"Increasing the Visibility of the Invisible Workforce"
Leon C. Litchfield, Ph.D.; Jennifer E. Swanberg, Ph.D.; Catherine M. Sigworth,
B.S.
Boston College Center for Work & Family Carroll School of Management,
May 2004.
Available Online
According to this study by the Boston College Center for Work & Family’s
Carroll School of Management, programs that address the well being and development
of hourly and low-wage workers have a positive impact on the bottom line.
The report looks at the best practices of 15 organizations, including Eddie
Bauer, Levi Strauss & Co., Providian Financial and the TJX Companies,
Inc. Findings are provided for programs dealing with a wide variety of issues,
including dependent care, employee development, financial assistance, incentives,
and flexible scheduling.
The study separates the programs in question into three categories:
- Those that have been specifically developed for and restricted to lower
wage employees.
- Those that are available to all employees, but are mainly utilized by
lower wage employees.
- Those that are utilized by employees of all income levels, but are included
because they are generally not available to hourly and lower wage employees
in other companies.
Among the key findings:
- Employees earning less than $15,000 annually are estimated to make up
one-third (32 percent) of American workers today.
- Lower wage occupations account for 16 of the 30 fastest growing occupations.
- Companies tend to lack information regarding how their hourly and lower
wage employees feel about their organizations.
- Many of the programs and policies that benefit hourly and/or low-wage
workers are inexpensive and/or provide cost savings.
- Lower wage employees tend to be very enthusiastic about the programs
made available to them.
- Most of the companies surveyed cited attracting talent as a key reason
for starting programs that benefited low-wage or hourly workers.
- Nearly half of the organizations mentioned retention issues as one of
the primary benefits of the program or policy, and felt that the employees
who had participated were much more loyal to the company as a result of
their participation.
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