This month, we’ve been talking about What’s Impacting the Labor Force Participation Rate. Last week, Lorrie shared how the Benefits Cliff impacted the participation in When Working Costs Too Much. Another significant factor in this equation is Baby Boomers exiting the workforce. Let’s dive a little deeper. Baby Boomers account for 1 in 4 American workers. As they are exiting in droves, their absence will lead to an even wider workforce gap as companies will need to fill positions made available after the Boomers retire. Check out this article from The Washington Post to learn more: The boomers are retiring. See
Last week, Emily gave an overview of What’s Impacting the Labor Force Participation Rate. This week I’m going to take a deeper dive into one of the areas she touched on; the benefits cliff. When analyzing the labor participation rate, you have to look at the poverty rate and public assistance participation rate. The current poverty rate in Alabama is 14.9%, which’s places us #7 in the nation for highest poverty rate. Given the high poverty rate, it’s important to look at the living wage and average wage rates paid. A living wage varies based on circumstances. For example, a
What is the Labor Participation Rate and how does it impact employers and the economic outlook? According to OECD.org, “The labor force participation rate is calculated as the labor force divided by the total working-age population. The working age population refers to people aged 15 to 64. This indicator is broken down by age group and it is measured as a percentage of each age group.” There are many factors impacting the Labor Market in 2023 including the benefits’ cliff, boomers exiting the workforce, the rate of working-aged males declining, women leaving the workforce by the millions and the decline
Supply and Demand. The first lesson of Economics, or at least I remember it that way. The most important lesson of economics as I remember it. Maybe I’m remembering it wrong, but I think the issues of the supply and demand of labor need to be reinforced when we think about anything and everything that is going on in our world. And one of those things is union activity. The issues at Starbuck, Amazon, UPS… the list goes on and on about union organization and in the media seems on the surface to be about wages, benefits, and the overall
School is starting back, and that means I’m collecting the latest news on union activity – good, bad, and ugly – for a college-level labor relations course I’m teaching. Each of us at Horizon Point has a unique perspective on the union landscape through our work with various clients and projects, which we’ll be sharing in a series over the next few weeks. I’m kicking us off with a look at union activity right here in our North Alabama region, featuring a snippet from the 2023 Wage & Benefit Survey. When asked if any employees are represented by a union,