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HR Bulletin July 9, 2010

The July 2010 issue of HR News magazine (4.7 MB) is now online.
The Summer 2010 issue of Public Personnel Management (2.3 MB) is available online.
Press releases on the IPMA-HR Web site may be accessed here.
To access archived issues of the HR Bulletin, click here; you must be a member of IPMA-HR in order to access these archived issues.

Social Security Averages 40 Percent of Income of Elderly

WASHINGTON – Social Security was the largest source of income for those currently age 65 and older, accounting for nearly 40 percent of their income on average, in 2008, according to a study released recently by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI).

However, the importance of Social Security varied widely, with the lowest income group very heavily dependent on the federal retirement program compared with those who have high incomes.

The study, published in the June EBRI Notes, is based on 2008 data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s annual March Current Population Survey (see pg. 7 of the report for details on CPS methodology). Here are some of the main points:

Median income: Real median income (midpoint, 50 percent above and 50 percent below) of those age 65 and older reached $18,001 in 2008, the highest in the Census Bureau time series. This was an increase from $13,264 (in constant 2009 dollars) in 1974 and $17,085 in 2004.

Sources of income: Overall, Social Security accounted on average for 39.8 percent of the income of those 65 and older in 2008. Pension and annuities was 19.7 percent, income from assets was 13.0 percent, and income from earnings was 25.6 percent.

Distribution of income: Nearly all individuals (89.2 percent) age 65 and older were receiving income from Social Security, while 55.3 percent received income from assets, 35.4 received income from pensions and annuities, and 20.4 percent received income from earnings.

The study also showed the wide differences in sources of income by income level:

Lowest income quintile (less than $8,956 in 2008): Social Security, 88.4 percent; assets, 4.0 percent; pensions and annuities, 3.4 percent; earnings, 2.0 percent; other, 2.3 percent.

Highest income quintile (more than $38,468 in 2008): Earnings, 39.3 percent; pensions and annuities, 22.6 percent; Social Security, 18.6 percent; assets, 17.7 percent; other, 1.8 percent.

In addition, the study showed differences in the composition of income by gender. For example, Social Security accounted for 48.4 percent of elderly women’s income in 2008, compared with 33.7 percent of elderly men’s income. And pensions and annuities accounted for 21.8 percent of elderly men’s income, compared with 16.8 percent of elderly women’s.

EBRI is a private, nonprofit research institute based in Washington, D.C., that focuses on health, savings, retirement, and economic security issues. EBRI does not lobby and does not take policy positions.

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House of Representatives Passes Mandatory Collective Bargaining

By a vote of 239 to 182 the House of Representatives passed mandatory collective bargaining for public safety officers. The vote came late in the day on July 1. The bill was added as an amendment to H.R. 4899, the supplemental appropriations bill which provides additional funds for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as disaster relief dollars.

The mandatory bargaining bill, H.R. 413, S. 3194, known as the Public Safety Employer Employee Cooperation Act, would require all states and localities to engage in collective bargaining with their law enforcement officers, firefighters and EMTs. The Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) would be tasked with deciding if a state’s laws comply with the federal law and with drafting and enforcing regulations for those states deemed not in compliance.

A sample letter that can be sent to senators opposing the bill is available on the IPMA-HR Web site.

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Jobs Declined in June

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that the economy lost 125,000 jobs in June and the unemployment rate fell to 9.5 percent. There was an increase of 83,000 private sector jobs in June. The jobs report was adversely affected by a decrease of 225,000 temporary employees working on the 2010 census. State government lost 2,000 jobs. Education jobs in state government fell by 4,000 jobs while state government, excluding education, increased by 2,700 jobs. Local government employment fell by 8,000 jobs, with education jobs at local government decreasing by 500 jobs and all other local government jobs falling by 7,800. According to the New York Times, over the past 12 months, local government employment is down 175,000 jobs.

The percentage of labor underutilization in June was 16.6 percent. The underutilization rate consists of the percentage of unemployed, marginally attached to the labor force (those neither working nor looking for work but who indicate that they want and are available for a job), and those working part-time who want to work full-time. Additional information is available here.

The Pew Charitable Trusts reported that since the recession began 30 months ago, 55 percent of all adults in the labor force say that they have suffered unemployment, a cut in pay, a reduction in hours or have become involuntary part-time workers. The survey found that 32 percent of adults in the labor force have been unemployed for a period of time during the recession. More than half believe that the U.S. economy is still in a recession. More than 60 percent say they have cut back on their spending, with almost half saying they are in worse financial shape since the recession began. A third of adults say they are not confident that they will have enough income and assets to finance their retirement, and this is up from 25 percent who said that in February 2009. The full report is available here.

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Job Market in Second Half of 2010 to Stay the Course, According to Quarterly Job Forecast from CareerBuilder and USA TODAY

CHICAGO – Hiring in the second half of 2010 is likely to mirror the first half, according to CareerBuilder and USA TODAY’s latest nationwide survey of employers. Forty-one percent of hiring managers plan to hire in the months of July through December. One-in-five plan to hire full-time, permanent employees in the third quarter, similar to the previous two quarters. The survey was conducted by Harris Interactive from May 18 to June 3, 2010. More than 2,500 hiring managers and human resource professionals and 4,400 workers across industries participated.

“Employers began recruiting at a moderate, but consistent pace in the first half of 2010 as confidence levels inched upward amidst a better global financial picture,” said Matt Ferguson, CEO of CareerBuilder. “The economic recovery has broadened, but employers remain guarded. The survey indicates that we’ll see sustainable new job growth through the remainder of the year, but it will be absent of any dramatic shifts.”

Employers are primarily focused on preserving clientele and fueling new revenue opportunities, and are recruiting for the following functional areas first:

  1. Customer Service (25 percent of hiring managers)
  2. Sales (22 percent)
  3. IT (18 percent)
  4. Administrative (13 percent)
  5. Business Development (10 percent)
  6. Accounting/Finance (10 percent)
  7. Three Trends for the Second Half of 2010
  1. Emerging Jobs – Employers are also looking for personnel to fill emerging positions that are relatively new to the workforce. Twenty-four percent reported they are recruiting for jobs focused on areas such as social media, green energy, cyber security, global relations and healthcare reform.
  2. Changing Jobs – Employers are implementing measures to retain top performers. Looking at a subset of human resource managers, 56 percent fear that their top talent will leave their organizations as the U.S. produces more jobs. Their concern is substantiated with 29 percent of workers planning to change jobs once the economy improves.
  3. Shortage of Skilled Labor- One-in-five employers (22 percent) reported that, despite an abundant labor pool, they still have positions for which they can’t find qualified candidates. Nearly half (48 percent) of HR managers reported there is a shortage of skills within their organizations with IT, Customer service and communications being the areas with the greatest deficit. Among industries, healthcare employers were the most likely to report a skills deficit with 63 percent of HR professionals in large healthcare organizations stating they have a shortage of qualified workers.

Hiring in Q2 2010
The amount of employers who added full-time, permanent headcount in the second quarter was slightly ahead of what was originally forecasted in the survey, continuing a trend of actual hiring beating projected hiring. Twenty-four percent of employers reported they increased their full-time, permanent staff in the second quarter. This is up from 18 percent year over year and up one percent from last quarter. Eleven percent decreased headcount, an improvement from 17 percent last year and 12 percent last quarter. Sixty-four percent reported no change in their number of full-time, permanent employees while one percent were undecided.

Hiring in Q3 2010
Twenty-one percent of employers plan to augment their full-time permanent headcount in the third quarter while eight percent expect to downsize staffs. Sixty-five percent anticipate no change while six percent are undecided. Looking at actual hiring for the third quarter in 2009, 18 percent of employers reported they had hired full-time, permanent staff while 15 percent decreased headcount.

Hiring By Region in Q3 2010
There isn’t a significant difference among regions in terms of anticipated staff expansions for the third quarter. Twenty-two percent of employers in the West plan to add full-time, permanent workers compared to 21 percent in the Northeast and Midwest and 20 percent in the South.

In terms of staff reductions, the Northeast has the highest number of employers (10 percent) anticipating a decrease in headcount in the third quarter. The South follows at eight percent, Midwest at seven percent and West at five percent.

Compensation in Q3 2010
Fifteen percent of employers reported they instituted pay cuts at their organizations in the last 12 months. Of these employers, 28 percent were restoring pay levels in the first half of the year, 18 percent in the latter half and 25 percent in 2011 and 2012. Twenty-nine percent were unsure if and when pay would be restored to previous levels.

Looking at compensation in the third quarter specifically, 42 percent of employers anticipate no change in salary levels. Thirty-seven percent expected there will be an increase of one to three percent. Twelve percent expect their average changes will be between four and 10 percent and one percent predict an increase of 11 percent or more. Three percent anticipate a decrease in salaries.

The Worker’s Perspective
As the nation moves toward greater financial health, workers are re-evaluating their employment situations. Twenty-five percent of workers reported they have a worse opinion of their employer in the wake of the recession, 14 percent have a better opinion and 61 percent stayed the same.

Twenty-nine percent of workers plan to pursue new job opportunities when the economy shows more improvement. Twenty-five percent of all workers expect to leave their organizations in the next 12 months.

Several factors influenced these decisions. Thirty percent of workers attributed their desire to leave their organizations to factors related to the recession such as feeling over-worked, feeling the climate changed in their work environment and harboring resentment over other workers being laid off. One-third of workers (33 percent) reported they feel overqualified for their current jobs and 23 percent stated that a lack of interesting work was one of the main motivators for changing employers.

When asked what their employers could do to retain them as employees, workers first pointed to increased compensation. If their employers weren’t in a position to elevate salary levels, the top thing that workers said would inspire them to stay with their organizations is employee recognition. This was followed by the company setting realistic performance expectations and manageable workloads, and the company taking the time to evaluate their potential and discuss career paths. Investments in training and the company showing an ability to adapt were also cited.

Note: Totals may not equal 100 percent due to rounding.

Survey Methodology
This survey was conducted online within the U.S. by Harris Interactive on behalf of CareerBuilder and USA TODAY among 2,534 hiring managers and human resource professionals (employed full-time; not self-employed; non-government; with at least significant involvement in hiring decisions) and 4,498 U.S. workers (employed full-time; not self-employed; non-government, ages 18 and over) between May 18 and June 3, 2010 (percentages for some questions are based on a subset, based on their responses to certain questions). With a pure probability sample of 2,534 and 4,498, one could say with a 95 percent probability that the overall results have a sampling error of +/- 1.95 and +/- 1.46 percentage points, respectively. Sampling error for data from subsamples is higher and varies.

CareerBuilder is a leader in human capital solutions, helping companies target and attract their most important asset—their people. CareerBuilder works with employers, providing resources for everything from employment branding and data analysis to recruitment support. Owned by Gannett Co., Inc., Tribune Company, The McClatchy Company and Microsoft Corp., CareerBuilder and its subsidiaries operate in the United States, Europe, Canada and Asia.

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IPMA-HR’s Assessment Department is on YouTube!

IPMA-HR has accountants, an executive director, and now…a comic named Michael. He’s here to bring the fun back in to validation. He’ll explain what’s involved in participating in IPMA-HR’s validation efforts. We want to provide you with new tests, and we can’t do it without your help. Please watch…and tell all your friends! Click here to view the new YouTube channel.

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IPMA-HR Offering “Ronald Gabriel New HR Professionals’ Conference Scholarship”

The International Public Management Association for Human Resources (IPMA-HR) is pleased to announce the establishment of the Ronald Gabriel New HR Professionals’ Conference Scholarship, in memory of the late Ronald Gabriel, a longtime IPMA-HR member who left a bequest to the Association.

IPMA-HR will be offering two Ronald Gabriel scholarships for the 2010 International Training Conference for new HR professionals. To be eligible for this scholarship, an individual needs to be an IPMA-HR member—either an individual member or a covered staff member (CSM) of an IPMA-HR agency member—and have less than five years of HR experience. The value of each scholarship is up to $2,000, which can be used for conference-related hotel, travel, and meal expenses.

The 2010 International Training Conference will be held October 2-6, 2010, at the Sheraton Seattle Hotel in Seattle. The deadline for the receipt of scholarship applications is July 23, 2010.

Completed applications should be submitted to Jessica Allen, Director of Membership & Professional Development, IPMA-HR, either by mail, at 1617 Duke Street, Alexandria, VA 22314; fax, at (703) 684-0948; or e-mail, at jallen@ipma-hr.org.

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On the Calendar

July 13-16
Developing Competencies for HR Success
Alexandria, VA
Contact IPMA-HR Professional Development and Research Coordinator Heather Corbin at hcorbin@ipma-hr.org, or click here for more information.

July 18
Seminar: Job Analysis
In conjunction with the 2010 IPAC Conference.
Newport Beach, Calif.
Contact IPMA-HR Professional Development and Research Coordinator Heather Corbin at hcorbin@ipma-hr.org or click here for more information.

August 25
Online Course
Developing Competencies for HR Success

September 19-22, 2010
Eastern Region Conference
Adlephi, Md.

September 22
Online Course
Developing Competencies for HR Success

October 2-6, 2010
2010 International Training Conference & Expo
Sheraton Seattle Hotel & Towers
Seattle, Wash.
Contact IPMA-HR Director of Membership and Professional Development Jessica Allen at jallen@ipma-hr.org or click here for more information.

October 6
Online Course
Managing Employee Performance as an HR Business Partner

Watch the HR Bulletin and our Web site for more information on educational opportunities.

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