Benefit strategies

Towers Watson reports that employers contributed $45.1 billion to their pension plans last year, up from $38.9 billion in 2011, but it wasn’t enough: pension deficits jumped 17%, or $42.5 billion, to $295.2 billion at year-end 2012.

“We were doing what was right for Yahoo! right now. It was wrongly perceived as an industry narrative,” Marissa Mayer said at the Great Place to Work conference in Los Angeles last week.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has started accepting fiscal year 2014 applications for H-1B visas.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission will aggressively investigate discriminatory policies in six key areas.

Wisconsin employer Snap-on Tools partners with technical colleges to shrink its skills gap and boost employee training.

Unsurprisingly, employees are fans: 93% of surveyed workers say that telecommuting programs are mutually beneficial, according to the second annual Staples Advantage survey, which reports a greater decrease in stress levels from last year.

A panel of workforce experts met recently at the Aspen Institute’s Washington, D.C., office to talk about challenges in the skilled trades.

A workforce management program at Boeing aims to strengthen existing talent while working to close critical skills gaps.

Shrinking HR departments, coupled with increased legal and regulatory complexities are leading companies like Hawaiian Airlines to outsource their benefits administration.

Officials from IBM, Disney and Air Liquide discuss how to create an effective international benefits strategy.

Employment attorney Jonathan Segal told attendees at yesterday’s SHRM legislative event that benefits pros need to show employees their softer, more human side. “Don’t treat employees as plaintiffs waiting to happen,” he said.

Technical education is lagging behind the rapid speed of technological growth, says Frederick Brookhouse, business and education partnership manager with Snap-on, and the problems start well before secondary schools.

Employee engagement has risen in the past year, according to Temkin Group research, and those companies with highly engaged employees are reaping personnel and profit rewards.

Behavioral psychology plays a key role in crafting meaningful and effective employee recognition programs.

Panel discussion addresses gaps in technical skills and education, and why employers need to take more responsibility for workforce training.

A group of panelists met last week at the Aspen Institute in Washington to discuss the skilled labor shortage, or indeed, if there even is one.

Companies ramped up hiring toward the end of 2012, a sign they’re finding it difficult to make do with the existing staff as sales improve. A pickup in consumer and business spending last quarter also will help to improve the job market this year.

Average U.S. job tenure increased in 2012 but is still at levels many might consider low, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute.

A summary of the National Labor Relations Board’s nine most important principles of workplace social media policies.

An insurance exchange executive and benefits communication expert discuss how employers can succeed in the new health care model exchanges will bring.