is this that compels these companies to seek out professionals to assist them.

Workin' Hard For Your Money - Engineer Salary Survey

Design News has released their annual Engineering Salary Survey. The survey results show low turnover, an average salary of $73,000, and an average 3% salary increase. Survey takers also responded that they're performing a wider range of job functions than in the past.

read more | digg story

Companies Unprepared for CFO Exodus

The high turnover rate for chief financial officers isn’t likely to change anytime soon, and based on a recent survey of CFOs by audit firm Grant Thornton, few companies have plans to deal with it.

The national survey of 134 CFOs and senior finance executives found that nearly one-third of the respondents planned on retiring or leaving their companies in the next three years. Somewhat alarming to Grant Thornton CEO Edward Nusbaum was the fact that three-quarters of the executives surveyed said their companies did not have established succession plans for the key post.

“No one wins if you’re caught off guard by the departure of your CFO,” Nusbaum said in an e-mail. “Companies will want to bring renewed focus to the pivotal role of CFO, and if they don’t have a succession plan, begin to put one in place.”

The survey included several interesting findings on career and compensation questions:

• Fifty-six percent of respondents eventually want to be CEO of a company, but not necessarily their own.
• Nearly 60 percent felt their CEOs were appropriately paid, with only a slightly higher percentage thinking he or she was overpaid rather than underpaid.
• Sixty-two of the 134 respondents felt that the gap between their compensation and that of their CEOs was too large, suggesting that many believed they were being underpaid based on their answers to the previous question. Another 62 felt the pay difference with their CEOs was “about right,” and just five executives felt the gap between their pay and that of their CEOs was too small.

 

Pay and Promotion not key motivators anymore

American workers are growing increasingly unhappy with their jobs, The Conference Board reported late February. Today, less than half of all Americans say they are satisfied with their jobs, down from 61 percent 20 years ago. 

This report is based on a representative sample of 5,000 U.S. households, conducted for the New York-based global research group The Conference Board by TNS, a leading market information company.

Respondents rated bonus plans and promotion policies as the least satisfactory benefits of employment, with less than 23 percent claiming they are satisfied with their company's policies. Satisfaction is also low for performance review processes, workload, work/life balance, communication channels and potential for future growth.

Today's newest entrants to the workforce are the least satisfied with their jobs. Only less than 39 percent of workers under the age of 25 are satisfied with their employment situation.

The decline in satisfaction is not just concentrated among younger workers. Satisfaction levels among all workers, regardless of age, income or even residence, have deteriorated in recent years, according to the report.

"Although a certain amount of dissatisfaction with one's job is to be expected, the breadth of dissatisfaction is somewhat unsettling, since it carries over from what attracts employees to a job to what keeps them motivated and productive on the job," said Lynn Franco, Director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center.

"Perhaps, this is why two out of every ten employees does not see himself in his current job a year from now," said Lynn Franco.

Gen X May Struggle to Fill Baby Boomers' Shoes

Generation X managers may struggle to fill Baby Boomers' shoes as they retire over the next 10 years and company leadership transitions to the younger group, according to new research, involving 24,000 midlevel managers found that while both groups were able to meet performance outcomes, they arrived at them very differently

read more | digg story

Workforce Employment Trends - A New Look

Agora Financial produces an excellent newsletter that I read religiously called "Whiskey and Gunpowder". One of their recent articles covered Employment Trends and contains loads of information and graphs that will put the dynamics of todays complex labor market and economy into clearer perspective.

I highly recommend it.  Let me know what you think...

Calling All Job Haters - You are not alone !

Bronwyn Mauldin's excellent workforce blog "Workforce Developments" has published an insightful piece entitled "Hate your job? Join the club"  that cites research from the Conference Board that just issued results of a survey that finds job satisfaction has plummeted over the past twenty years. Less than half of all Americans are satisfied with their jobs today.

Less than 23% of workers are satisfied with bonus plans and promotion policies, and less than 30% of workers are satisfied with educational and job training programs.

Check out the article and the references cited.

My own personal experiences as a author and consultant seem to confirm this situation.  The most common thing I hear complaints about are the inconsistent ways that employers relate to their workforce.  This is not saying that employers are putting thought and investment into training and salary / bonus issues.  It seems to me that the employer market is unable to relate to the current reality of 4-5 generations in the workforce and that the younger generations expect different things and are motivated differently (read - you can't manage people the way you did 10-15 years ago)

2007 Construction Market Forecast

Just published by Construction Equipment magazine with fresh outlook data for 2007.
Download cex070102_construction_outlook_2007.pdf