March 6, 2014 (Powerhomebiz.net)
Unemployment
Per Economist Joel Kurtzman, author of the new book Unleashing the Second American Century: Four Forces for Economic Dominance, says the high jobless rate is concentrated in people without a college education and those under 25. The unemployment rate for someone over 25 who’s college educated has held steady at around 4%.
U.S. Workers More Confident
• The future may not be so bright that it requires shades, but the outlook of U.S. workers with regard to jobs and the economy continues to follow a positive trend, according to research conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of Randstad US, a provider of HR services.
• Indeed, for the last two years, the Randstad US Employee Confidence Index, which measures worker confidence on a monthly basis, has consistently registered over 50 points.
• Meanwhile, as the economy recovers, the national unemployment rate has steadily declined, from a height of 10 percent in October 2009 to 6.7 percent in December 2013.
More Employees Quit
• The number of Americans quitting their job is on the rise, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data compiled by global outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
• Through the first eight months of 2013, approximately 2,247,000 million Americans quit their job. To put this number in perspective, in September 2009, at the height of the recession, approximately 1,601,000 million Americans voluntarily left their job.
• An improved economy has no doubt led to increased job seeker confidence. However, it’s worth noting that a person quits a job largely because of dissatisfaction.
Employee satisfaction
Employees are generally proud of the organizations for which they work and feel inspired to do their best work, according to the mid-year Workforce Talent Survey conducted by Monster.com, a leader in successfully connecting job opportunities and people. While on the surface that sounds good, delving deeper reveals some significant issues.
The survey also finds:
• Only 48% of employed workers feel that their efforts are recognized and valued by their present job, while 52 percent do not feel efforts are recognized/valued
• 6 out of 10 employed workers don’t expect to receive a raise
• Fewer than one-fourth (20 percent) of employed workers believe they will get a promotion
• A full 60% don’t believe the company is making the right investments for the future of the workforce