Glassdoor Blog » Benefits

Unemployment Benefits Extended: Good News But A Band-Aid Solution

Glassdoor Team — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 22:30:21 +0000

The unemployed received some good news today – Congress passed legislation to extend unemployment benefits to people who have been out of work for six months or more, and President Obama later this afternoon signed off on the bill. This means that the 2.5 million people whose benefits expired at the beginning of June will be able to receive retroactive payments, and a total of 5 million Americans will be eligible for payments through December 31, 2010.

How will the benefits extension impact the economy and those unemployed job seekers? While Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke noted an “unusually uncertain” economic recovery, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi expects the extension will help spur spending and inject much needed money into the economy and that this will help generate more jobs.

As Rusty Rueff, Glassdoor career and workplace expert advises, “Do not think we are out of the woods yet.” According to a recent Glassdoor Employment Confidence Survey, less than half (45%) of employees surveyed report that their company’s outlook will improve in the next six months. While company outlook has improved, 39% of employees expected improvement this time last year, many are still wary about their employer’s future. In fact, one out of ten (10%) employees expect their company outlook to worsen in the coming months.

The survey also showed that 74% of employees note that their career has been impacted in the last two years. Of these, more than one-third (37%) say their raise or bonus has been smaller or eliminated, and 31% note they have taken on more work without compensation. So for job seekers, concessions may need to be made in order to find work, and salary expectations will need to be adjusted to a ‘new normal.’

One-third (34%) of those unemployed but looking for work already note they would be willing to take a more junior job for less pay. If a skilled worker takes a junior job, that leaves less-qualified candidates, i.e., recent high school or college graduates, without a starter level position, creating intense competition and a viscous cycle for those trying to break into a job or career.

The extension of jobless benefits is a positive step to help keep many American families afloat while looking for a permanent position, but it still means the job market is likely to remain highly competitive in the coming months. As we hear from employees and job seekers on Glassdoor, researching salary packages in today’s market is valuable when pricing your skills and experience for a job opportunity at hand. While it’s good the government is taking action to help those negatively impacted by the economy, this should be a warning sign to job seekers and employees that now is an especially critical time to get more informed about jobs, companies and what’s fair in this market.

Unemployment Benefits Extended: Good News But A Band-Aid Solution is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

Obama Extends Benefits for Domestic Partners of Federal Employees. How Does Your Company Rate?

Glassdoor Team — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 15:23:08 +0000

President Obama signed an order Wednesday afternoon that extends dependant care rights and other benefits to the partners of gay federal employees. That means the federal government has joined the increasing number of employers across the country who provide equal benefits to domestic partners (which are often unmarried opposite sex or same sex partnerships) of their employees.

With this step forward for government jobs, we were curious which private-sector employers offer domestic partner benefits. The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) provides a list of private companies that offer such – more than 8,600 businesses are listed. HRC reports that in 2008, 39% of Fortune 1000 companies and 83% of Fortune 100 companies offer partner benefits. For example, Expedia (Fortune 699; 3.4 Company Rating) offers comprehensive health benefits to: opposite-sex spouses, same-sex partners and opposite-sex partners. To top it off, the benefits package at Expedia is frequently noted as a ‘Pro’ among the company reviews on Glassdoor. In fact, close to 20% of Expedia company reviews favorably comment on the benefits offered by the organization.

While Glassdoor is not on the Fortune 1000 list – yet – we were disappointed there wasn’t a public list to promote our domestic partner benefits and figured there are many smaller companies in the same boat. Does your company offer domestic partner benefits and is not included on the HRC website? We’d love to help you promote the benefit to prospective employees. Let us know by commenting on this post or tweeting @glassdoordotcom. Please be sure to provide the employer name, URL and the location of the headquarters. Our hope is greater transparency will help contribute to equal rights for all.

Obama Extends Benefits for Domestic Partners of Federal Employees. How Does Your Company Rate? is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

Movie Magic? Netflix Reports Profit

Glassdoor Team — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 21:56:16 +0000

Amidst today’s regular news reports of home foreclosures, sinking corporate profits and high unemployment rates, Netflix breaks away from the pack and posts a quarterly profit increase of 45 percent this week.

So what’s the “secret sauce” that has this company doing so well in a down economy? Well, maybe many people are foregoing trips to the movie theatre and are instead watching DVDs on their couch, but you won’t get a detailed economic analysis from us. What we have seen from the Netflix reviews on Glassdoor.com is that Netflix is mixing their own recipe for success in creating a great work environment. The company is known as a great employer in Silicon Valley and currently has an overall rating of 4.1 on Glassdoor.com with a slightly higher rating of 4.4 at the company’s headquarters location in Los Gatos, Calif.

A culture rich in collaboration and teamwork is one key ingredient to the company’s great work environment, according to many employees. Here’s what an Netflix Engineering Director had to say:

Netflix is a great place to work with an extraordinary group of people - There’s no micro managing here and everyone is allowed to take responsibility for their own projects. There’s an amazing lack of arrogance and people collaborate cross functionally on a regular basis. The people you work with every day will be smart, focused and enthusiastic. The company leadership is not afraid to make bold decisions and take risks which keeps the company exciting and innovative.

A dash of flexibility allows employees to strike their own work/life balance. A Netflix Director writes:

An extraordinary environment creates an exciting work experience. – Whether you’re in the office or away is rarely noticed or even considered at Netflix. All the matters is the quality and consistency of your work, which gives employees great freedom and allows them to enhance the balance in their lives. At the same time, expectations are tremendous, but that’s what makes the company great. For the employees who look for this is in an employer, Netflix delivers.

Progressive benefits also keep things interesting at Netflix. A Vice President had this to say:

I work for a company that changed the way Americans rent movies. – It’s a very open culture with no questions asked if you work from home or take days off. Employees get a free eight-out plan and get $1,000 towards travel expenses to the Sundance or LA Film Festival. You structure your salary as you want, dedicating a percentage or none at all to stock options.

Netflix was also among Glassdoor’s recently released Top 50 Best Places to Work list and CEO Reed Hastings remains one of the highest rated CEOs on our site at 94% with just a 2% disapproval rating. It’s not hard to see why once you read the feedback. How about you? Do you want to work for Netflix?

Movie Magic? Netflix Reports Profit is a post from: Glassdoor Blog