Free Membership Existing Members Weekly e.Newsletter Expert Insight Tech Showcase Breaking News Research Center Required Reading Advertising Info About Us Site Search	Research Documents Select Category Breaking News Contributed Articles In Other News Required Reading Research Documents White Papers Number of Companies Planning to Reverse Salary, Hiring Freezes Jumps Sharply Since August Approximately half of the companies that froze salaries and hiring in the past year now plan to unfreeze them in the next six months, according to the latest update to an ongoing series of surveys by Watson Wyatt, a global consulting firm. Nevertheless, employers remain concerned about their ability, both currently and in the long run, to attract and retain critical-skill employees. According to the survey, more than half (54 percent) of employers that froze salaries plan to unfreeze them within the next six months, a sharp increase from 33 percent in August and 17 percent in June. Almost half (49 percent) also plan to reverse hiring freezes at least partially in the next six months, compared with 38 percent two months ago. The survey also found that an increasing number of employers are planning to reverse reductions to 401(k) match contributions in the next six months -- this number has increased to 35 percent, from 24 percent two months ago and only 5 percent in June. Overall, 56 percent of companies have instituted a salary freeze and a hiring freeze since the economic crisis began, and 25 percent have reduced their employer match. Watson Wyatt's latest bimonthly survey was conducted in October 2009 and includes responses from 201 large employers. Looking ahead three to five years, half (50 percent) of employers expect an increase in difficulty in attracting critical-skill employees, and 55 percent expect an increase in difficulty in retaining critical-skill employees. In light of the recession, 44 percent of employers have encouraged managers to make greater use of recognition plans. However, only 8 percent of these employers have seen managers actually increase their use of these plans to a significant or great extent. Other findings from the survey include: Thirty-seven percent of companies think their results have already bottomed out, compared to 27 percent in August. For companies expecting to reinstate their 401(k) or 403(b) match, 70 percent will change it back to the original level. Thirteen percent will reinstate the match at a new, lower level, while 17 percent will vary it by year, based on company profits. For companies expecting to make offers to new hires, 83 percent will do so for professional, non-managerial staff, followed by 71 percent for director, manager or middle management positions. Only 47 percent will be hiring for senior management or executive level positions. Only 37 percent of employers plan to organize a holiday party in 2009, compared with 47 percent that organized one in 2008 and 70 percent in 2007. Two in five (41 percent) that are planning a holiday party have seen their budgets decrease. [Full Article] Nov-13-2009 IT Employee Confidence Index Up in Third Quarter of 2009 The IT Employee Confidence Index increased 4.4 points to 50.2 in the third quarter of 2009, according to a recent survey commissioned by Technisource, the technology placement division of Spherion Corporation. The survey, conducted by Harris Interactive, reveals increased confidence among IT workers, as more technology professionals reveal confidence in the economy and job market. Additionally, 40 percent of workers are likely to look for a new job in the next 12 months (compared to 37 percent in the second quarter of 2009). Results from the IT Employment Report: Despite nearly one-third of technology workers (31 percent) believing the economy is getting weaker (compared to 48 percent in the second quarter of 2009), more workers are likely to search for a new job in the next year (40 percent versus 37 percent in the second quarter). Fewer IT workers are confident in the future of their current employers. Specifically, 57 percent say they are confident versus 64 percent in the previous quarter. Sixty-three percent of workers believe there are fewer jobs available opposed to 73 percent in the second quarter of 2009. [Full Article] Nov-13-2009 The State of US Workforce Technology Adoption A new Forrester Research Inc. Workforce Technographics survey, designed to demonstrate the technology adoption habits of information workers (iWorkers), shows that while email and desktop computers are ubiquitous, few other applications or devices are and that more experienced employees -- not Generation Y -- are the leading users of social technology on the job. Forrester surveyed respondents on workplace adoption of technologies such as devices -- PCs and laptops -- productivity tools, mobility, collaboration software, intranet portals, and Web 2.0 technologies. Highlights include: Devices. The desktop still dominates the workplace. Three out of four iWorkers use a desktop, and 63 percent of desktop users spend four or more hours per day on it. However, more than one-third of respondents use more than one device at least weekly. Productivity tools. Email, word processing, and spreadsheets are the top three productivity tools used by iWorkers, but even the use of those applications fluctuates greatly. Email is used by 57 percent of iWorkers hourly. However, word processing and spreadsheets are not used as frequently -- only 16 percent and 14 percent, respectively, of iWorkers use these applications every hour. Mobility. Only one in 10 iWorkers has a smartphone for work, but almost one in three iWorkers agree that they use a personal mobile phone for work purposes. There is demand among iWorkers for smartphones. Collaboration. With collaboration tools going widely untapped by companies -- only one in four iWorkers use Web conferencing and one in five use team sites -- email remains the de facto collaboration tool for most professionals, with an 87 percent adoption rate. Intranet portals. Seventy percent of all iWorkers visit the employee portal and 43 percent do so at least daily. Search is the most commonly used resource on the portal, followed by information related to performance reviews and personal goals. Web 2.0 technologies. Surprise -- Gen Y is not leading business adoption of social technologies. Even though 59 percent of these 18-to-29-year-old professionals use social technologies at home, only 14 percent use them in the workplace -- the same percentage as Gen X employees, ages 30 to 43. Instead of social technologies, mobile texting is Gen Y's communication method of choice: 51 percent are using their personal mobile for texting at work. [Full Article] Oct-17-2009 Survey Reveals that 60% of Contact Center Agents Feel Technology is Failing Them -- and 83% of Consumers Agree Technology is failing to provide sufficient and timely information in customer service situations. This is the key finding of a new survey conducted by Corizon, an enterprise mashup company. Conducted across the UK in August 2009, a joint survey of 2,127 consumers by YouGov and of 90 contact center managers by Corizon, revealed that despite significant investment in technology to increase customer service, strategies are not being delivered in ways that satisfy consumers, agents or businesses. The survey discovered that contact center staff face challenges from the increasing numbers of applications that they need to switch between when responding to customer queries. More than a third (37%) of call center managers cited this as a problem, with 30% saying that it had worsened over the past year. In addition, three quarters (75%) of mangers said that their agents used three to five different software applications to handle customer service queries during a typical working day, and 40% said their agents used 5 or more applications. One manager even admitted that contact center agents used as many as 18 different applications. Of all the consumers surveyed, most (83%) said they had experienced and were frustrated by long waiting times, 69% said they had experienced and were frustrated by repeating information when passed to another agent and 68% had experienced and were frustrated by having to repeat information from a previous call – all of which are consequences of the number of disparate applications that agents are forced to use, compounded by the inaccessibility of information across those applications. As a direct result of the myriad of applications being used in contact centers, 32% of contact center managers surveyed believed their agents' desktops were becoming more unstable. Applications are crashing, freezing and becoming unavailable to frontline staff, as often incompatible software struggles to work together. One in ten managers even felt that ending customer calls due to application instability was their most common problem. In the UK, contact centers represent a critical sector of employment with 958,000 working in more than 5,000 public and private sector call centers, an employment figure expected to increase to over a million by 2012. [Full Article] Oct-17-2009 TOA, Harris Interactive Report Outlines High Cost of Waiting Waiting for service or home delivery is not only a pain in the backside but it also costs employees money. A new survey by TOA Technologies and Harris Interactive, the TOA Technologies 2009 Cost of Waiting Survey, reveals that: 32 percent have taken a sick day or vacation day to wait at home for a service call or delivery in the first six months of 2009 Almost 1 in 5 Americans lost wages by taking unpaid time off work to wait at home in the first six months of 2009 29 percent have left their home in frustration because the service/delivery person was late 82 percent wait on average at least 1 day per year in their homes for service calls or deliveries The survey results also indicate that companies suffer when their customers experience excessive wait times. According to the survey, firms lose revenue, reputation and customer retention because they leave customers waiting without knowing when the appointment will actually happen: 37 percent of consumers think long wait times occur because companies take advantage of the consumer who wants or needs the service 18 percent have refused or cancelled a product/service because the service/delivery person was late or didn't show up at the promised time 57 percent say the company providing the service is at fault if the delivery/service is late or doesn't show The report reveals several interesting demographic and regional differences. For example men wait for cable more than women: 27 percent versus 20 percent. Households with incomes over $75,000 had generally waited more in 2009 (60 percent), for longer periods of time (73 percent 2 or more days) and had taken more paid-time off (39 percent) than the national average or any other income level. Source: TMCnet [Full Article] Sep-18-2009 << Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Next >> Page: 5/20   Articles: 100

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