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11/7/04
SURVEY A recent Gallup poll of work habits in the United States, Canada and England indicates that US employees work longer hours, but appear to be more content with their jobs. Gallup polled just over 3,000 workers in the United States, 1,005 in Canada and 1,009 in England. In each of the three countries, 50 percent of the respondents had full-time jobs, and most worked in a variety of sectors. However, 25 percent of workers polled in England held a government job compared to 17 percent of the Americans who took part in the survey. The goal of the survey was to examine how work/life differs in the three countries. In analyzing the data, the researchers looked at hours worked, job satisfaction, pay, promotion opportunities, rewards for good work, and retirement benefits, among other things. Gallup found that Americans spend more time on the job. In all, US employees reported working an average of 42 hours per week. By contrast, the Canadian respondents worked an average of 41 hours, and Britons said they usually logged 39 hours per week. Of the US respondents, 38 percent worked more than 45 hours per week compared with 30 percent of the Canadians and 28 percent of the British workers. Those who put in fewer hours per week? Britons. Twenty percent said they worked fewer than 34 hours per week compared with 12 percent of the Americans, and 9 percent of the Canadians. In all, 28 percent of the US workers said they worked 45 to 59 hours per week. By contrast, 22 percent of the Canadians said they logged that many hours per week, and 20 percent of the British workers fell into this group. The surveys also looked at how happy the workers in each country were with their paychecks, their co-workers, promotion opportunities and the recognition they received from their companies for doing a good job. When researchers looked at seven of the 10 workplace attributes studied, they found that Americans were more likely to say they were satisfied than their British and Canadian counterparts. Sixty percent of the US workers said they were happy with their bosses. However, only 42 percent of the British workers liked their bosses or supervisors. Forty-seven percent of the Canadians thought favorably of their bosses. Americans seem to be happier with the time they are allotted for vacation than Canadians and British workers. In all, 52 percent of the US employees said they were satisfied with the amount of time off they receive. Forty-nine percent of the British felt that way, and 47 percent of the Canadians were satisfied. In all, 15 percent of the US workers were self-employed compared with 19 percent of the Canadians and 16 percent of the British. --DIANE E. LEWIS
HEALTHCARE Employers will get some relief from double-digit healthcare costs in 2005, but not that much. Towers Perrin reports that healthcare costs will rise 8 percent next year, resulting in an average increase of nearly $600 per employee. The findings stem from a survey of 200 US companies, many of them Fortune 1000 firms. Towers Perrin attributed the drop to greater efforts at helping employees control the underlying causes of expensive health insurance. Those causes range from such critical problems as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and obesity. The company also found that costs will be higher for retirees under age 65 than for active employees, a finding that will likely be of concern to companies with large numbers of retired workers who are covered by the employer's healthcare plan. In addition, healthcare for workers enrolled in health maintenance organizations will rise 10 percent. --DIANE E. LEWIS
EMPLOYEE ASSISTANCE ComPsych Corp., the Chicago company that offers guidance and employee assistance programs to US firms, reports a 22 percent increase in calls from working parents who are worried about child depression. In addition, calls were up 15 percent among parents who are concerned their child might have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The company said the percentage of cases its counselors handle relating to children under 12 have increased 25 percent since last year and cases for children 13 to 18 years old have risen 20 percent during the same period. The firm attributed the uptick to increased parental awareness of the symptoms of depression and other disorders. When the company looked at the calls working parents with children under 12 have logged with the employment assistance programs it runs, it found that 22 percent of the callers were concerned about a child's conduct in school, 11 percent thought their child might be having problems in school, and 5 percent said the child seemed to be having difficulty adjusting to school. By contrast, 39 percent of the parents with teenagers were worried about depression, 21 percent thought their child might have the attention disorder, 13 percent reported conduct issues, 9 percent said the child was having school problems, 9 percent reported other problems, and 6 percent said their teenager was having difficulty adjusting to school, said ComPsych. --DIANE E. LEWIS
DIVERSITY Call it a push to increase the pipeline. In an effort to encourage more minorities and women to enter the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology hosted a networking session for high school, college and graduate students from underrepresented groups. The program brings together students and academics and industry and government leaders. It was held at the institute's Stratton Student Center on Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge. The daylong program, known as the New England Board of Higher Education's Science Network Meeting, brought more than 500 students from schools throughout the region in a push to encourage collaborative relationships between local companies and schools and student mentoring by science and technology leaders. The goal of the meeting was to ensure that the New England region will have the talent it needs to continue its role as a leader in technology. Although jobs in healthcare, biotechnology, science and math represent the fastest growing segment of the region's job market, specialists say the number of students choosing careers in those fields has not kept pace with the demand. At the same time, the fastest growing demographic groups in the region are new immigrants who have not been pursuing those careers. --DIANE E. LEWIS
ENVIRONMENT Many US employees believe the firms they work for care deeply about preventing pollution and environmental waste. In a survey of 675 workers, Steelcase Inc., a Michigan company that manufacturers office furniture and designs workspaces, found that 74 percent feel the environment is a high priority and say their employers always or often try to improve it by recycling, using less paper, and shutting off lights and other electrical equipment when they are not being used. In all, 54 percent said their employers purchase recyclable goods and furniture. Although altruism could be a factor, the poll revealed the primary reason US companies are more conscious about the environment, recycling and reducing energy use is a desire to cut costs. --DIANE E. LEWIS
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