Food Processing - July 2008 - (Page 24) Vacation >6 weeks 1% None 5-6 weeks 14% 5% 1-2 weeks 24% 3-4 weeks 56% How satisfied are you? Very dissatisfied Very satisfied 28% 5% 12% 13% Somewhat dissatisfied Somewhat satisfied 43% Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied Most important for job satisfaction Low-stress Appreciation 16% 9% 4% Challenging work 37% Salary and benefits Opportunity for advancement 21% 13% Job security Nine in 10 are still receiving coverage for medical, and eight in 10 still get dental. In fact, when it came to most benefits (life insurance, disability, pension, 401(k) match, tuition reimbursement, etc.), very little changed. Telecommuting, flex time and day care improved by a few percentage points. Of course, the benefits must be for more than “show.” Says one engineer at a company making processed and packaged foods: “ ere is a tuition reimbursement benefit, but there’s very little time to take advantage of it – staffing is too bare bones [for the benefit] to be effective.” e U.S. has the fewest paid vacation days of nearly any developed country. According to Take Back Your Time Day, a project of 24 • FOOD PROCESSING JULY 2008 the Center for Religion, Ethics and Social Policy (CRESP) at Cornell University, only 14 percent of Americans get a vacation of two weeks. Worse, according to CRESP, “Many others are afraid to use their paid leave for fear they could be laid off or demoted if they do.” In fact, notes CRESP, the average American vacation is now down to a “long weekend.” is shows in our survey. More than 40 percent of respondents did not take all their allotted vacation last year. In fact, one in 20 of respondents got no paid vacation at all. is might not seem like a lot, but it’s nearly three times the number without vacation time last year. All categories of vacation time saw a 2 percent drop except the top two of 5-6 weeks or 6 weeks-plus. If we’re enjoying it less, we’re not working much more than we did last year, with 55 percent of respondents reporting they work 41-50 hours per week vs. last year’s 56. e 51-60 hours workers dropped to 23 percent compared to 25 last year and only a halfpercent more work more than 61 hours a week (just over 6 percent did last year). Are you paid for all that overtime? A whopping 88 percent said “no!” Our aging population shows, with nearly 40 percent of respondents in the 50-64 group. e next largest, 40-49, was close with 34 percent. e 30-39 year olds made up just 19 percent of our survey-takers. Forty-one of those polled are still working beyond age 65 – almost 2.5 percent. And lest you think these are the stuff ed shirts, only four in 10 of those senior workers are in corporate management. ose surveyed have a solid history in the food business. Almost a quarter have been in it for 6-14 years; only 14 percent for six or fewer. An amazing 55 percent have 15-34 years, and 7 perMr. Average cent have put in more A snapshot of our than 35 years. “average” processor Our processors are Caucasian male evenly divided as far as Age 50 loyalty to the job goes. A Salary $95,226 third have been at their company for five years or Lives and works in the suburban Midwest fewer, another third for College degree 6-14 years and just under Works in a medium to large company a third for 15-34 years. irty four of you have At least 15 years in the been at your job for 35 business, six years in current job (which is his years or more. second job) Nearly one in five of you work for MultiWorks 41-50 hours per week, on call 24/7 but no MegaCorp companies of overtime pay 5,000 or more. Another 16 percent work for companies of 1,000-4,999 Supervises half a dozen people workers. Companies of 250-999 people occupy 24 percent of respondents and 17 percent are in companies of just 100-249 employees. Companies FOODPROCESSING.COM http://FOODPROCESSING.COM
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