Majority of Employers Support Hike in Minimum Wage, CareerBuilder Survey Finds

09/25/2015 |

Majority of Employers Support Hike in Minimum Wage, CareerBuilder Survey Finds

Majority of Minimum Wage Workers Can’t Make Ends Meet

Sep 18, 2015, 05:00 ET from CareerBuilder

CHICAGO, Sept. 18, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — Momentum is building behind raising the minimum wage, coming at a time when workers at all pay levels are struggling with keeping their heads above water. According to a new CareerBuilder survey, 64 percent of employers believe the minimum wage should be increased in their state, up from 62 percent last year.

While nearly 1 in 5 of all workers (19 percent) said they couldn’t make ends meet every month in the last year, workers who hold or have held minimum wage jobs were much more prone to experience financial difficulties.

“Americans’ wages have been stuck in a slow-growth pattern since the recession,” said Rosemary Haefner, chief human resources officer at CareerBuilder. “As big name brands take measures to increase pay for minimum wage workers and the market overall grows more competitive for skilled labor, employers are going to start feeling more wage pressure when trying to attract and retain employees at all levels within the organization.”

The national online survey, conducted on behalf of CareerBuilder by Harris Poll between May 14 and June 3, 2015, included a representative sample of 2,321 full-time hiring and human resource managers and 3,039 full-time workers in the private sector across industries and company sizes.

What is fair minimum wage?

Twenty-six percent of employers said they plan to hire minimum wage workers this year. Only six percent of all employers believe the federal minimum wage ($7.25 per hour) is fair. The majority (61 percent) felt a fair minimum wage is $10 or more per hour, up from 54 percent last year; and 11 percent said a fair minimum wage is $15 or more per hour, up from 7 percent last year.

The full breakdown of what employers consider to be a fair minimum wage is as follows:

  • $7.25 per hour: 6 percent
  • $8.00-$9.00 per hour: 24 percent
  • $10.00 per hour: 27 percent
  • $11.00-14.00 per hour: 23 percent
  • $15.00 or more per hour: 11 percent
  • No set minimum wage: 9 percent

Is it enough?

Of workers who currently have a minimum wage job or have held one in the past, 65 percent said they couldn’t make ends meet; 49 percent said they had to work more than one job to make ends meet.

But it’s not just minimum wage workers who are struggling. Nineteen percent of workers at all salary levels were not able to make ends meet during the past year. Sixty-five percent of all workers say they’re in debt and while most say it’s manageable, it should be noted that 16 percent of workers ages 25-34 still live with their parents, 18 percent of all workers have reduced their 401k contribution and/or personal savings in the last year and 28 percent don’t set aside any savings each month.

Percentage of workers who didn’t set aside money for savings in the last year:

Ages 18-24: 32 percent
25-34: 26 percent
35-44: 31 percent
45-54: 29 percent
55+: 24 percent
Total: 28 percent

Percentage of workers who don’t participate in retirement plans:

Ages 18-24: 69 percent
25-34: 41 percent
35-44: 33 percent
45-54: 26 percent
55+: 28 percent
Total: 36 percent

Survey Methodology
These surveys were conducted online within the U.S. by Harris Poll on behalf of CareerBuilder among 2,321 hiring and human resource managers ages 18 and over (employed full-time, not self-employed, non-government) and 3,039 employees ages 18 and over (employed full-time, not self-employed, non-government) between May 14 and June 3, 2015. With pure probability samples of 2,321 and 3,039, one could say with a 95 percent probability that the overall results have sampling errors of +/- 2.03 and +/- 1.78 percentage points, respectively.

About CareerBuilder®
As the global leader in human capital solutions, CareerBuilder specializes in cutting-edge HR software as a service to help companies with every step of the recruitment process from acquire to hire. CareerBuilder works with top employers across industries, providing job distribution, sourcing, workflow, CRM, data and analytics in one pre-hire platform. It also operates leading job sites around the world. Owned by TEGNA Inc. (NYSE: TGNA), Tribune Media (NYSE: TRCO) and The McClatchy Company (NYSE: MNI), CareerBuilder and its subsidiaries operate in the United States, Europe, South America, Canada and Asia. For more information, visit www.careerbuilder.com.

Media Contact
Ladan Nikravan
312.698.0538 x70538
ladan.nikravan@careerbuilder.com
http://www.twitter.com/CareerBuilderPR

 

SOURCE CareerBuilder

Related Links

http://www.careerbuilder.com

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Retailers begin staffing up for the holidays

09/23/2015 |

Retailers begin staffing up for the holidays

By Sarah Halzack September 18

While you are still enjoying the last gasps of summer weather, the nation’s largest retailers and shippers have already begun their hiring sprees for the Christmas shopping rush.

The retail industry is expected to add 755,000 temporary workers during October and November, about as many as they hired last year. But this year, filling certain positions could be tougher, industry analysts say.

An improved economy may encourage consumers to ramp up their holiday shopping, but the growing popularity of online shopping and the rise of profit-eating free-shipping polices is also forcing some retailers to change up their hiring strategies.

Target said it would  hire about 70,000 store workers for the third year in a row. Department store chain Kohl’s is expecting to hire 69,000 workers, slightly more than the 67,000 it aimed for last year. Toys R Us is poised to bring on 40,000 workers this year, fewer than the 45,000 it hired last year.  The toy retailer says the decline is because it has implemented new policies that will allow seasonal staffers to take on more hours than they were able to in the past.

The composition of retailers’ holiday workforce is changing as more shopping moves online.  Instead of cashiers and greeters, many stores are in greater of need of workers who can pack and process online orders. Of the 60,000 seasonal workers being added by Wal-Mart, the country’s largest retailer, 3,500 will be department managers who will manage orders that have been placed online for in-store pick-up.

Frank Layo, a retail supply chain strategist at consultancy Kurt Salmon, said some retailers looking to fill warehouse and e-commerce jobs this year could find themselves facing a labor shortage.   As the job market has improved, he said, there might be fewer people willing to take these physically taxing jobs.  And many retailers will have even more of these kinds of positions to fill than they have in the past.

Layo said many of his clients are already struggling to get enough warehouse workers as they bring in holiday goods.

“It’s not a dramatic impact on their bottom line right now, but it is the early warning sign it’s going to be a bigger problem,” Layo said….

…Major shippers UPS and FedEx have also begun their holiday hiring blitz.  UPS estimates it will hire up to 95,000 workers, slightly less than the 100,000 it added last year.  FedEx plans to add 55,000 temporary employees, about 5,000 more than last year.  E-commerce giant Amazon.com has yet to announce how many workers it will be looking to bring on.

 

Sarah Halzack is The Washington Post’s national retail reporter. She has previously covered the local job market and the business of talent and hiring. She has also served as a Web producer for business and economic news.
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GPS Celebrates 30 Year Anniversary!

09/16/2015 |

GPS Celebrates 30 Year Anniversary!

GPS celebrates our 30th Anniversary this month!

GPS, Charlie and Becky Gallman hosted a SpiritLine Dinner Cruise in Charleston for all GPS Staff and Guests!  It was a great time with great friends, family and food!

2015 Dinner Cruise GPS Group

Here’s to another 30 years+!

Thank you Charlie!

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We Remember!

09/11/2015 |

We Remember!

via 9/11 MEMORIAL    “The National September 11 Memorial is a tribute of remembrance and honor to the nearly 3,000 people killed in the terror attacks of September 11, 2001 at the World Trade Center site, near Shanksville, Pa., and at the Pentagon, as well as the six people killed in the World Trade Center bombing in February 1993.

The Memorial’s twin reflecting pools are each nearly an acre in size and feature the largest manmade waterfalls in the North America. The pools sit within the footprints where the Twin Towers once stood. Architect Michael Arad and landscape architect Peter Walker created the Memorial design selected from a global design competition that included more than 5,200 entries from 63 nations.

The names of every person who died in the 2001 and 1993 attacks are inscribed into bronze panels edging the Memorial pools, a powerful reminder of the largest loss of life resulting from a foreign attack on American soil and the greatest single loss of rescue personnel in American history.”

Gallman Consulting Remembers!

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Management Wisdom

08/31/2015 |

Management Wisdom

“If you think someone is smart, you’ll treat them as smart. If you think someone is a horrible person, you’ll treat them accordingly, and when they react like any other person would when being treated unfairly, you nod with confidence in your ability to predict people’s character.”

To get the most from your employees, help them create workplace identities that elevate them and create positive performance expectations that maximize their potential.

Source: http://www.helpscout.net/blog/

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U.S. jobless claims fall 6,000 to 271,000

08/27/2015 |

U.S. jobless claims fall 6,000 to 271,000

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) – New applications for U.S. unemployment benefits fell by 6,000 to 271,000 in the seven days ended August 22, the first decline after four straight weekly gains. The latest report on initial claims indicate the labor market is still improving. initial claims have clung below the key 300,000 threshold for 25 weeks, the longest stretch in more than 15 years. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had forecast initial claims to fall to 270,000. The average of new claims over the past month, meanwhile, edged up by 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 272,500, the Labor Department said Thursday. The four-week average smooths out sharp fluctuations in the more volatile weekly report and is seen as a more accurate predictor of labor-market trends. Continuing jobless claims increased by 13,000 to 2.27 million in the week ended Aug. 15. These claims reflect people already receiving unemployment checks.

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