Seven in 10 freelancers would consider moving, thanks to job flexibility, creating a large pool of potential residents attractive to state and local governments, according to a policy brief developed by SUNY Empire State and Rockefeller Institute’s new Future of Labor Research Center.
The joint Future of Labor Research Center explores the growth of the mobile workforce and examines economic development initiatives aimed at attracting and maintaining these workers.
The research brief on the growth of the mobile workforce said as the mobile workforce expands, policy makers are looking to implement new strategies to attract them.
“The trend away from lifelong careers in factory or office jobs to a more flexible and more freelance workforce is already having profound effects throughout society, from education to health care to economic development,” said Jim Malatras, president of SUNY Empire State College and chair of the Rockefeller Institute board of advisors.
Providing Retirement Options For Employees Leaves Business Owners With Many Options
By Susan E. Campbell
Small business owners have the flexibility to choose whichever type of retirement plan they desire to accumulate a future nest egg on a tax-deferred basis. But that doesn’t mean the decision is easy, or that the company may need to change to a different plan in years ahead.
“Each of the four basic types of defined contribution plans has advantages and drawbacks,” said Laurie A. Stillwell, CPA, in Saratoga Springs.
“My job is to talk through what the business owners’ goals are and direct them to the plan that checks those boxes,” she said.
“Companies are not stuck in a plan once they have it,” said Richard J. Fuller, CPA in Glens Falls. “But if there is to be a switch, it has to be done right.”
Business Report: Sharpen All Tools For 2020
By Rose Miller
Each year, my team and I have a planning meeting to discuss the New Year’s challenges and HR trends. The focus this year is new technology and tools. My dad, an old world Italian carpenter, always said a person is only as good as his tools.
More employers are seeing the value of having an HR strategic business partner in their toolbox. In 2020, HR trends include:
Learning and training as a top priority
Hiring managers know a key retention tool is a comprehensive training program. Well-designed programs reduce turnover. Employee training programs generally cost about $1,250 per employee per year. Although this cost adds up, it is minuscule in comparison to the costs of recruiting, hiring and training replacements.
Fingerpaint To Provide Employee Program To Manage Stress, Improve Productivity
Fingerpaint, a Saratoga-Springs-based marketing agency, announced a new partnership with Thrive Global aimed at educating employees through personal health and wellness content and empowering them with the tools they need to improve productivity and manage stress.
The partnership will kick off the re-launch of Fingerpaint University, a comprehensive, agency-wide training program aimed at enhancing Fingerpaint’s people first culture.
Thrive Global will offer Fingerpaint a platform geared at finding new ways to engage employees, the company said in a news release. Fingerpaint will also have access to the Thrive app that allows them to interact with tailored health and wellness programming on a daily basis.
Additionally, with Fingerpaint University, employees will be able to participate in peer-to-peer education, instructor-led trainings, eLearning, a speaker series, panel discussions, bootcamps and more, officials said.
New ALDI Store Will Be Built In Wilton; Officials Say It Could Be Open By End Of Year
By Rachel Phillips
Saratoga County will soon have a another ALDI grocery story open for business.
The new store will be located off Lowe’s Drive in Wilton. A new road, called ALDI Drive, will also be constructed to allow access to the store from Old Gick Road.
According to Bruce Persohn, ALDI South Windsor Division vice president, the plan is for the store to open before the end of 2020.
Contractors Group: Employment Increased In 29 States In 2019; NYS Dipped Slightly
Thirty-four states and the District of Columbia added construction jobs between December 2018 and December 2019, while construction employment increased in 29 states from November to December, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America of Labor Department data released om January.
Association officials added that most contractors expect to continue adding to their payrolls in 2020, according to the results of the association’s annual construction forecast.
In New York state, figures showed job losses in the industry of 0.1 to 5 percent.
“Construction employment consistently expanded in at least two-thirds of the states throughout 2019, even though contractors reported difficulty in finding qualified workers all year long,” said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist. “As long as they are able to continue finding qualified workers, most firms expect to continue hiring this year.”
But finding workers is still an issue.
Business Report: HR Consultant Adds Value To A Business
By JAMES MARCO
When we first meet a potential client, and find out that they are having “HR concerns,” we find that those concerns fall into one of three major categories along a continuum.
The first is the small company who has had someone, often in the accounting department, trying to do HR and payroll in addition to their regular job. This person finds out a few tidbits about all the laws and compliance in the HR world, and feels more than a little overwhelmed.
This is really the first step in the development of an HR function: ensuring compliance. Small companies often cannot justify the cost of full time HR expertise, and often rely on HR firms for this guidance. Help with compliance—handbooks, job descriptions, and policy development—are usually the primary needs of small, growing companies.
State’s Family Leave Program Will Impact Employee Scheduling, Among Other Things
Courtesy Hamel Resources
By Christine Graf
The state’s paid family leave program (PFL) is having a significant impact on some businesses, say those in the Human Resources field.
New York’s PFL has been in effect since 2018, but won’t be completely phased in until 2021. It provides paid time off for individuals to bond with a newly born, adopted or fostered child, care for a family member with a serious illness, or assist a loved one when a family member is deployed abroad on active military service.
As of Jan. 1, New Yorkers may be eligible to take up to 10 weeks of family leave and receive 55 percent of their salary. By 2021, 12 weeks of leave will be offered at 67 percent pay. Weekly pay caps are calculated based on state averages.
Gail Hamel, the owner of Lake George-based Hamel Resources, said the law impacts some businesses more than others. She is a human resources consultant who works with both large and small businesses.
Local HR Professional Named Chairman Of American Staffing Assn. Health Care Council
Courtesy Stat Staff Professionals
Thomas Kernan, vice president of strategic planning and general counsel with Stat Staff Professionals in Saratoga Springs was recently appointed chairman of the American Staffing Association health care section council.
ASA is the professional trade association of the $161-billion U.S. staffing, recruiting, and workforce solutions industry.
In this role, Kernan will work with ASA and its board of directors to spearhead programs and services that meet the health care sector’s needs within the association. ASA section councils are composed of member volunteers who advise the association’s board of directors on sector-specific issues and design programs to meet the unique business challenges faced by those sectors of the staffing industry.
A seasoned business attorney and healthcare staffing professional, Kernan oversees the company’s legal affairs and collaborates with the company’s CEO on strategic planning initiatives including establishing company policies, priorities, and business development objectives.
Business Report: What Work Culture Do You Want?
So much of today’s business literature focuses on culture, ping pong tables, juice bars, and other office perks. These are the types of things that are supposed to attract and retain talent.
The fact is, every company has a “culture.” What is interesting, in many, cases is that management will often see the culture differently from line staff.
Culture is not your mission or vision statement, it’s not found in those motivational wall posters and slogans seen in many office environments. Culture is not found in some grand proclamation from the CEO. And culture certainly isn’t found at a juice bar, cappuccino machine, ping pong table, or bean bag chair.
Culture is found in the daily interactions between staff, the interactions between management and staff, and the interactions of company employees with customers and those with whom you do business. Culture can be a competitive advantage for an organization.