TMT Editor's blog

Nearly all of small and medium sized businesses (SMBs) plan to cease layoffs over in 2011, and in fact, more than two-fifths expect to increase their staff over the same period of time. These and additional findings are courtesy of a recently released report by staffing company AppleOne on hiring trends at SMBs.

On average, private industry employers are devoting nearly 30 percent of their employees' total compensation to benefits ($8.20/hour), according to Employer Costs for Employee Compensation for September 2010, issued this week by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Combined with an average wage of $19.68, their total compensation costs are $27.88 per hour worked.

In October, turnover among the nation’s chief executive officers fell to its lowest level in 18 months. In parallel, compensation is improving among small businesses.

Although their numbers have remained at less than 40,000 for six of the last seven months, job cuts crept upward by a little more than 2 percent in October. Tempering the development are pockets of hiring optimism, apparent especially in the retail sector as markets enter the holiday season.

The cost of PPOs is rising, and thus employees' co-pays for this popular medical place are, as well, according to the recently released Benefits USA 2010/2011 survey of 4,500 benefit plans covering over 6 million employees across the country: The average premium increase for PPO plans was 10.2 percent in 2010, with premiums for an employee plus family PPO plan costing employers an average of $900 per month.

Benchmark data from major players in the executive search market space are showing positive trends. In September, ExcuNet's Executive Job Creation Index (EJCI) held positive for a ninth consecutive month, and the latest quarterly Boyden Executive Outlook has revealed increases in upper management hiring activity in several industry sectors. Even so, movement in executives' compensation packages appears to be modest.

It's a good question, and the answer is probably yes. Nothing breeds stronger competition in a job market than a dearth of jobs. After all, the entire free market economy rests on the concept that competition makes things better. Why shouldn't this concept apply to the job seeker marketplace, as well? Just as any competitive marketplace produces clear winners who thrive and outshine the rest, so it is that only the very best job seekers find work as the job market grows more and more competitive.

Employee relations, in the form of a stronger bond between manager and employee, appear to be strengthening throughout industry, finds a recent survey from Adecco Staffing US: Nearly four-fifths (78 percent) of bosses say they feel closer to their teams than they did three years ago (pre-recession), and more than three-fifths (61 percent) of employees agree.

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Newly released 2010 Compensation Data Hospitality survey results show hospitality organizations have had an average premium increase of 9.9 percent. About 60 percent of survey respondents -- representing more than 100 industry-specific job titles and more than 250 benchmark titles ranging from entry-level to top executives -- report paying more than $7,200 annually for an employee plus family plan.