The HR Insider

Week of February 23, 2007

Presented by the Rowan University SHRM Club

In this week’s issue we will discuss “ D OL Chief Says Travel Is ‘Tradeoff’ Female Executives Will Make”

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By J.J. Smith, February 2007

[From the SHRM Online Global HR Focus Area]

The nation’s top labor official advises female executives that work-related travel is a “tradeoff” they may have to make in order to be successful at their jobs.

Working women balance work and family life, and they make decisions that will help increase their position in a company and earn higher wages, Labor Secretary Elaine Chao told the Women On the World Symposium Feb. 7 in Washington, D.C. But those decisions might—at times—require sacrifices, she said.

A benefit that is most sought-after by working women is time to care for a child or other loved one, or time for other important family matters, Chao said. But female executives know they will probably have to make some sacrifices—including traveling away from family—for the company they work for, she said. Female executives, at some point, find themselves asking “what did that time cost?” she said. That is something “all [women] have in common, regardless of which position we hold,” Chao said.

Preserving the dynamism and flexibility of the U.S. economy is vital to remaining competitive in the worldwide economy, but an increasing number of employers report that the search for talent is increasingly becoming a concern, Chao said. Companies are constantly asking how they should find talent and how they can maintain talent, she said. Employers and workers need to be aware that the United States is transitioning to a knowledge-based economy that places a premium on high skills and education, she said. “There is an increasing mismatch between the skills of workers looking for jobs and the skills required by employers who have jobs to offer,” she said. Over the next decade, nearly 66 percent of the new jobs created in the United States will require some kind of post-secondary education.

The change to a knowledge-based economy is reducing incomes for unskilled workers, Chao said. But, what the country is currently going through “is not so much a wage gap, as a skill gap,” she said. Examples of the strong link between earnings and education are that workers with a bachelor’s or higher degree average over $1,300 per week and have a 2.1 percent unemployment rate. Workers with an associate degree average more than $800 per week, and have an unemployment rate of 3.8 percent.

Workers with a high school diploma average about $700 per week and have a 4.2 percent unemployment rate. But workers who drop out of high school average less than $500 per week and have unemployment rates of about 6.8 percent. So more than ever, education, training and retraining are the keys to future earnings, she said.

Women are well positioned to benefit from this trend, Chao said. While there are many reasons why women are succeeding in today’s workforce, one of the key reasons is that women appreciate the importance of education, she said.

Following Chao’s presentation, the DOL issued a written statement to clarify Chao’s remarks on extended travel by female executives. It says:

“There are many different pathways to a successful career, each as different as the individuals who pursue them. Each individual must make decisions about the type of job that will meet their personal goals and needs. For some workers, including those with families, overseas assignments may be an exciting opportunity, others may prefer stability. The important thing is for companies to be supportive of their workers’ needs and offer options.”

J.J. Smith is the editor/manager of SHRM’s Consultants Focus Area.

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Scholarship OPPORTUNITIES

Undergraduate Student Leader Scholarship- Applications are due by March 1 st. Interested students should go to the following web site and complete the form.

http://shrm.org/students/ags_published/CMS_009470.pdf 

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The Rowan University Career Fair will take place on Tuesday, February 27, 2007 from

10 AM - 3 PM at the Rec Center.

The following Career Fair participants are recruiting HR majors for internships and/or full-time jobs:

ICI – National Starch

Miles Technologies, Inc.

Plus, 57 more employers recruiting all Business majors. And don’t forget to stop at the Rutgers booth to ask them about their Master’s in Human Resource Management!!

 Next Student Chapter SHRM Meeting

March 26, 2007, Speaker TBD