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Tough News for Wage Earners

Writing in today's Wall Street Journal, Mort Zuckerman, Chairman of U.S. News and World Report, notes that "[t]he average work week for rank-and-file employees in the private sector, roughly 80% of the work force, slipped to 33 hours. That's 48 minutes a week less than before the recession began, the lowest level since the government began tracking such data 45 years ago. Full-time workers are being downgraded to part time as businesses slash labor costs to remain above water, and factories are operating at only 65% of capacity." He goes on to say that “[t]he average worker saw no wage gains in June, with average compensation running flat at $18.53 an hour.”

Looking Out for the "Rank and File"

With all the focus on executive compensation (which we've addressed in our recent posts), the Blue Avocado blog has some interesting thoughts on the problems of the low wage workers at nonprofits, and what can be done when there isn't money available for meaningful salary increases.