Perfect Labor Storm 2.0

Business Writing Just Plain Awful!

An article in the December 7, 2004 edition of the "New York Times" indicated that $3.1 billion is spent on remedial writing annually.

Obesity Fattens Expenses for employers

An obese employee costs an additional $460 to $2,500 annually in medical expenditures and work absences, compared with a normal-weight worker, according to a new report.published in the September/October issue of the American Journal of Health Promotion.

The higher expenses are paid by:

• all employees, who end up paying higher health-care premiums;

• by employers, if they must hire replacement workers or pick up a larger share of insurance costs; and

• the obese employees themselves, if they aren't paid for their time off. An obese person is somone 30 or more pounds over a healthy weight.

A company with 1,000 employees can expect pay about $285,000 a year in additional medical costs and absenteeism because of obesity. Roughly 30 percent of that cost involves increased absences. The report was written by economists at RTI International, a nonprofit think tank, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

White guys: Judges and lawyers

Fact #441:  Eighty-nine percent of all lawyers are white, according to the 2000 census. Blacks comprise 4 percent of all lawyers, while Latinos make up 3 percent, Asian Americans 2 percent and Native Americans less than 1 percent.

Fact #442: Eighty-three percent of all judges are white, according to the 2000 census. Blacks comprise 9 percent of the country’s judges while Latinos account for 5 percent, Asian Americans 2 percent and Native Americans 1 percent.

More Facts and Trends available at Perfect Labor Storm

Two Aspirins and No One to Call?

Fact #454: The U.S. currently produces about 25,000 doctors a year.  To keep up with demographic trends, we'll need between 3,000 and 10,000 more per year.  (Source: USA Today)

Fact #455: As recently as 2000, the Journal of the American Medical Association predicted the U.S. would have 165,000 more doctors than the nation would need.  Due to Baby Boomer retirement and a growing aging propulation, by the year 2020, the U.S. will face a shortage of as many as 200,000 doctors. (Source: USA Today)

Fact #456:  The nation now has 800,000 doctors. That won't be enough when the current generation of physicians reaches retirement age. (Source: Council on Graduate Medical Education)

More Facts and Trends available on Perfect Labor Storm

One in Five Teachers Expected to Retire

Fact #446: Teacher attrition is expected to average about 8 percent per year in the next five years.  (Source: Profile of Teachers in the U.S. 2005)

Fact #447:  One in five (22 percent) current public school teachers expects to be retired five years from now.  Twelve percent expect to be in an education job other than K - 12 teaching. (Source: Profile of Teachers in the U.S. 2005)

Fact #448:  Half (50 precent) of current high school teachers expect not to be teaching in K - 12 schools in 2010.  One-third (34 percent) of high school teachers to be retired by then.  (Source: Profile of Teachers in the U.S. 2005)

More Facts and Trends available at Perfect Labor Storm

Teacher Workforce Aging Rapidly

Fact #443:  Forty percent of the current public school teaching force expects not to be teaching five years from now. (Source: Profile of Teachers in the U.S. 2005)

Fact #444: The K-12 teaching force is aging rapidly.  The proportion of K - 12 teachers who are 50 years of age and older has risen from one in four (24 percent) in 1996 to 42 percent in 2005.  (Source: Profile of Teachers in the U.S. 2005)

Fact #445: The proportion of the K - 12 public school teaching force has 25 or more years of teaching experience has doubled in the last 15 years - from 12 percent in 1990 to 20 percent in 1996 to 27 percent in 2005.  (Source: Profile of Teachers in the U.S. 2005)

More Facts and Trends available at Perfect Labor Storm