<<...the combination of less pay and lengthy employment searches could hurt the sluggish economic recovery by slowing consumer spending, which accounts for two-thirds of the economy. ``If these typically higher-paid and higher-spending individuals are earning lower salaries, you can be assured that they are looking a lot closer at their spending habits,''...>>
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Job seekers face lower pay
July 15, 2002
(Reuters) — About 25 percent of job seekers with the greatest earnings potential accepted positions in the second quarter that paid less than their previous jobs, according to a new study released Monday.
Employment outplacement firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas said that figure was the worst since 1986, when it started tracking labor market movements for its quarterly job index survey.
The job market was even grimmer than in the 2001 fourth quarter, when the economic fallout from the Sept. 11 attacks forced 23 percent of respondents to take lower paying jobs.
This compared with only 9 percent in the second quarter last year.
In addition, job searches lengthened to a record 3.6 months in the second quarter, from 2.1 months in the year-ago period, the firm said.
``Employers are in no rush to hire and apparently they are secure enough to believe they can find the talent they need for a lot less money,'' John Challenger, chief executive of the Chicago-based firm, said in a statement.
The median salary of these mid- to high-level workers in their former positions was $70,000 a year, according to the survey of about 3,000 managers and executives around the country.
Challenger said one way to cut down on time spent job hunting is by relocating to a more prosperous region. But the survey shows many people are not uprooting home and family for fear of getting laid off again.
The index's relocation rate fell sharply to 12 percent in the second quarter from 17 percent in the year-ago period.
Challenger said the combination of less pay and lengthy employment searches could hurt the sluggish economic recovery by slowing consumer spending, which accounts for two-thirds of the economy. ``If these typically higher-paid and higher-spending individuals are earning lower salaries, you can be assured that they are looking a lot closer at their spending habits,'' he said. |
