A survey conducted in the fourth quarter of 2014 for Glassdoor, Inc. by Harris Poll may indicate that the hangover of the 2008-2009 recession may be over … at least regarding pay and other employment expectations.
For full survey results, visit: https://www.glassdoor.com/press/wp-content/files_mf/gdecsq414surveysupplement.pdf.
- The survey shows that 49% of employees expect pay increases of 3%-5%. Raises in these amounts have largely been nonexistent during the past six years.
- Thirty-five percent of those surveyed indicated they would leave their positions if they did not receive a pay raise.
- Only 13% of those surveyed feared being laid off. This is a six-year low. Employees in the South are twice (9%-18%) as fearful of losing their jobs as those in the Midwest and West.
It is undisputed that when job security is at its highest, employees are reluctant to do anything that puts their jobs in jeopardy. For most of the last six years, people have been very fearful about losing the jobs they had. Now, with the constant clamor about record corporate profits and new highs on Wall Street, it appears employees are looking for a piece of the action. Unquestionably, jobs are more plentiful now than in the past six years.
The beast that lurks just over the horizon is organized labor. Unions read the news and stock tickers just like the rest of us. It is a short distance between the notion of, “I deserve a raise,” and “Could a union help me get one?” This thought, along with the National Labor Relations Board’s intention to impose fast-track union elections upon employers, could put us in another one of those hypothetical perfect storms.
Now may be a good time to review compensation. It appears employers could be facing newfound competition in the labor market as well as vulnerability to the advances of an unwanted union.
Please contact us for more information.
Best regards,
William R. Adams, Ph.D.
President & CEO
Adams, Nash, Haskell & Sheridan
1-800-237-3942
wadams@anh.wpengine.com