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CONTACT: Elizabeth Miller
Families and Work Institute
(212) 465-8421
emiller@familiesandwork.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Nov. 1, 2006

ENTRY-LEVEL, HOURLY EMPLOYEES ARE MORE LIKELY TO BE PRODUCTIVE AND SATISFIED WITH THEIR JOBS IN SUPPORTIVE WORKPLACES
New Reports Reveal What Makes Entry-Level, Hourly Employees Most Effective

NEW YORK , NY – Entry-level, hourly employees are more likely to be productive, engaged and satisfied with their jobs when employers provide them with the same kinds of access to supportive jobs given to their higher-wage counterparts, according to three new reports released by Families and Work Institute today.

These reports profile the bottom quartile of the workforce, defined as employees whose earnings fall in the bottom 25 percent of the earnings distribution, which is less than $9.73 per hour in 2005 dollars and live in household below 200% of the federal poverty threshold. Using FWI’s nationally representative study of the U.S. workforce, conducted in 2002-2003, the reports ask: What do we know about entry-level, hourly employees, what access do they have to effective workplaces, and what difference does that access make to both the employee and their employer? In How Can Employers Increase Productivity & Retention of Entry-Level, Hourly Employees?, the second report in the series, Families and Work Institute found that when low-wage and low-income employees have access to effective workplaces, including providing employees with more responsibility, accountability and support, it makes a bigger difference than when these supports are provided to more advantaged employees. For example:

  • When low-wage and low-income employees have more job autonomy and more workplace flexibility, they experience less negative spillover from home to work (affecting their ability to concentrate on their job and do the best job they can at work), more so than when mid- and high-wage counterparts have autonomy and flexibility.
  • When low-wage and low-income employees have more learning opportunities on the job, more fringe benefits and supervisors who are supportive when work and family life issues arise, these employees are more likely to be satisfied at their job than higher-wage and –income employees.

“There has been an understandable business focus on providing good workplaces for top and pipeline talent, but our reports show that employers get, in many instances, more of an impact if they also provide this kind of good workplace to their entry-level employees,” says Ellen Galinsky, president and co-founder of Families and Work Institute. “In fact, many of the aspects of an effective workplace are low-cost or no-cost. They just have to do with how people treat each other.” These three reports find that, in most cases, low-wage and -income employees are not given the same access to effective workplaces as their higher wage counterparts. For instance:

  • Thirty-nine percent of low-wage and low-income employees are allowed some amount of paid-time off for personal illness, compared with 79 percent of their mid- and higher-wage and -income counterparts.
  • Only 45 percent of low-wage and low-income employees report having a high level of on-the-job learning opportunities, compared with 64 percent of mid-wage and -income employees, and 81percent of high-wage and -income employees.

The first report in the series, What Do We Know About Entry-Level, Hourly Employees?, analyzes the demographics of low-wage, low-income employees and discredits many commonly held assumptions about the entry-level, hourly workforce. “If one compares the demographic characteristics of this population to their more advantaged counterparts, it is not surprising that they are more likely than to be younger, female, unmarried, single parents, less well-educated, minorities, immigrants, recent hires with little tenure and part-time or seasonal workers,” says James T. Bond, vice president of research for Families and Work Institute. “But significant numbers—and often majorities—do not fit those descriptions.” For example, Families and Work Institute reports in What Do We Know About Entry-Level, Hourly Employees? that many low-wage and low-income workers are not single parents, as some would assume. In fact, only 14 percent of all low-wage and low-income employees are single parents, meaning 86 percent are not. Further, more than two out of five low-wage and low-income employees (42%) are married or living in committed, long-term relationships—despite the fact that more than half are less than 30 years-old. Other key findings from this report include:

  • Low-wage and low-income employees are almost equally likely to be men (48%) as women (52%). It is important to note, however, that 70 percent of low-wage and low-income women are the sole wage earners in their families.
  • The majority (57%) of low-wage and low-income employees are white and non-Hispanic. Only one in five low-wage and low-income employees (21%) are immigrants.

“With the workforce experiencing dramatic changes within the global economic environment and with job growth primarily taking place in low-wage jobs, increasing the productivity and retention of entry-level and hourly employees will be vital for U.S. employers and our economy,” says Galinsky. These series of research reports are part of the Supporting Entry-Level, Hourly Workers project in partnership with the Institute for a Competitive Workforce (ICW), an affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and is funded by the Ford Foundation. Findings for these reports are drawn from the 2002 National Study of the Changing Workforce (NSCW), which is conducted by Families and Work Institute. The National Study of the Changing Workforce surveys representative samples of the U.S. workforce every five years. The total 2002-03 NSCW sample includes 3,504 workers 18 and older in the U.S. economy—2,810 wage and salaried employees who work for someone else, 472 independent self-employed workers who do not employ anyone else, and 222 small business owners who employ at least one person. These report look only at wage and salaried workers 18 and older who are employed by someone else. Please visit www.familiesandwork.org to download these reports today. For more information about Families and Work Institute’s findings on entry-level, hourly employees, please contact Elizabeth Miller at emiller@familiesandwork.org or (212) 465-8421.

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Newly Released FWI Reports Reveal What Makes Entry-Level, Hourly Employees Most Effective

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Families and Work Institute (FWI) is a nonprofit center for research that conducts extensive research on the changing workforce, changing family and changing community. Founded in 1989, FWI’s research typically takes on emerging issues before they crest. The Institute offers some of the most comprehensive research on the U.S. workforce available. For more information, visit www.familiesandwork.org