~~~Stats~~~
Employment Situation Summary
Nonfarm payroll employment continued to decline in September (-263,000), and the unemployment rate (9.8 percent) continued to trend up, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The largest job losses were in construction, manufacturing, retail trade, and government.
* Household data: Since the start of the recession in December 2007, the number of unemployed persons has increased by 7.6 million to 15.1 million, and the unemployment rate has doubled to 9.8 percent.
* Unemployment rates for the major worker groups: adult men (10.3 percent), adult women (7.8 percent), teenagers (25.9 percent), whites (9.0 percent), blacks (15.4 percent), and Hispanics (12.7 percent).
* Among the unemployed, the number of job losers and persons who completed temporary jobs rose by 603,000 to 10.4 million in September.
* The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks and over) rose by 450,000 to 5.4 million. In September, 35.6 percent of unemployed persons were jobless for 27 weeks or more.
* About 2.2 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force in September, an increase of 615,000 from a year earlier.
* Among the marginally attached, there were 706,000 discouraged workers in September, up by 239,000 from a year earlier.
Source: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm
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U.S. Employers Keeping Pay Raises Steady for 2009, Watson Wyatt Survey Finds
There is some good news for workers. U.S. companies are planning to keep pay raises steady next year, according to a forthcoming report by Watson Wyatt Worldwide, a leading global consulting firm. The survey also found that one-third of companies have not made any workforce contingency plans in the event the economy continues to falter.
Contingency Planning Activities
Activity: Percent of U.S. Employers
Layoffs: 52 %
Organizational restructure: 46 %
Hiring freeze: 39 %
Smaller salary raises: 27 %
Salary freeze: 13 %
Early retirement window: 9 %
Reduced workweek: 8 %
Source: http://www.istockanalyst.com/article/viewiStockNews/articleid/2426313
~~~Sites~~~
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Source: AIRS Sourcing Report, October 2009
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~~~Stuff~~~
Avoiding Furlough Fallout
The strategy of mandating leave without pay is now increasingly deployed by private-sector employers as well as by universities, airlines and public-sector employers-where furloughs remain common.
The number of people furloughed, or working part time for "slack work or business conditions," shot to 6.5 million in June, up from 3.7 million a year prior, according to the "July Employment Situation" report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The average workweek for production and nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls fell to 33 hours-the lowest level on record since 1964. A Watson Wyatt survey in June found that 13 percent of 179 HR executives had imposed mandatory furloughs, with another 6 percent expecting to do so in the next 12 months.
Fred Crandall, Midwest practice leader for strategic rewards at Watson Wyatt in Chicago, credits the popularity of furloughs to the unusual uncertainty of this recession. "No one knows how long and how deep this recession is. Companies are unsure of the near-term demand of their goods and services, and they don't want to be put in the position of laying off people and then turning around and having to rehire them."
Furloughs are appealing to executives who foresee short-term contraction in demand and don't want long-term damage to their human capital. But employers unfamiliar with the practice can make costly legal, retention and morale mistakes.
"Companies are doing this to preserve the human capital they need to compete," notes Crandall. "But it does no good to preserve bodies if you don't get the heart and soul and commitment from them," stated Joe Lake, director of global HR operations at Ashland Inc. in Covington, Ky. "With layoffs, it's hard to re-recruit people and to fill jobs quickly if you start growing again," Lake explains. "With pay cuts, it's hard for people to get back to what they were making. With furloughs, people get paid less for the year, but the salary for next year won't be affected."
Limit the Furlough Pain
Furloughed employees interviewed for this article suggested the following tips for making the news easier to handle:
* Communicate early and often. As soon as HR executives decide to implement a furlough, they should meet with employees face to face and follow up with online messages. Don't wait to have all the information to make the announcement, and don't withhold information, such as how to qualify for unemployment benefits.
* Within set parameters, give employees flexibility. Badger Mining Corp. lets employees choose their furlough days as long as the supervisor approves, allowing them to schedule around child care needs and vacations.
* Spread the pain. Companies instituting weeklong furloughs should check with their employment attorneys about spreading the pay loss over several future pay periods. The Campagna Center's exempt employees signed an agreement drawn up by its lawyer to deduct future wages. Nonexempt employees who worked overtime in subsequent weeks still got paid for that time.
* Accentuate the positive. Get employees to share ideas on how they are spending their time off. From working on hobbies to spending time with children to starting new business ventures, the time off can be reinvigorating.
-Adrienne Fox
For case studies, solutions/tactics for employers and employees, and a second sidebar "Make the Most of Your Furlough," read the full article at: http://www.shrm.org/Publications/hrmagazine/EditorialContent/Pages/0909fox.aspx
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