Employer Strategies

Nearly 60% of HR and recruiting executives, directors and managers in a nationwide survey consider social media networks like LinkedIn and Facebook the next big wave in reaching a greater number of qualified candidates.

Email, instant messaging, laptops, digital teleconferencing and flexible schedules have dramatically changed the way people live and work, as well as how their personal and professional lives intersect. But a recent national poll of 570 working Americans concludes that, despite breathtaking advances in technology and greater workplace flexibility, work-life balance is still very much a work in progress.

“The current generation has stumbled on an incredibly powerful and important model for changing the world and the workplace: the network.”

Over the last 20 years, the percentages of households that will not be ready for retirement at age 65 has nearly doubled to 50%, according to recent data from the National Retirement Risk Index.

Private and public health care exchanges can bring tremendous value to the marketplace if they follow certain examples, said a speaker at the NAHU annual convention in Las Vegas Monday.

Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice brought the crowd to its feet in a standing ovation at the opening keynote session of this year’s Society for Human Resource Management conference being held in Atlanta this week.

While the nation’s attention remains focused on legal and political fights over health care reform, including an imminent ruling on the matter by the Supreme Court, a consumer advocacy organization notes that an invisible tragedy continues to play out nationwide for uninsured families who struggle to get the health care they need. A report released last week by Families USA reveals that more than 26,000 Americans between the ages of 25 and 64 died prematurely in 2010 because they did not have health coverage.

There is a lot riding on the Supreme Court’s health reform decision for all stakeholders. Brokers and consultants need to be prepared to advise their clients, says EBA Advisory Board member Mark Gaunya, who highlights what you should be thinking about while we wait for the decision.

New compensation regulations adopted in the U.S., U.K. and other countries following the financial crisis are causing global financial services companies to focus on talent management and rewards beyond pay to help them attract, retain and engage top talent in today’s environment, according to a poll of financial services executives conducted by Towers Watson. The poll also finds that companies are evenly divided on the impact that the current regulatory environment is having on risk taking in the industry.

As if the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act didn’t give employers enough to worry about, a PPACA-related regulatory headache may be taking hold for small firms.