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
A few weeks ago, I asked the question “Are Employees Utilizing Those New Perks?” and highlighted benchmarking as a critical activity for evaluating workplace benefits. Now, we have the published results from the 2022 North Central Alabama Wage & Benefit Survey! First up, Average Benefit-Cost Per Employee (Annual) increased 25% over 2021. Employers reported an average of $16,608 spent annually per employee in benefits, compared to $12,459 one year ago. Some hot categories for increased benefits spending are Child Care Support, Adoption Support, Pet Insurance, and Elder Care Support. These types of benefits are increasingly attractive, and the Huntsville/Madison County
This morning I read about 3 economists who’ve been awarded the Nobel Prize for their research and impact on critical workforce issues including minimum wage, immigration, and education. Their research on minimum wage in the 1990s found that raising the minimum wage had no effect on the number of employees, showing that companies could effectively raise the minimum wage, retain top talent, and increase the number of applicants in the labor pool. That was 30 years ago. We’ve come a long way, but as we find ourselves in 2021, employers struggle to find and retain talent – particularly in retail
Does your area have a local wage and/or benefit survey? Do you participate? You should! Here’s why and how. National wage reports are helpful to study the big picture of economic growth, but these reports might not (probably don’t) reflect the small picture of your business in your community. Further, a 2021 study found that U.S. workers may get 19% less than federal estimates: Some tools, like CompAnalyst and SHRM, offer comprehensive data (for a hefty fee) that can be helpful in determining pay ranges and comparing company wage data to industry benchmarks. We use resources like these for some
Are your company’s wages in line with the market? Inflation is often the topic of conversation in the news and in everyday conversation. I recently read an article about Social Security increases, the largest in more than a decade, is on the horizon; you can check the article out here: Social Security Cost-of-Living Adjustment Could be the Highest in 13 Years. What does that mean for individuals? It means you should know your worth, or rather, know what the going rate is for your role. I’m currently working on a wage compensation study and researched the Consumer Price Index to