Nice guys finish (and retire) last

Jennifer McClelland | RSS | Wed, Dec 16 2009 | 0 Comments

A new study from the University of Essex in the United Kingdom has come out saying that nice guys really do finish last. The nicer the guy, the less he will earn per year versus his more aggressive counterparts.

On average, it is 1,500 pounds per year less than the more aggressive coworker.

The study was conducted over 3,000 men. They were divided into five different personality types then it ranked their salaries. The lull in pay even accounted for education, occupation, experience, as well as training.

I suppose that this could come from the fact that nice people tend to be more complacent where they are and how much they’re making. Nicer people are often less likely to ask for more when they feel underpaid. Instead, they’ll just complain about it to their friends or keep it to themselves or even make everything better by convincing themselves that everything is ok.

Sometimes being nice can be a bad thing if you’re in business, but being nice is one of the only ways to actually get your foot in the door at any place where you may not have any connections to.

Nice guys may finish last, but they often end up with the jobs.

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Tags: university of essex, salaries, counterparts

Recent College Graduates, Prepare to Starve

Michael Bowler | RSS | Mon, May 18 2009 | 3 Comments

Graduates of the 2009 collegiate year are going out into the unknown in the worst labor market since their parents graduated. Many graduates will get into careers that have nothing to do with their degree, if they get a job at all. With a national average 9% unemployment rate, it is obvious that throwing more job seekers into the market does not provide the best statistics for employment acquisition. Even worse, they will make lower wages for at least the next decade, as opposed to those who graduated in better times, such as 2006 and 2007, before the economy partially disintegrated.

For most 2009 college graduates, luck will be the key. According to Lisa Kahn, a Yale School of Management economist, the damage that can be done to a new career by a recession can last for up to 15 years. She used the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, a government data base, to assess the effects of a recession on an individual’s career by tracking wages of white men who graduated before, during and after the deep 1980’s recession.

Kahn found that for each percentage-point increase in the unemployment rate, those who graduated and joined the workforce during the recession earned 7% to 8% less in their fields than comparable workers who graduated in better times. The effect persisted over many years, with recession-era grads earning 4% to 5% less by their 12th year out of college, and 2% less by their 18th year out. Basically, someone who graduated in December 1982 when the unemployment rate was at almost 11% made, on average, 23% less his first year out of college and 6.6% less 18 years out than one who graduated in May 1981 when the unemployment rate was under 8%. For a typical worker, that would mean earning $100,000 less over the 18-year period.

According to economists and experts, one reason behind declining wage potential is that the caliber of jobs available in a recession, and their accompanying wages, tend to suffer. High-end firms hire fewer people and drive down salaries because jobs are in high demand and people are likely to accept a job for less and less money. In turn, it also means that many graduates end up with lower-wage, lower-skill jobs at lower quality, less prestigious firms or in firms outside their field of interest. Once the economy picks up and they try for better jobs, these workers have to learn skills they should have been developing immediately out of college. In the meantime, colleagues who graduated in a better economy have already developed these skills and progressed much further, making them more likely to receive a better position.

This year, employers will hire 22% fewer college graduates than last year, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, an organization of career counselors. At the same time, colleges are expected to see the highest number of graduates in a decade. The average starting salary for graduates who do get jobs, meanwhile, dropped to $48,515 this spring, down 2.2% from the same time last year. Not to worry though. College education was not for ‘nothing’. Collegiate level employees still make more than those with high school diplomas.

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Tags: management economist, national longitudinal survey of youth, unemployment rate

Nissan to cut jobs

Jennifer McClelland | RSS | Mon, Feb 09 2009 | 0 Comments

Nissan is looking at its first yearly loss in nearly 9 years. The loss is expected to be around $2.9 billion U.S. or 265 billion yen. In response to the loss and the poor economic conditions, the auto maker is planning on cutting 20,000 jobs. The cut amounts to just over 8% of its total global workforce.

The good news (if you can look at it that way) is that Nissan will not be cutting all the jobs at once. Job cuts are expected to happen over time between now and March 2010.

Directors on the board for Nissan’s fiscal year ending in March will not be getting any bonuses. They will also be taking a 10 percent pay cut. Manager’s salaries will also be reduced by 5%.

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Tags: jobs, poor economic conditions, fiscal year