Presentation for

1
Changing the Employer/Worker Relationship
Pamela LoprestThe Urban InstituteSeptember
2006

• Presentation for
• Employer Perspectives on Workers with
  Disabilities National Summit to Develop a
  Research Agenda

2
Understanding Labor Market Context

• Global Competition
• Outsourcing of jobs small impact on economy so
  far
• Cost pressures
• Increased productivity
• More output per worker - 30 increase in past 15
  years
• Partly technology
• Restructuring of work

3
Important Trends Changing Work

• Growth in service sectors away from manufacturing
• Some evidence of declines in physical demands of
  jobs
• More jobs require adaptability to changing
  circumstances problem-solving multiple tasks

4
Important Trends Declining ESI

• Employer HI declining
• 69.6 to 62.4 from 96 to 02 (private sector
  employees)
• Offer rates steady - Eligibility and Enrollment
  falling
• Cost increasing
• Avg. employee premium up 65 from 96 to 02
• Eligibility falling
• More part-time employees and restrictions

5
Important Trends Changing employer/worker
relationships

• Job stability and tenure
• Mixed evidence suggests some decline in tenure at
  younger ages but not for current older workers
• Flexible work arrangements
• Contract/contingent work/telecommuting
• Possibilities of technology
• Increase in part-time work
• 13.2 in 1970 to 17.5 in 2004

6
Importance of Employer Size

• Only 10 of establishments in U.S. have 100 or
  more employees
• About 40 of workers work for employers with less
  than 100 employees (excludes self-employed)
• Small employers
• Less likely to offer health insurance and pension
• Less likely to offer paid leave
• Not required to provide unpaid leave FMLA under
  50 employees

7
Low-Wage Labor Market

• 35 million Americans nearly ¼ of workforce earn
  less than 9 per hour
• 17 of 20 fasting growing occupations are ones
  that typically are low-wage
• e.g., retail sales, food prep and wait staff,
  cashiers, janitors and cleaners, nursing aides
  and orderlies, receptionists, teacher assistants
  and home health aides.
• High-road vs. Low-road organization of work

8
Returns to Education

• College wage premium relative to high school was
  42 in 2003
• High school relative to no high school was 20 in
  2003

9
Surveying Employers Benefits

• Some information not easily gathered by surveying
  employees
• e.g. Benefits offered, training/promotion
  policies
• Representative results
• Need more information on connections among
  different employer characteristics
• e.g. how benefits offered correlate to specific
  job demands

10
Surveying Employers Content

• Hiring
• Use of/experience with intermediaries Importance
  of soft/hard skills
• Specific requirements of job
• Typical tasks and organization of work
• Employer-provided training supports
• Flexibility
• Employer sponsored benefits offered
• Attitudes and past experience on hiring persons
  w/ disabilities

11
Conclusions

• There isnt one labor market
• Individuals skills and abilities interact with
  labor market demands
• Changes in the social contract between business
  and workforce