Net Casts a Broad Web in Workplace

May 17, 2002 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The Internet continues to have a growing impact in the workplace, with 10% of those who got a major promotion or raise crediting the Web with aiding that achievement, according to a new survey.

In a May report on Internet use “at major life moments,” the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that nearly a third (29%) of users who received additional education or job training during the period between 2000 and 2001 said the Internet played an important role. Over half (52%) of Internet users reported doing job-related research online in 2001, up from 41% in 2000.

On the other hand, 25% of those that changed jobs used the Internet to do so.  Another 44% said they looked for a job online last year, up from 31% in 2000.
 
Approximately 55 million people now have Internet access at work, up from 43 million in 2000, according to a March report from Pew, according to BenefitNews.com. 

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Nearly one in four (22%) of those online that made a major investment or financial decision used the Internet for information and advice.

Severance Depends on Rank, Firm Size

May 16, 2002 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Whether an employee gets a severance package, and what type of package they get, depends mostly on how high up they are in their company's organization and their employer's size, a new survey found.

According to the Mercer Human Resource Consulting study, executives typically get severance pay for a longer time period as well as continued benefits and outplacement help. Severance packages at large companies are typically richer than those at smaller firms, Mercer said.

It was clear from the survey that the issue wasn’t academic to the respondents: 71% reported that they’ve reduced their workforce since January 2001 because of cost cutting or restructuring.

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The survey also found that:

  • 72% of executives can expect their benefits to continue for some period following a layoff, compared to 57% of nonexempt clerical/technicians employees and 49% of nonunion hourly employees,
  • six in ten executives will get outplacement help following a layoff, compared to just 19% of managers and 20% of professional/technical employees,
  • non-compete agreements are most common for executives, 48%, professional/technical employees, 47%, and managers 43%,
  • 57% of respondents required a year of service before an employee was eligible for severance,
  • two weeks is the minimum severance offered regular employees while executives enjoyed a four-week minimum

The 2002 US Severance and Strategy Survey, conducted by Mercer in March 2002, drew responses from 566 US employers.


 

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