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Women
Work force presence stronger, pay still lags

Women make up almost half the nation's workers, with 60 percent of all mothers with children 1-year-old or younger working either full time or part time, reports the AFL-CIO.

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Over the years, the number of women in the work force has steadily climbed, increasing from 18 percent of the total US work force of 26.9 million in 1900 to 47 percent of the 134 million people in the work force in 2002.

But women continue to earn significantly less than their male counterparts, federal statistics show. From 1990 to 1999, the ratio of a woman's average yearly income to that of a man for full-time work increased to 83.8 percent, up from 77.9 percent in the 1980s.

Statistics show that, in 81 percent of all married couples, the woman works outside the home, a considerable change from the early 1900s when most women worked at home. Other findings from the AFL-CIO on working women:

• 24 percent of all families with children 18 or younger are headed by single mothers.
• 49 percent of all US women are not married. Instead, they are single, divorced or widowed.

When the AFL-CIO looked at who earns more, it found that white women earn 24 percent less than men, African-American women earn 33 percent less than men, and Latino women earn 45 percent less than men.

DIANE E. LEWIS

Compensation
More employers base perks on performance

This shouldn't come as a big surprise: As they reckon with the economic downturn, employers in the Northeast are relying more and more on performance to determine who will get salary perks, according to a survey by Towers Perrin.

''Organizations are still anxious about losing their most talented staff, and they are looking for ways to keep them engaged and motivated,'' said Jim Hudner, a compensation consultant at Towers Perrin's Boston office. ''They are increasingly handling this with higher incentive awards, but they're having to do so with fewer dollars. That's leading to a greater differentiation in pay for their high performers.''

Hudner came to that conclusion after reviewing the results of a study of 80 companies in the Northeast, including 34 Massachusetts firms. The study found that corporate budgets for salary increases are up 3.5 percent compared to 4.5 percent two or three years ago.

The survey also found that more than 50 percent of the companies said they had either exceeded or met bonus payout levels, suggesting that the annual bonus is still an important perk.

Towers Perrin reported that the remaining organizations said they were not able to meet bonus goals, an indication that the companies' performance levels had fallen below expectations.

Not all high performers will be rewarded with extra pay, the study found.

''Employers can be creative by giving their high performers the opportunity to work on high-profile projects or the chance to participate in unique training and development sessions,'' said Hudner. ''All of this is part of the challenge of managing the growth of payroll costs while, at the same time, ensuring that employees feel rewarded.''

DIANE E. LEWIS

Executives
Many expect economy to improve in 2d half

Executives are more upbeat this year.

In a survey of 110 financial and IT executives at Fortune 1000 firms, 56 percent predicted that the economy would stabilize during the second half of 2003. The survey, by Hyperion Solutions, found that 18 percent believe there will be no change in the economy, 24 percent said the economy will be more unpredictable. The survey results also showed that US companies are adapting to the reporting and compliance regulations required under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

Among other things, the law requires that corporate boards have five financially literate members who are appointed for five-year terms. It further states that two members must be or have been certified public accountants, the remaining three cannot be certified public accountants or have worked as CPAs.

Additionally, the law says that no board member may, at the time of serving on the board, share in any profits or receive payments from a public accounting firm other fixed payments such as retirement payments.

When Hyperion Solutions asked participants in the poll whether they have been able to meet the requirements under Sarbanes-Oxley, 70 percent said they have put the right systems in place to meet the new rules. Eighty-six percent said their company's systems for corporate accountability had improved over the past year. And, 78 percent said the new systems have helped the management of daily operations.

DIANE E. LEWIS

Education
New degree can give tech job seekers edge

The Conference Board is reporting that a new master's degree that combines business and management with scientific and technical knowledge could give those who earn it a leg up in finding jobs in the battered high tech industry.

The Professional Science Master's degree is backed by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and was launched in 1997 to link coursework to the needs of employers and the demands of the job market. The board found in a survey that 90 percent of those who received the degree found jobs in their field of study. Of those, 39 percent said they were employed in the biotech industry. Others said they were employed in computer hardware and software, business services, and the chemical and biopharmaceutical industries.

''The growth of high-tech industries depends greatly on the availability of a work force that is adequate not just in numbers but, more importantly, in professional scientific qualifications,'' said Cassandra Simmons, a consultant at the Conference Board in New York. ''Even in the current downturn, the demand for a skilled scientific and technological work force outstrips supply in many areas. The gap is a result of vigorous growth from 1992 to 2001.''

Jobs held by those awarded the professional science master's include associate product manager, project scientist, research and development associate, transportation planner, laboratory manager, bioinformatics programmer or analyst, quality process engineer, science editor and research scientist. Two-thirds of those polled said they were earning more than $50,000. Twelve percent reported earning more than $70,000 a year.

Universities that award this degree include: Northeastern University, Case Western Reserve University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Michigan State University, New Jersey Institute of Technology, University of California at Santa Cruz, the University of Southern California, and the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

DIANE E. LEWIS

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