 |
12/5/04
BENEFITS With the holidays fast approaching, many US workers probably won't have any trouble getting time off to spend with family and friends. A recent survey by OfficeTeam, the temporary placement company, revealed that 59 percent of the 573 adults they questioned are satisfied with the amount of vacation time they receive from their employers. The findings differ from a 2004 report by the International Labor Organization. It found that most Americans receive a scant two weeks vacation each year. The group also revealed that Americans logged just over 1,800 hours in 2002 or 370 more hours than German workers and 270 more hours than French employees. The group reported that the average American receives 16 days off. In Italy, workers get 42 days. In France, 37, and Germans get 35 days off per year. The OfficeTeam survey also reports that some Americans are reluctant to take time off. It makes them feel guilty. ''For many professionals, the challenge lies not in receiving days off but in finding time to take them,'' said Diane Domeyer, executive director of the staffing agency. ''People often feel guilty about spending more than just a few days out of the office for fear of inconveniencing colleagues or returning to an unmanageable workload, especially if their firms are operating with lean staffing levels.'' Fifteen percent of those polled were dissatisfied with the amount of vacation time they receive. Twenty-five percent were somewhat dissatisfied. Domeyer said not taking vacation can lead to burnout and higher stress levels. --DIANE E. LEWIS
TEMP SERVICES US staffing companies hard hit by the economic recession are regaining their footing, according to a report by the Virginia-based American Staffing Association. The association, which has 71 affiliates in the United States, said the survey of its membership reveals that staffing and temporary help agencies employed an average of 2.6 million temp and contract workers per day from July through September 2004. That amount is comparable to the number employed in the third quarter of 2000, just before the recession, and 14 percent higher than the number of workers employed in the same quarter last year. ASA president and chief executive Richard Wahlquist said sales of temporary and contract staffing services in the United States totaled $16.5 billion in the third quarter of 2004, up 13.8 percent over the same period last year. The organization noted that sales for the third quarter of 2004 ''narrowly surpassed those of the third quarter of 2000, when sales totaled $16.4 billion,'' Wahlquist said. ''After eight consecutive quarters of growth, staffing companies have closed the employment gap to within a few thousand jobs of the industry's peak period,'' said Wahlquist. Data from the association shows that after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, fourth quarter temporary help sales totaled $13.5 billion, and were down 16.2 percent from the prior year. --DIANE E. LEWIS
WORKPLACE A new magazine is focusing on how the workplace can be personally enriching and more socially responsible. Called ''Worthwhile,'' the publication explores how workers can inject more meaning into their jobs so they are not just focused on collecting a paycheck. The magazine's first issue, on newsstands now, contains articles about how to deal with a nonresponsive boss; how the workplace environment impacts workers' stress levels, and how to adhere to corporate policy without losing personal values. In one column, former cable marketing executive Constance Barkley-Lewis recalls how she dealt with the loss of her job following the merger of America Online and Time Warner. ''One morning I was moving the company forward and that evening I was moving out of my office,'' said Barkley-Lewis. ''I was wiped out with the click of the delete key.'' In her column, she describes the difficulties she faced while struggling to adjust to her sudden unemployment. Barkley-Lewis concluded that her position as a successful marketing executive at Time Warner blinded her to other kinds of success and the reason she'd joined Turner Broadcasting System in the first place. She was initially attracted to the media company because of owner Ted Turner's outreach to the nonprofit world and her own professional work with a nonprofit educational organization. Barkley-Lewis said she had forgotten about her original goals, but losing her job forced her to focus on the things that mattered most. ''I hadn't lost myself when I lost my job,'' she said. ''I'd lost myself when I found success.'' --DIANE E. LEWIS
FINANCES A survey by the InCharge Institute, a national nonprofit that specializes in personal finance education and credit counseling, found that Americans with financial difficulties are less likely to be happy about the current economy. The survey of 590 individuals, all people who had contacted the credit counseling firm for assistance, shows that personal attitudes about the national economy are closely tied to an individual's own financial health. The index used to measure survey responses was developed by the University of Michigan. InCharge concluded that people in debt have less positive views about their current financial condition or the national economy. They scored 19 points below the 95.5 percent score reported for members of the general population who are not in debt, according to InCharge. ''This attitude could reflect lost economic opportunities for the debt distressed,'' said Robert Barrett, the president and chief executive of InCharge. ''On top of their debt burden, these families also carry the added burden of anxiety, regret and lost opportunity.'' Despite such concerns, the institute found that the financially distressed are positive about their ability to improve their situation. --DIANE E. LEWIS
|
|
||||||||
|
|
|
E-Mail This Article
