Benefits December 3, 2013

College Major May Not Define Career Path

December 3, 2013 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – A CareerBuilder survey finds that a person’s major in college may not correspond to the job they get after graduation.
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Nearly half (47%) of college-educated employees surveyed say their first job after college was not related to their college major. Thirty-two percent of college-educated employees report that they never found a job related to their college major. For those that are age 35 and older, the figure is 31%.

“A college education will give you a significant advantage in the job market. In a tough economic climate, college graduates must be flexible and open to taking positions outside their area of study. Taking the knowledge gained in college and branching out with it in unexpected directions is common after graduating,” says Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources at CareerBuilder, based in Chicago.

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Haefner adds, “In most cases, workers who went into a new field ended up liking the new industry. Odds are you won’t get that dream job right out of school, but it’s important to remember that there are many different paths.”

When asked about finding employment unrelated to a college major, 64% of employees say they are happy with the degree they chose to achieve. Sixty-one percent believe they can still have their dream job.

However, this positive attitude is not true of all respondents. While 13% of college graduates say the demand for their degree increased between the time they entered college and the time they graduated, 28% say the market for their degree got worse. Fifty-nine percent say the market for their degree was unchanged. Thirty-six percent of all college-educated employees wish they chose a different major.

Graduating into a depressed job market also affects job seekers in a number of ways, according the results of the survey. Of those who say the demand for their degree decreased while they were in school, 33% said they were forced to take a lower-paying job outside their field. Thirty-two percent say the lack of demand meant they could not find work after graduation.

However, 46% of respondents who say the demand for their major decreased while they were in college also reported that they were able to find a job in their desired career path within a year, and 58% found a job within two years after graduation.

This survey was conducted online within the U.S. by Harris Interactive and reached 2,134 workers (employed full time, not self-employed and nongovernment) who graduated from college between August 13 and September 6.

CareerBuilder is a provider of labor market intelligence, talent management software and other recruitment solutions.

Administration December 3, 2013

Funding for S&P 1500 Pensions Improves

December 3, 2013 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – Pension plans for S&P 1500 companies continued their improvement in funded status during 2013.
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These plans show another 2% improvement in November, says consulting firm Mercer, resulting in a funded ratio of 93% at the end of the month and a 19% overall improvement so far this year. This funded ratio corresponds to a deficit of $138 billion as of November 30, down from $185 billion a month ago and $557 billion as of December 31, 2012.

Mercer research shows that equity markets enjoyed steady growth during November, with the S&P 500 Index increasing 2.8%. Yields on high-grade corporate bond rates also increased, which led to a reduction in pension plan liabilities. The Mercer Yield Curve discount rate for mature pension plans increased from 4.45% to 4.59% during the month and is up 88 basis points this year.

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“Plan sponsors are significantly closer to full funding than they have been at any time in the recent past,” says Jonathan Barry, a partner in Mercer’s retirement business in New York. “This potentially opens up opportunities to manage pension risk that may not have been practical a year ago, such as annuity buyouts or cashout offers to participants. We are seeing a lot of plan sponsors get organized now to address the legal, administrative and compliance reviews that are needed so they can move ahead with a pension risk transfer exercise in 2014.”

Mercer estimates the aggregate funded status position of plans operated by S&P 1500 companies on a monthly basis. The estimates are based on each company’s year-end statement and projections that are in line with financial indices. Estimates cover U.S. domestic qualified and nonqualified plans, as well as nondomestic plans.

The estimated aggregate value of pension plan assets of the S&P 1500 companies as of December 2012 was $1.59 trillion, compared with estimated aggregate liabilities of $2.14 trillion. Allowing for changes in financial markets through November 30, 2013, as well as changes to the S&P 1500 constituents and newly released financial disclosures, the estimated aggregate assets at the end of November were $1.84 trillion, compared with the estimated aggregate liabilities of $1.98 trillion.

The calculations by Mercer, unless otherwise stated, are based on the Financial Accounting Standard funding position and include analysis of the S&P 1500 companies.

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