AUTHOR

Valerie Bolden-Barrett

PUBLISHED

April 18, 2019

Dive Brief:

• The labor market's continuous job growth during the past eight years has been "extremely positive," according to ADP's State of the Workplace Report: Pay, Promotions and Retention report. But there also was a lag in wage growth during the same period and a disparity between women and men's wages and managers and non-managers' wages. Citing the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the report said that 2018's job growth averaged 200,000 jobs a month.  
• On national wages, the report found that the average hourly wage is $29.03 per hour. For managers, who make up 16% of the workforce, the report said that the average wage was $47 an hour. Non-managers are 84% of the workforce and earn on average $25 an hour, according to the report. Women comprise 47% of the workforce and earn on average $25 an hour, while men are 53% of the workforce and earn an average $32 an hour, it continued. 
• Employers promote 8.9% of their workers on average, according to ADP, and they offer those employees an average wage increase of 17.4%. The report also found the average worker's age to be 41.7 years, the average tenure was 5.6 years and the average monthly turnover rate was 3.2%.

Dive Insight:

ADP's findings indicate that job growth has been steady, as the latest BLS numbers showed earlier this month. However, as positive as job growth is for the overall economy, for employers in a tight labor market facing talent shortages, recruiting for new positions may well remain a challenge. 

Sourcing and hiring may be especially challenging for employers that continue to decline to adjust wages to account for real wage stagnancy. At the start of the year, 19 states had raised their minimum wages to benefit largely low-wage earners. And a few high-profile employers, like Target, Chick-fil-A, Bank of America and Disney, have raised their minimum wage either in response to union demands or to proactively reduce turnover and stay competitive in an employee-driven labor market. 

Meanwhile, the pay disparity that continues between women and men could remain in place for another 217 years without direct action, some have predicted. In response, HR managers can review compensation practices, flag any disparities, study market rates and conduct periodic compensation audits.

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Source: HR Dive

https://www.hrdive.com/news/adp-gender-managerial-pay-gaps-persist/552682/