SI Review: March 2011

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Short Takes

Where’s the highest pay?

Manhattan posted the highest weekly wage, but California’s Silicon Valley recorded the biggest year-over-year increase.

The average weekly wage reached $1,659 in New York County, home to Manhattan, in the second quarter
of 2010, according to the most recent numbers released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That gives it the highest wage among the largest U.S. counties.

New York County’s wages rose 9.0 percent on a year-over-year basis. However, Santa Clara County, which covers most of California’s Silicon Valley, registered the largest year-over-year increase in wages. The average weekly wage rose 10.6 percent from a year earlier to $1,603. The manufacturing industry helped fuel the increase, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Santa Clara County ranked No. 2 on the list of highest county wages in the second quarter.

Rounding out the five county areas with the highest average weekly wages in the second quarter were Washington, D.C. ($1,506); Arlington, Va. ($1,481); and Fairfield, Conn. ($1,395).

Fort Bend County in Texas posted the steepest decline in average weekly wages -- falling 1.7 percent on a year-over-year basis to $855. Declines in construction employment and wages were significant contributors to the county’s wage decline, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Fort Bend County is in the Houston metropolitan area.

EEOC: Discrimination Filings Rise

Filings alleging workplace discrimination reached a high of 99,922 in the last federal fiscal year, according to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. That’s up from 93,277 in the previous year.

Filings include allegations
of discrimination based on race, sex, national origin, religion, age, disability and other categories.

The most claims, however, were filed for retaliation. There were 36,258 claims of retaliation in the last fiscal year, up from 33,613 in the previous year. Retaliation can occur when an employer takes action against an employee who files a discrimination charge, raises concerns about discrimination to an employer or takes part in an employment discrimination proceeding.

The EEOC reported it got more than $404 million in monetary relief from employers over the last fiscal year.

In the last two months, the EEOC announced a lawsuit against one staffing firm and reported a $20,000 settlement with another staffing firm.

VMS, MSP Top Performers

More than 2,000 staffing buyers and staffing firms were surveyed by Staffing Industry Analysts to determine which VMS and MSP providers had the highest customer loyalty and satisfaction ratings.

VMS and MSP providers with sufficient survey response rates that scored in the upper 25th percentile in customer loyalty scores were designated as top performers. The top overall performers represent firms that scored high in loyalty with both buyers in contingent labor and staffing suppliers.

Based on the survey results, the top performers in VMS (in alphabetical order) are Agile-1, Fieldglass, ProcureStaff and Prolucent (formerly Broadlane).

The top performers in MSP (in alphabetical order) are Agile-1, Beeline, Guidant Group, Tapfin and WorkforceLogic.

SIA estimates there was more than $66 billion in spend under VMS and MSP management in 2009.

SIA defines a VMS as: An Internet-enabled, often Web-based application that acts as a mechanism for business to manage and procure staffing services (temporary help as well as, in some cases, permanent placement services) as well as outside contract or contingent labor. Typical features of a VMS include order distribution, consolidated billing and significant enhancements in reporting capability over manual systems and processes.

SIA defines an MSP as: A company that takes on primary responsibility for managing an organization’s contingent workforce program. Typical responsibilities of an MSP include overall program management, reporting and tracking, supplier selection and management, order distribution and often consolidated billing. The vast majority of MSPs also provide their clients with a vendor management system (VMS) and may have a physical presence on the client’s site.