The Utah Department of Workforce Services compiles quarterly employment and wage data for non-agricultural employers in Utah. Data is maintained at the establishment level (e.g., store, plant, or other type of permanent worksite facility). Since these establishments are assigned an industry and county code, their employment and wage data can be aggregated into common industry and county groupings for analysis purposes.
Employment and wage data for Utah’s non-agricultural employers are categorized in this publication by employment size for the month of March in each of the designated years. Grouping data by this criterion provides a useful tool to analyze the characteristics of Utah employers. For example, general trends of the size of Utah employers and employment concentrations by employer size class can be observed. Wage levels for large, medium, and small firms can also be evaluated.
In this publication, data is presented for both establishments and firms. The term "establishment" is generally defined as a specific physical worksite for an employer. For most employers, this is the actual street location at which business is conducted. For others, with no permanent worksite (such as salespeople, factory representatives, or distributors) it is the location from which they conduct their business (sometimes even residences).
For an overview of this publication, click here.
Showing posts with label Employers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Employers. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
Monday, July 22, 2013
Industrial diversity in Utah’s economy
A diverse (or balanced) economy is generally considered a stable economy. A loose rationalization would center upon an economy that is not prone to bouts of boom or bust, an economy that can withstand misfortunes in particular industries as others thrive, an economy that largely rides an even keel.
The idea is to avoid over-dependence, or specialization, within one or two industries. To borrow a simple idiom as an illustration, “don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” The lesson is if you drop your basket you might break all your eggs. However, if you were to spread your eggs across several baskets, then if you drop a basket you still have eggs available in the other baskets. The same concept works when evaluating an economy. If too much employment and economic dependence is placed upon one industry and that industry comes on hard times, the entire economic system correspondingly suffers.
A balanced economy would have a diverse share of employment spread across various industries, and the industries would not be so tied together that they are overly dependent upon a core industry. If one industry were to falter, the others would help keep the overall economy afloat.
To read more, see the latest issue of Utah Insights.
The idea is to avoid over-dependence, or specialization, within one or two industries. To borrow a simple idiom as an illustration, “don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” The lesson is if you drop your basket you might break all your eggs. However, if you were to spread your eggs across several baskets, then if you drop a basket you still have eggs available in the other baskets. The same concept works when evaluating an economy. If too much employment and economic dependence is placed upon one industry and that industry comes on hard times, the entire economic system correspondingly suffers.
A balanced economy would have a diverse share of employment spread across various industries, and the industries would not be so tied together that they are overly dependent upon a core industry. If one industry were to falter, the others would help keep the overall economy afloat.
To read more, see the latest issue of Utah Insights.
Monday, June 24, 2013
To Advance Professionally You Must Develop Your “Soft Skills”
We are living in an era of constant change. Because businesses are becoming less dictatorial and more social, the understanding and value of soft skills to an organization are growing daily.
“Soft skills” is a term relating to a collection of personal, positive attributes and competencies that enhance your relationships, job performance and value to the market.
Soft skills include your ability to listen well, communicate effectively, be positive, handle conflict, accept responsibility, show respect, build trust, work well with others, manage time effectively, accept criticism, work under pressure, be likable and demonstrate good manners.
“Hard skills” are specific, trainable abilities necessary to carry out the professional or technical requirements of a job or occupation.
Hard skills would include knowledge, machine operation, computer procedures, safety standards, financial systems, technical analysis, and sales administration. Unlike soft skills, hard skills are typically easy to quantify, and measure.
More and more corporations around the world recognize that, in order to gain a competitive advantage, they need to make sure their people know how to handle themselves at work and how to relate with their customers and peers.
The great thing about building your soft skills is that you can acquire them on your own. Regardless of your background, gender or education, developing your soft skills will make you stand out from the crowd in whatever you choose to do.
To advance professionally, you must put an emphasis on developing your soft skills.
Read more of this editorial from Brad Larsen at the Standard Examiner
“Soft skills” is a term relating to a collection of personal, positive attributes and competencies that enhance your relationships, job performance and value to the market.
Soft skills include your ability to listen well, communicate effectively, be positive, handle conflict, accept responsibility, show respect, build trust, work well with others, manage time effectively, accept criticism, work under pressure, be likable and demonstrate good manners.
“Hard skills” are specific, trainable abilities necessary to carry out the professional or technical requirements of a job or occupation.
Hard skills would include knowledge, machine operation, computer procedures, safety standards, financial systems, technical analysis, and sales administration. Unlike soft skills, hard skills are typically easy to quantify, and measure.
More and more corporations around the world recognize that, in order to gain a competitive advantage, they need to make sure their people know how to handle themselves at work and how to relate with their customers and peers.
The great thing about building your soft skills is that you can acquire them on your own. Regardless of your background, gender or education, developing your soft skills will make you stand out from the crowd in whatever you choose to do.
To advance professionally, you must put an emphasis on developing your soft skills.
Read more of this editorial from Brad Larsen at the Standard Examiner
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Analysis on the Affordable Care Act
A new analysis from FactCheck.com on the Affordable Care Act shows that not much will be different as the law is put into place for those who get insurance through their employers, and that’s the bulk of Americans. The Society of Actuaries/Lewin Group report estimates that those with employer-based insurance will decline by 2 million because of the law, for a total of 155 million people.
The analysis estimated that for the individual, or nongroup, market, the “cost per member per month will increase 32 percent under ACA, compared to pre-ACA projections.” But that’s costs for insurance companies, not an increase in premiums. In fact, the report didn’t attempt to estimate what the change might be in premiums.
Instead, it said: “We focused only on the changes in allowable costs. Actual premiums will vary for each insurer based on many factors which are beyond the scope of this report, since each insurer will have different circumstances and strategies with regard to competition.”
It’s true that insurers, like any other business, could pass along any increased costs to customers, in this case policyholders. So if costs go up, premiums would likely go up.
The report notes that the costs will vary by state, with states that already limit premium variability based on age or health status – known as community rating – not seeing much of an increase. In fact, their costs could decrease, as “younger and healthier individuals … will enroll due to the reduced cost from the premium subsidies,” the report says. States without community rating will experience an increase in costs as older and sicker individuals who previously didn’t have insurance are able to get it.
While the Congressional Budget Office said that the average premium per person in the individual market would go up by 10 percent to 13 percent because of the health care law, it added that for most, subsidies would push their costs “well below” what they would have been charged in the absence of the law. In its latest report, the CBO says about 80 percent of an estimated 25 million joining the exchanges by 2023 will receive subsidies.
But plans on the individual market will, overall, have much better benefits because of the law than they do now. That’s why the CBO expects premiums on average to go up.
One could glean from the CBO report that plans with the same level of benefits (i.e., good benefits) would cost less on the individual market because of the law than they would have otherwise, but those on the individual market largely don’t have those plans now anyway.
Beyond that, no one is actually going to save money compared with what they’re paying now — the estimates pertain to what premiums will cost in the future compared with what they would have cost without the law. And without the law, premiums would still be going up. FactCheck
The analysis estimated that for the individual, or nongroup, market, the “cost per member per month will increase 32 percent under ACA, compared to pre-ACA projections.” But that’s costs for insurance companies, not an increase in premiums. In fact, the report didn’t attempt to estimate what the change might be in premiums.
Instead, it said: “We focused only on the changes in allowable costs. Actual premiums will vary for each insurer based on many factors which are beyond the scope of this report, since each insurer will have different circumstances and strategies with regard to competition.”
It’s true that insurers, like any other business, could pass along any increased costs to customers, in this case policyholders. So if costs go up, premiums would likely go up.
The report notes that the costs will vary by state, with states that already limit premium variability based on age or health status – known as community rating – not seeing much of an increase. In fact, their costs could decrease, as “younger and healthier individuals … will enroll due to the reduced cost from the premium subsidies,” the report says. States without community rating will experience an increase in costs as older and sicker individuals who previously didn’t have insurance are able to get it.
While the Congressional Budget Office said that the average premium per person in the individual market would go up by 10 percent to 13 percent because of the health care law, it added that for most, subsidies would push their costs “well below” what they would have been charged in the absence of the law. In its latest report, the CBO says about 80 percent of an estimated 25 million joining the exchanges by 2023 will receive subsidies.
But plans on the individual market will, overall, have much better benefits because of the law than they do now. That’s why the CBO expects premiums on average to go up.
One could glean from the CBO report that plans with the same level of benefits (i.e., good benefits) would cost less on the individual market because of the law than they would have otherwise, but those on the individual market largely don’t have those plans now anyway.
Beyond that, no one is actually going to save money compared with what they’re paying now — the estimates pertain to what premiums will cost in the future compared with what they would have cost without the law. And without the law, premiums would still be going up. FactCheck
Friday, March 22, 2013
Duration Dependence and Labor Market Conditions
According to a recent report by the Congressional Budget Office, long-term unemployment may "produce a self-perpetuating cycle wherein protracted spells of unemployment heighten employers' reluctance to hire those individuals, which in turn leads to even longer spells of joblessness." Policymakers and researchers alike tend to believe that this adverse effect of a long spell of unemployment undermines the smooth functioning of the labor market and entails large social costs. Economists refer to the phenomenon as "negative duration dependence."
In Duration Dependence and Labor Market Conditions: Theory and Evidence from a Field Experiment (NBER Working Paper No. 18387), authors Kory Kroft, Fabian Lange, and Matthew Notowidigdo confirm that the likelihood of receiving a callback for a job interview sharply declines with unemployment duration. This effect is especially pronounced during the first eight months after becoming unemployed. Their estimates suggest that this effect is quantitatively important, and that duration dependence is stronger when jobs are relatively abundant. These results imply that employers statistically discriminate against workers with longer unemployment durations and that employer screening plays an important role in generating duration dependence. NBER
In Duration Dependence and Labor Market Conditions: Theory and Evidence from a Field Experiment (NBER Working Paper No. 18387), authors Kory Kroft, Fabian Lange, and Matthew Notowidigdo confirm that the likelihood of receiving a callback for a job interview sharply declines with unemployment duration. This effect is especially pronounced during the first eight months after becoming unemployed. Their estimates suggest that this effect is quantitatively important, and that duration dependence is stronger when jobs are relatively abundant. These results imply that employers statistically discriminate against workers with longer unemployment durations and that employer screening plays an important role in generating duration dependence. NBER
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
State labor legislation enacted in 2012
The most active areas of state legislation in 2012 were child labor, equal employment opportunity, human trafficking, immigration legislation, independent contractors, wages paid, time off, unfair labor practices, and worker privacy. State legislative activity in these and more than 20 additional areas resulted in enactment of new legislation and amendments or revisions to existing statutes or regulations.
Last year, Utah enacted 4 labor related laws including:
Tomorrow, March 14th is the last day of Utah’s 2013session. For current legislation issues, see more here.
Last year, Utah enacted 4 labor related laws including:
- H.B. 97, Racketeering Amendment, modifying the criminal code regarding offenses that constitute racketeering by a pattern of unlawful activity;
- H.B. 121, Disabled Law Enforcement Officer Amendments, modifying the Utah State Personnel Management Act by amending provisions related to leave of absence benefits for a law enforcement officer who is disabled in the line of duty;
- S.B. 99, Employment Amendments, prohibiting a municipality or county from enacting or enforcing an ordinance that establishes, mandates, or requires a private employer to establish or offer an employee benefit.;
- H.B. 22, Centralized New Hire Registry Act Amendments, modifying an employer's reporting requirements under the Centralized New Hire Registry Act
Tomorrow, March 14th is the last day of Utah’s 2013session. For current legislation issues, see more here.
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
What every employee with a family should look for in a company
More than three-fourths of families had at least one person employed in 2011, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For these households, what makes a company family friendly?
Kaylie Astin, the founder of FamilyFriendlyWork.org, said that depends on personal preference and priority, but she gave pointers on what to look for to maintain work-life balance.
Flexibility in the workplace allows a parent to be there for children when they need it. Astin said one way to look for this is by seeing how many women work at a particular company.
The company’s willingness to promote women or part-time workers, allowing a parental leave program, and having paid sick leave and elder care are options that help families balance.
While most companies don’t offer on-site childcare, some do offer referral programs that prescreen child care centers for employees. However, it's best not to ask about these benefits found in family friendly companies before being given an offer.
Research before a job interview can be done online. A number of companies, including those on this list by Glassdoor, are rated the best places to work. For 2013, Glassdoor ranked Facebook, McKinsey & Company, Riverbed Technology, Bain & Company and M.D. Anderson Cancer Center the top five.
Astin said to check previous years of ratings because companies don’t apply every year for these kinds of lists. She also recommends talking to other employees once an offer has been made. Ask them questions like, “Does your manager trust you? Does he or she micromanage your work?”
Legally, companies aren’t required to offer employees much for work-life balance. Even the Family and Medical Leave Act, which allows employees 12 workweeks of leave for a birth; placement of adoption or foster care; or caring for a spouse, child or parent with serious health conditions, has exceptions.
Despite the lack of legal obligations, employers who like and want to hire applicants are willing to negotiate more than prospective employees tend to think, Astin said. She said that even if a policy is in the handbook, an employee can still ask the employer to negotiate it. Deseret News
Kaylie Astin, the founder of FamilyFriendlyWork.org, said that depends on personal preference and priority, but she gave pointers on what to look for to maintain work-life balance.
Flexibility in the workplace allows a parent to be there for children when they need it. Astin said one way to look for this is by seeing how many women work at a particular company.
The company’s willingness to promote women or part-time workers, allowing a parental leave program, and having paid sick leave and elder care are options that help families balance.
While most companies don’t offer on-site childcare, some do offer referral programs that prescreen child care centers for employees. However, it's best not to ask about these benefits found in family friendly companies before being given an offer.
Research before a job interview can be done online. A number of companies, including those on this list by Glassdoor, are rated the best places to work. For 2013, Glassdoor ranked Facebook, McKinsey & Company, Riverbed Technology, Bain & Company and M.D. Anderson Cancer Center the top five.
Astin said to check previous years of ratings because companies don’t apply every year for these kinds of lists. She also recommends talking to other employees once an offer has been made. Ask them questions like, “Does your manager trust you? Does he or she micromanage your work?”
Legally, companies aren’t required to offer employees much for work-life balance. Even the Family and Medical Leave Act, which allows employees 12 workweeks of leave for a birth; placement of adoption or foster care; or caring for a spouse, child or parent with serious health conditions, has exceptions.
Despite the lack of legal obligations, employers who like and want to hire applicants are willing to negotiate more than prospective employees tend to think, Astin said. She said that even if a policy is in the handbook, an employee can still ask the employer to negotiate it. Deseret News
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Mountain America Credit Union a ‘Best Company to Work For’
Once again Mountain America Credit Union has been named one of the “Best Companies to Work For” by Utah Business magazine. A four-time winner of the Best Companies honor, in recent months Mountain America has also received the 2012 Utah Work/Life Award from the Utah Department of Workforce Services, been named a Gold Fit-Friendly Worksite by the American Heart Association, and been the top vote-getter in the inaugural “People’s Choice: Utah’s Most Admired Companies” program from Utah Business.
In its Best Companies to Work For program, Utah Business found companies that treat their employees right by encouraging top performance with unique benefits, recognition programs and educational opportunities. Selection involved two parts – a company executive interview and a survey of a percentage of employees regarding the company’s benefits and compensation, career development opportunities, culture and environment, and management processes. PR Web
In its Best Companies to Work For program, Utah Business found companies that treat their employees right by encouraging top performance with unique benefits, recognition programs and educational opportunities. Selection involved two parts – a company executive interview and a survey of a percentage of employees regarding the company’s benefits and compensation, career development opportunities, culture and environment, and management processes. PR Web
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Small Business Employment Grew 0.12 Percent
U.S. small business employment increased 0.12 percent in calendar year 2012, with an increase of 0.09 percent in December. Small business revenue dropped 1.2 percent from January to November, with a 0.3 percent drop in November. Those are among the findings of Intuit Inc.’s (Nasdaq: INTU) inaugural 2012 Small Business Employment and Revenue Report.
The report also found that U.S. small businesses added 24,000 jobs between January and December. The hiring rate that fell steadily through the recession bottomed out in 2009, and has continued to hover at a monthly rate of approximately 5.5 percent. The change in hiring during 2012 was minimal, decreasing by 2 percent from January to December. The complete results, which include insights on employment levels by state and small business revenue growth, can be found at: 2012 Small Business Employment and Revenue Report. Utah Business
The report also found that U.S. small businesses added 24,000 jobs between January and December. The hiring rate that fell steadily through the recession bottomed out in 2009, and has continued to hover at a monthly rate of approximately 5.5 percent. The change in hiring during 2012 was minimal, decreasing by 2 percent from January to December. The complete results, which include insights on employment levels by state and small business revenue growth, can be found at: 2012 Small Business Employment and Revenue Report. Utah Business
Friday, December 7, 2012
Employers May be Aggravating the ‘Skills Gap’
With the economic recovery stuck in low gear, Tammy Krings has something of a happy problem for her growing, Columbus, Ohio-based global travel business, TS24.
Some 17 years after starting with out three employees, Krings is wrapping up a barnburner year. The company booked so much new business in 2012, she's had to hire 60 new employees – up from a staff of 120 in January.
Faced with that kind of rapid growth, Krings says she ran smack into one of the biggest hurdles cited by many employers today: the so-called “skills gap.”
Researchers and staffing consultants say Krings' frustration is widespread, the result of a host of powerful forces jarring the labor market – from the ongoing, rapid infusion of technology into the
workplace to the decline of vocational training in the American education system and the ongoing, mass exodus of a generation of skilled baby boomers headed for retirement.
As a result, Krings learned what labor economists and staffing consultants say is the hard reality of finding skilled workers in a rapidly changing workplace.
If you can’t find what you’re looking for, try harder. And if that doesn’t work, you may have to cough up the money to train the best new hires you can find.
“We’ve been able to find the types of people that we want as long we are willing to invest in them to bring them to the level of skill that we need,” said Krings.
But millions of small- and medium-sized employers, the businesses that create the bulk of new jobs, are apparently unwilling or unable to spend the money to bring new hires up to speed.
“I don’t think companies are confident enough right now to make big investments (in training)," said Melanie Holmes who has tracked workplace issues in a 30-year career with Manpower, a global staffing company. “They want to hire someone who can be productive tomorrow."
There’s no debate about the increased demand for higher-skilled workers in an economy that relies more heavily every year on advances in technology to raise the productivity of each worker. That’s why the jobs that employers said they had the hardest time filling in 2012 were skilled trades, engineers and IT Staff, according to a Manpower survey.
But a decades-long shift in emphasis on four-year, liberal arts college degrees has drained the supply of students entering job-based, vocational and technical schools. Employer- and union-sponsored training programs have also become artifacts of the last century, according to Peter Cappelli, a management professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School who heads the school’s Center for Human Resources.
That has shifted the burden of skills training to employers – a burden many say they’re unwilling or unable to take on. The current dearth of company-sponsored training programs is also, in part, a hangover from the mass layoffs and hiring freezes that accompanied the Great Recession.
But with the economy now in its third year of a halting recovery, many companies continue to defer spending on training.
“It comes down to an excuse of budget limitations,” said David Smith, a human resources consultant at Accenture. “The biggest issue probably is return on investment. It’s hard to measure the results. But it’s a poor excuse. People just get hung up so quickly on that point and they’re very, very short-sighted.”
Some companies simply don’t get it. Many of the “skills gap” complaints are coming from small companies that have limited or no human resources expertise, according to Capelli.
One simple solution would be to raise wages. The laws of economics suggest that if something is in short supply, prices should rise until demand is satisfied. If a computer programmer can earn $50 an hour working for a software company, she has little incentive to accept a $25 an hour job programming a manufacturing robot.
Like Krings, most employers apparently are unwilling or unable to pay higher wages to compete for better skills. Manpower’s survey found that only 11 percent had increased starting salaries in 2012 to help
recruit talented workers. More than three times as many said they preferred to provide additional training to existing staff.
Some hiring managers just give up looking and defer new hires, assuming they'll save money that will add to profits. But that strategy generates a false sense of economy because few employers account for just how much those unfilled jobs are costing them, said Capelli.
Though tight budgets and a weak economy may have crimped companies' spending on training and bigger paychecks, hiring managers bemoaning the "skills gap" may be in for a rude shock if the economy picks up speed next year. With increased demand for talent, the “skills gap” will only worsen as more companies have to draw from the same pool of workers, said Holmes.
“I think it’s going to worse before it gets better,” she said. “If business does come back year next year, we’re not going to have enough people." NBC News
Some 17 years after starting with out three employees, Krings is wrapping up a barnburner year. The company booked so much new business in 2012, she's had to hire 60 new employees – up from a staff of 120 in January.
Faced with that kind of rapid growth, Krings says she ran smack into one of the biggest hurdles cited by many employers today: the so-called “skills gap.”
Researchers and staffing consultants say Krings' frustration is widespread, the result of a host of powerful forces jarring the labor market – from the ongoing, rapid infusion of technology into the
workplace to the decline of vocational training in the American education system and the ongoing, mass exodus of a generation of skilled baby boomers headed for retirement.
As a result, Krings learned what labor economists and staffing consultants say is the hard reality of finding skilled workers in a rapidly changing workplace.
If you can’t find what you’re looking for, try harder. And if that doesn’t work, you may have to cough up the money to train the best new hires you can find.
“We’ve been able to find the types of people that we want as long we are willing to invest in them to bring them to the level of skill that we need,” said Krings.
But millions of small- and medium-sized employers, the businesses that create the bulk of new jobs, are apparently unwilling or unable to spend the money to bring new hires up to speed.
“I don’t think companies are confident enough right now to make big investments (in training)," said Melanie Holmes who has tracked workplace issues in a 30-year career with Manpower, a global staffing company. “They want to hire someone who can be productive tomorrow."
There’s no debate about the increased demand for higher-skilled workers in an economy that relies more heavily every year on advances in technology to raise the productivity of each worker. That’s why the jobs that employers said they had the hardest time filling in 2012 were skilled trades, engineers and IT Staff, according to a Manpower survey.
But a decades-long shift in emphasis on four-year, liberal arts college degrees has drained the supply of students entering job-based, vocational and technical schools. Employer- and union-sponsored training programs have also become artifacts of the last century, according to Peter Cappelli, a management professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School who heads the school’s Center for Human Resources.
That has shifted the burden of skills training to employers – a burden many say they’re unwilling or unable to take on. The current dearth of company-sponsored training programs is also, in part, a hangover from the mass layoffs and hiring freezes that accompanied the Great Recession.
But with the economy now in its third year of a halting recovery, many companies continue to defer spending on training.
“It comes down to an excuse of budget limitations,” said David Smith, a human resources consultant at Accenture. “The biggest issue probably is return on investment. It’s hard to measure the results. But it’s a poor excuse. People just get hung up so quickly on that point and they’re very, very short-sighted.”
Some companies simply don’t get it. Many of the “skills gap” complaints are coming from small companies that have limited or no human resources expertise, according to Capelli.
One simple solution would be to raise wages. The laws of economics suggest that if something is in short supply, prices should rise until demand is satisfied. If a computer programmer can earn $50 an hour working for a software company, she has little incentive to accept a $25 an hour job programming a manufacturing robot.
Like Krings, most employers apparently are unwilling or unable to pay higher wages to compete for better skills. Manpower’s survey found that only 11 percent had increased starting salaries in 2012 to help
recruit talented workers. More than three times as many said they preferred to provide additional training to existing staff.
Some hiring managers just give up looking and defer new hires, assuming they'll save money that will add to profits. But that strategy generates a false sense of economy because few employers account for just how much those unfilled jobs are costing them, said Capelli.
Though tight budgets and a weak economy may have crimped companies' spending on training and bigger paychecks, hiring managers bemoaning the "skills gap" may be in for a rude shock if the economy picks up speed next year. With increased demand for talent, the “skills gap” will only worsen as more companies have to draw from the same pool of workers, said Holmes.
“I think it’s going to worse before it gets better,” she said. “If business does come back year next year, we’re not going to have enough people." NBC News
Post-secondary Education Statistics Discourage Students from Graduating
According to the report, recent graduates and employers are roughly on the same page about one thing: just short of half (45 and 42 percent respectively) believe that post-secondary education is adequately preparing young people for the job market. Employers took it a step further, with 39 percent stating that a skills shortage is the primary reason for continued vacancies at the entry-level.
Given the substantial net cost of tuition for most families, these are frightening statistics. But it would be a mistake to interpret these problems as reason for making decisions about majors strictly on future salary, or worse, forgoing higher education all together.
The good news is that you can balance practical matters, such as cost and return on investment (ROI) with your student’s intellectual interests. When discussing possible majors, explore the following in sequence:
Deseret News
Majority of Workers say Morale is High in the Workplace, According to Study
According to Rick D. Westbrook, Salt Lake branch manager of Robert Half Company, the study is good news for employers and employees. Employers need to show concern with moral because firms that don't take care of their employees risk losing them to other companies, Westbrook said.
"It's (morale) really at this point a key thing for retention, productivity and overall success for the organization," Westbrook said.
Good morale also improves productivity and retention. Westbrook gave advice on how this environment can be created.
"It all starts with the individual," Westbrook said. "If the individual is happy and enjoys what they do, then it goes around and everyone participates and enjoys. In this survey 81 percent of employees are at least 'somewhat good' or 'good' in their morale. That's pretty high. I don't think we would have been that high a year or two ago."
The study said key things affect morale, including allowing an environment that helps people produce work they are proud of, providing a place where they can partner with colleagues in respect and be in an environment where their contributions are valued.
Communicating daily with employees, using surveys and exit interviews are the most effective measures of morale, according to the study. Deseret News
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Construction Industry Still Looking for the Upswing
Despite hopes the industry would be looking up, construction companies are still trying to hold on and wait for an economic bounce back, according to a group of construction executives at Utah Business magazine’s roundtable Tuesday morning.
Many are also worried that the long-term depression in construction is has reduced interest in construction jobs and companies will face a future shortage of workers and an experience gap in leadership.
“While there is some work out there, is there enough? Several years ago, in 2008 and 2009, we had about $1.5 billion of work in the building industry that we could go after. Now we’re down to about $586 million and we’re still the same guys around the table going after that work,” said Rob Moore, president of Big-D.
Paul Campbell, Wheeler Machinery vice president, said that lack of upward movement is reflected in the equipment side. Companies are simply replacing equipment, not expanding the fleet, and more people are renting rather than buying.
The overall feeling is flat, said Dale Campbell, R&O Construction president. “There are ups and downs throughout the year and there’s a little excitement, but then the project gets put on hold or something happens and the excitement dies,” he said.
The residential market is improving, but is still only about a third of what it was at the height of the market, said Jason Kilgore, president of Kilgore Companies. The subdivision side of residential is still a little worse than everything else. While he said news that the sector is improving is true, “30 or 40 percent of nothing is still nothing.”
In the meantime, companies at the table were finding work wherever possible, in jobs like renovations, medical facilities, or food and distribution facilities.
Another concern is a “lost generation,” said Jeff Beecher, Layton Construction executive vice president. Several years ago, there was high demand for people coming into the industry, but now not as many are looking into construction as a career. When business does pick back up, Beecher said he is worried that there will not be the same supply of qualified people.
Other attendees expressed concern that with fewer and lower-budget projects, the younger people in the company haven’t had the same opportunities to learn and grow into leadership roles that other employees are getting ready to retire from.
Moore said many people don’t realize construction still pays 7 percent more on average than other private sector jobs in Utah. The industry needs to do a better job of helping people understand that, he said, so they will have a steady supply of qualified employees. Utah Business
Many are also worried that the long-term depression in construction is has reduced interest in construction jobs and companies will face a future shortage of workers and an experience gap in leadership.
“While there is some work out there, is there enough? Several years ago, in 2008 and 2009, we had about $1.5 billion of work in the building industry that we could go after. Now we’re down to about $586 million and we’re still the same guys around the table going after that work,” said Rob Moore, president of Big-D.
Paul Campbell, Wheeler Machinery vice president, said that lack of upward movement is reflected in the equipment side. Companies are simply replacing equipment, not expanding the fleet, and more people are renting rather than buying.
The overall feeling is flat, said Dale Campbell, R&O Construction president. “There are ups and downs throughout the year and there’s a little excitement, but then the project gets put on hold or something happens and the excitement dies,” he said.
The residential market is improving, but is still only about a third of what it was at the height of the market, said Jason Kilgore, president of Kilgore Companies. The subdivision side of residential is still a little worse than everything else. While he said news that the sector is improving is true, “30 or 40 percent of nothing is still nothing.”
In the meantime, companies at the table were finding work wherever possible, in jobs like renovations, medical facilities, or food and distribution facilities.
Another concern is a “lost generation,” said Jeff Beecher, Layton Construction executive vice president. Several years ago, there was high demand for people coming into the industry, but now not as many are looking into construction as a career. When business does pick back up, Beecher said he is worried that there will not be the same supply of qualified people.
Other attendees expressed concern that with fewer and lower-budget projects, the younger people in the company haven’t had the same opportunities to learn and grow into leadership roles that other employees are getting ready to retire from.
Moore said many people don’t realize construction still pays 7 percent more on average than other private sector jobs in Utah. The industry needs to do a better job of helping people understand that, he said, so they will have a steady supply of qualified employees. Utah Business
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Foreign sheepherders in Utah divided on wages, working conditions
Some migrant herders who have worked in Utah complain that their living conditions were inadequate, food was scarce and pay was poor.
Some fled from the employers who paid to bring them to the U.S., while others are now making a legal complaint to the U.S. Department of Labor, petitioning for better working conditions for future herders coming from Latin America to work on Utah's isolated ranges.
Most migrant sheepherders come from Peru or Chile, contracting to work long, lonely hours in harsh conditions for a minimum of $750 a month, most of which is sent home to their families in South America.
They are specialized in their field; most have tended sheep all their lives.
Curt Stewart, spokesman for the Utah Department of Workforce Services, said the monthly rate for sheepherders hasn't changed in "a long time."
The program has sparked debate about living conditions, treatment of workers and compensation, drawing rave reviews from some H-2A visa holders —temporary agricultural work visas —and criticism from others.
Some employers have complained that after paying to bring workers to the U.S., the men abandon their posts after only a few months to seek more gainful employment in other industries, such as the oil fields. Others take pride in seeing workers return to their ranch for several contracts.
The life of a sheepherder is taxing. Herders spend weeks or months living alone in tiny trailers on the range, working seven days a week without a day off and no one but the sheep and a few dogs for company.
Tonia Fuller, a spokeswoman for the Utah Wool Growers Association, said complaints by foreign workers are trumped up by unnamed groups seeking to harm the sheep industry.
Those who accept sheepherder jobs do so knowing what the conditions will be like and what the job expectations will be thanks to a screening and interview during the application process.
Chad Edgington who owns Ace Land Livestock, said it's in ranchers' best interest to treat the workers well, provide them with top-of-the line gear and encourage them to return. More than that, he said, it's the right thing to do.
In 18 years, Edgington said he has only had one migrant worker skip out on a contract. As returning workers come back for new contracts, they bring hugs, gifts and tales of their families to share with him.
The Utah Department of Workforce Services facilitates the inspections, as required by the Department of Labor. Ranchers in rural areas have the option of conducting and reporting self-inspections, although an in-person inspection is required by the department every three years.
Inspections include checking the housing site, water supply, restroom and bathing facilities, cooking areas, safety measures and other standards stipulated by the Operational Safety and Health Administration, Stewart said.
The Department of Workforce Services also provides an ombudsman who can take employee complaints or those filed on behalf of employees by concerned parties.
Simple violations such as missing window screens or dead batteries in smoke detectors are met with a warning and sometimes a fine or a follow-up inspection. Serious violations are handled by the Department of Labor, which is responsible for issuing fines.
In the past year, Workforce Services has conducted 30 investigations of sheepherder operations in Utah, citing four violations, he said.
Retaining skilled sheepherders who have familiarized themselves with the operation is the best way to benefit ranchers, Stewart said, which is why it is important the workers have the option of a three-year contract and aren't required to spend six months outside of the U.S. between contracts.
"Experience and continuity are key to successful sheep herding because of the large, expansive grazing land that comprise most sheep operations and the necessity to care for the animals themselves," Stewart said. Deseret News
Some fled from the employers who paid to bring them to the U.S., while others are now making a legal complaint to the U.S. Department of Labor, petitioning for better working conditions for future herders coming from Latin America to work on Utah's isolated ranges.
Most migrant sheepherders come from Peru or Chile, contracting to work long, lonely hours in harsh conditions for a minimum of $750 a month, most of which is sent home to their families in South America.
They are specialized in their field; most have tended sheep all their lives.
Curt Stewart, spokesman for the Utah Department of Workforce Services, said the monthly rate for sheepherders hasn't changed in "a long time."
The program has sparked debate about living conditions, treatment of workers and compensation, drawing rave reviews from some H-2A visa holders —temporary agricultural work visas —and criticism from others.
Some employers have complained that after paying to bring workers to the U.S., the men abandon their posts after only a few months to seek more gainful employment in other industries, such as the oil fields. Others take pride in seeing workers return to their ranch for several contracts.
The life of a sheepherder is taxing. Herders spend weeks or months living alone in tiny trailers on the range, working seven days a week without a day off and no one but the sheep and a few dogs for company.
Tonia Fuller, a spokeswoman for the Utah Wool Growers Association, said complaints by foreign workers are trumped up by unnamed groups seeking to harm the sheep industry.
Those who accept sheepherder jobs do so knowing what the conditions will be like and what the job expectations will be thanks to a screening and interview during the application process.
Chad Edgington who owns Ace Land Livestock, said it's in ranchers' best interest to treat the workers well, provide them with top-of-the line gear and encourage them to return. More than that, he said, it's the right thing to do.
In 18 years, Edgington said he has only had one migrant worker skip out on a contract. As returning workers come back for new contracts, they bring hugs, gifts and tales of their families to share with him.
The Utah Department of Workforce Services facilitates the inspections, as required by the Department of Labor. Ranchers in rural areas have the option of conducting and reporting self-inspections, although an in-person inspection is required by the department every three years.
Inspections include checking the housing site, water supply, restroom and bathing facilities, cooking areas, safety measures and other standards stipulated by the Operational Safety and Health Administration, Stewart said.
The Department of Workforce Services also provides an ombudsman who can take employee complaints or those filed on behalf of employees by concerned parties.
Simple violations such as missing window screens or dead batteries in smoke detectors are met with a warning and sometimes a fine or a follow-up inspection. Serious violations are handled by the Department of Labor, which is responsible for issuing fines.
In the past year, Workforce Services has conducted 30 investigations of sheepherder operations in Utah, citing four violations, he said.
Retaining skilled sheepherders who have familiarized themselves with the operation is the best way to benefit ranchers, Stewart said, which is why it is important the workers have the option of a three-year contract and aren't required to spend six months outside of the U.S. between contracts.
"Experience and continuity are key to successful sheep herding because of the large, expansive grazing land that comprise most sheep operations and the necessity to care for the animals themselves," Stewart said. Deseret News
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Registering Your Business Just Got Simpler
Utah was the first state to streamline business registration, putting the entire process online in 2003. This saves the average Utah business owner over 80 hours when registering a new business. Recently, Utah's OneStop Business Registration Program (OSBR), osbr.utah.gov, has been significantly enhanced to further improve the user experience, allow for more business types to file online, and simplify the business registration process.
The OneStop Business Registration system transformed a traditional three-week process by providing the service online, 24 hours a day, 7 days per week. Exceptional inter-governmental collaboration between respective agencies, including the Utah State Tax Commission, Utah Department of Commerce, Utah Department of Workforce Services, Governor's Office of Economic Development, and 10 participating cities, allows business owners to register their business without filing additional paperwork and/or documentation.
Since inception, over 200,000 new businesses have been registered online. Now, over 60% of all businesses registered within the state are online. With over 2,600 new registrations on average each month, this results in monthly savings of approximately 208,000 hours for Utah businesses per year. In 2011, 27,000 businesses were registered online. Market Watch
Friday, May 4, 2012
Measuring the Value of Utah's Job Matching System - Trendlines article
One of the services Utah’s Department of Workforce Services (DWS) provides to employers is a no-cost, web-based job matching system. This system, in the simplest terms, allows employers to recruit for new workers through an online service (at http://jobs.utah.gov/). The system then searches registered applicants and presents to the employer a list of job seekers matching their criteria. Employers may interview and select from the referrals provided. A long-standing question has been how to measure the value of the job matching system in relation to the overall labor economy.
DWS’ Workforce Research and Analysis Division (WRA) recently developed an innovative method to measure the real market share of this activity. The challenge has been the limitation of traditional micro-data to identify the actual universe of new hiring activity in the labor market. In order to know the impact of the public job matching system, it is necessary to know which employers are hiring and to match those employers to the DWS job matching system.
To read the entire article, click here
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)