53 years ago today, I started my corporate work life. I was a naive, freshly minted engineer who wasn’t sure I had anything to contribute. But the pay was good. I had no idea how I would spend all that … Continue reading 53 Years Ago Today…
This is part four of a series on what the US might learn from Sweden. This week we will talk about wages and pensions. Wages In The US 43% of US workers earn less than $15/hour while the top 33% … Continue reading InDepth – Sweden Post #4 – Wages/Pensions
SEATTLE — Microsoft said on Wednesday that it would offer new parents an additional eight weeks of paid time off from their jobs at the company, in a significant boost to its parental leave benefits. Microsoft’s changes to its policy came a day after Netflix, the online video service, said it would allow new mothers and fathers who are employees to take as much paid time off as they need during the first year after the birth or adoption of a child. The more generous policies are a way to hold onto employees, particularly the highly skilled technical workers who … Continue reading The Disparity of Benefits… And a Possible Solution…
Today I celebrate the anniversary of one of the major milestones in my life. Forty four years ago as a young naive recently graduated engineer I left the Purdue University campus to take my place in the corporate world. It was a very different world back then than what it is now. Corporate Loyalty – I would over the years become very loyal to the company brand. I wouldn’t think of going to a competitor even if doing so would save me a few bucks. I was proudly part of an institution that valued my contributions. The 1970s were a … Continue reading Today I Celebrate…
But with pensions for non-government workers on a path toward extinction, federal employees get little sympathy from most experts. “Their private sector counterparts would be jealous of the benefits they’re maintaining,” said John Ehrhardt, a principal at the actuarial and consulting firm Milliman. While 38 percent of private industry workers received pensions in 1979, just 14 percent did so in 2011, the most recent figures from the Employee Benefit Research Institute, which advocates for benefit programs. Besides retaining their pensions, most federal workers also can contribute to a 401(k)-like savings program, the Thrift Savings Plan. That combination is far better … Continue reading Federal workers’ pensions targeted in budget deal
From taking tighter control over the health insurance market themselves to pushing decisions and costs down to individuals, businesses are experimenting with a host of new ways to offer health-care coverage, spurred in part by the launch of the Affordable Care Act, but also by the inexorable rise in the cost of medical care in the United States. The moves promise to change a social compact that has existed between employers and employees over health-care coverage for more than a half century. SOURCE: America’s ‘other’ health-care revolution – CSMonitor.com. Of course changes are coming to employer based healthcare. In the … Continue reading Of Course Its Coming…
RJ's Corner - Having My Say 