Survey: Employment Trends Downward

News Editor — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 08:22:23 +0000

Hiring expectations for the fourth quarter are improving around the world apart from in the U.S. That’s the finding of two quarterly employment outlook surveys released by recruitment firm Manpower. Its U.S. Employment Outlook Survey showed only 12 percent expect to add to their workforce in the October-December period, while 14 percent expect a decline and 69 percent see no change, reported Dow Jones. Manpower says the results suggest employers expect a slight decrease in the rate of hiring when compared to third-quarter results. The outlook is “considerably weaker” than the year-ago results, the survey said. “The results point to a recovery in the major international economies except for Japan,” says Manpower Chief Executive Jeffrey Joerres. “But the U.S. is only at a stabilization point and at a very low point.” Globally, employers in 17 of the 35 countries and territories expect to add to their workforce next quarter, according to the Manpower Global Outlook Survey. And 20 of 34 regions reported an improvement in the job outlook, “indicating an easing in the pattern of layoffs prevalent in the past several quarters,” the survey said.

Study: CEOs Accumulated More Wealth

Joseph McCafferty — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

From 2006 to 2007, the median value of total stock holdings and accumulated retirement benefits for Fortune 500 CEOs increased by 6.1 percent, rising from $53.4 million to $56.7 million. These amounts include pension benefits, deferred compensation, outstanding option awards, unvested stock awards, and shares owned outright, according to Equilar.

The review of Compensation Discussion and Analysis (CD&A) reports of Fortune 500 companies by Equilar found an increase in the prevalence of companies that considered accumulated wealth when determining executive pay levels from 8.4 percent in 2006 to 14.5 percent in 2007.

For key board leadership positions, Equilar found that median total board-level compensation for non-executive chairs at Fortune 500 companies increased from $258,500 in 2006 to $264,000 in 2007.

Other findings:

For lead directors, median total compensation increased from $174,843 to $189,413 over the same period.
The prevalence of Fortune 500 companies with independent board leadership positions grew from 78.4 percent to 80.9 percent.
In 2007, 71.7 percent of non-executive chairs and 45.8 percent of lead directors at Fortune 500 companies received a pay premium over regular board members not holding a leadership role.

Companies that consider accumulated wealth in the study included Halliburton, ManPower, Big Lots, Rockwell Automation, Dillards, and Aetna.

Directorship | Boardroom Intelligence » ManPower

Survey: Employment Trends Downward

Study: CEOs Accumulated More Wealth