1. Gender differences in occupational distributions among workers [Monthly Labor Review - June 2007], by Paul E. Gabriel and Susanne Schmitz (BLS)

Summary: An investigation of gender differences in occupational attainment of prime-age U.S. workers reveals that such differences do exist, especially among women, but apparently are the results of voluntary choices and long-term changes in the labor market.

2. Immigration: Wages, Education and Mobility [July 2007], by Ron Haskins

Summary: Most economists believe that immigration, like trade, is on balance good for America. But the term "on balance" masks an important issue: whether immigration, like trade, hurts some Americans while helping others. More specifically, what is the impact of immigration on inequality and economic mobility in America?

3. Working time flexibility in European companies [August 2007], by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Dublin Foundation)

Summary: This report provides unique insight into the various working time flexibility arrangements currently in place in companies across Europe and whether and how countries differ in their application of flexible working time systems. Additional analysis of the perceived impact of such arrangements on company performance in terms of economic success and employment stability or growth is also performed.

4. Multinational Long-Term Incentive Plans Move to Local Practices [24 July 2007], by Towers Perrin

Summary: Many U.S. companies are significantly decreasing the size of their equity awards to executives outside the U.S. Only 24% of companies expect in the near future to grant the same number of shares to both U.S. and non-U.S. employees at the same level in the organization, abandoning a once- predominant practice, according to Towers Perrin's 2007 Global Long-Term Incentive Policies Survey. Instead of "one size fits all," companies are differentiating long-term incentive (LTI) award sizes by geography and tying awards closer to local-country practices.

5. New Quarterly Data From BLS on Business Employment Dynamics by State [30 August 2007], by the BLS

Summary: Data on Business Employment Dynamics (BED) by state were introduced and are now available from the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor. These data track the number of jobs gained from opening and expanding establishments and the number of jobs lost at contracting and closing establishments each quarter from September 1992 to December 2006 for the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Beginning with data for first quarter 2007, state data will appear in the quarterly BED news release.

6. Asia's Rising Science & Technology Strength: Comparative Indicators for Asia, the EU and the US [2 August 2007], by the National Science Foundation

Summary: This report provides a range of standard indicators of S&T infrastructure and performance to highlight the growth of Asia's S&T enterprise. Where possible, it provides comparable information for Asia (Japan, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand), the EU, and the United States. Japan is also shown separately, as are other major Asian economies, for specific indicators.

7. Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2006 report [28 August 2007], by the US Census Bureau

Summary: This report presents data on income, poverty, and health insurance coverage in the United States based on information collected in the 2007 and earlier Annual Social and Economic Supplements (ASEC) to the Current Population Survey (CPS) conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau.

8. Pension Plan Freezes Slowing [23 July 2007], by Watson Wyatt

Summary: The rate of pension plan freezes among FORTUNE 1000 firms has slowed, and the majority of companies with defined benefit plans are committed to keeping them. An analysis of pension plan sponsorship among FORTUNE 1000 companies shows that the share of plan sponsors freezing their plans dropped from 7 percent in 2006 to 4 percent in 2007. New freezes reached their highest levels in 2006, when 42 additional firms on the FORTUNE 1000 list had frozen plans.

9. Employee Benefits In Private Industry In The U.S. [ 22 August 2007], by the BLS

Summary: Just over one-half of workers in private industry participated in employer-sponsored retirement and medical care plans in March 2007. More workers had access to medical plans (71 percent) than to retirement plans (61 percent), but workers were more likely to participate in the latter. Nearly all workers who had access to a defined benefit retirement plan took advantage of the opportunity to participate in it. This summary presents information on the incidence and key provisions of these and other employee benefit plans by a variety of worker and establishment characteristics and for various geographic areas.

10. Job Satisfaction & Labor Market Mobility [July 2007], by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Dublin Foundation)

Summary: The European Year of Mobility 2006 recognizes that geographic and job mobility raises flexibility in the labor market and may contribute to job growth in the European Union. It is frequently claimed that the European Employment Strategy focuses mainly on creating more jobs and less effort is devoted to creating better jobs. The relationship between job satisfaction and different indicators of labor market mobility are analyzed, as both constitute important elements of the European employment strategy.

Learn more...

HR Division News

email: news@hrdiv.org