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EXECUTIVE SUITE US executives are beginning to see the benefits of an improving economy, according to executive recruiter Russell Reynold Associates. In all, 63 percent of human resource professionals from Fortune 1000 firms believe improvements in the labor market are making it easier for jobless executives to find new work. But despite the rosier job outlook, the survey also revealed senior executives will face some hurdles. "Hurdles to re-entry are especially true for women who left the leadership track to pursue motherhood," said Russell Reynolds. "While half of the respondents believe working mothers no longer face managerial bias, 24 percent do believe there is a perception that "mommy-track" executives will not place a priority on work upon re-entry. As a result, 22 percent of those polled believe it will be more difficult for "mommy-track" executives to reclaim their leadership positions than it will be for executives who departed for nonchild-care related reasons." Executives who did not leave their jobs voluntarily also face difficulties from wary firms. In all, 76 percent of the respondents said such executives would be scrutinized more closely and could find it harder to return to the leadership track than top executives who left the job voluntarily. Forty-six percent of the hiring directors said managers often consider laid-off executives less capable than those who were continuously employed. -- DIANE LEWIS
ELDER CARE Elder care responsibilities are affecting workers' jobs and, in some cases, their other relationships. A national survey of 514 employed adults by SeniorBridge Family Inc., an elder care company headquartered in New York City, reveals that middle-aged working adults are struggling to balance their workplace and caregiving responsibilities. Of those polled, 35 percent of those working outside the home and taking care of an aging parent or older relative say their job performance has suffered. Thirty percent of those who work and are also married say their marriages have suffered as a result of caregiving responsibilities. 
The survey found that caregivers spend at least 10 hours per week actively providing some form of care or arranging for others to take care of their loved ones. In addition, 48 percent said they are not confident the arrangements they have made are the best available. Sixty-four percent said the services are not convenient for a variety of reasons. Some said they lived far away from their elderly relative and had difficulty coordinating services from afar. Others said it was difficult to replace a home health aide when the worker was sick or absent. The adult caregivers also had difficulty coordinating appointments with doctors and dentists. By contrast, only 29 percent of those who also use child-care services in addition to elder-care services said they worry about their children or the quality of care the children are receiving. Forty-four percent of those who reported gaps in service said their elderly relatives have missed meals or have not received the nutrition they need. Thirty-two percent said they have had to take their relative to an emergency room because of falls or other accidents. In all, 22 percent said their parent was alone when the accident occurred. "Fully 80 percent of the survey respondents work full time outside the home and are juggling elder care, child care and job responsibilities," said Larry Sosnow, the chief executive of SeniorBridge Family. "At the same time, many are caring for patients with increasingly serious physical and cognitive impairments, conditions such as Alzheimer's disease and debilitating arthritis." Caregivers also experience money woes. Forty-three percent say they spend more than $500 per week on full- or part-time help. Twenty percent spend more than $1,000 per week. Fifty-two percent said they must reach into their own pockets to pay for care. And 65 percent said they defray the costs with savings or insurance from their parent or relative. According to SeniorBridge Family, caregivers are often anxious. Forty-one percent worry six or more times a week about the well-being of the person for whom they care. That's more than they worry about their children (27 percent), job security (22 percent), retirement savings (23 percent), or their spouse's health (17 percent). Twelve percent said they worry more about an aging relative than terrorism, and 10 percent are more worried about the relative than their own health. The company also found that some worries and tensions stem from the fact that the caregiver is often the only one in his or her family who provides the ongoing attention needed. In all, 90 percent of the caregivers polled have brothers and sisters, but 60 percent said their siblings do not help. Thirty percent said the lack of involvement has fueled tensions. The survey also revealed that caregivers who have only male siblings receive less support than those with sisters and brothers. Twenty-six percent of those with brothers said they receive some help from their siblings. By contrast, 50 percent of the caregivers who have brother and sisters receive some support. -- DIANE LEWIS
HIRING Low-wage immigrants are finding new jobs because of the improved economy but not higher wages, reports the Pew Hispanic Center in Washington, D.C. "The economy has added a total of 1.3 million new jobs, and noncitizens captured 378,496 or 28.5 percent of those jobs," said the research organization. "Employment for noncitizens grew twice as quickly as their population growth nationwide. Noncitizens are benefiting disproportionately from the turnaround in the labor market." The report attributed the surge in hiring to three quarters of relatively strong growth in the US economy, and to a growing demand for contingent immigrant and low-wage workers in manufacturing and the service sector. The labor market report also reveals that the unemployment rate for Latinos dropped to 7percent in May 2004, down from 8.2 percent in June 2003 as more workers found jobs in construction, transportation, manufacturing, and warehousing as well as laundry and private household services. But those low-wage jobs have not resulted in higher earnings. "The improved employment picture has not delivered higher wages to workers overall or to Latinos in particular," said the research organization. "The median weekly wage for Hispanics has declined in all but one of the past eight quarters. Although wage stagnation has affected non-Hispanic whites and African-Americans, the Latino experience compares unfavorably to all other groups." According to the report, the mean weekly wage for Latino workers in the first quarter of 2004 was $504, down from a high of $520 in the first quarter of 2003. Latinos are not the only workers who have experienced wage stagnation or declining earnings. Wage stagnation impacted white and black workers, too. The mean weekly wage of African-American workers stood at $562 in the first quarter of 2004, down from $579 in the first quarter of 2002, the report said. White workers, by contrast, experienced a modest raise when their mean weekly wage increased to $728 in the first quarter of 2004, up from $716 in the first quarter of 2003. --DIANE E. LEWIS
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