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CNN Live Saturday

What Is the State of U.S. Labor?

Aired September 01, 2001 - 17:11   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
STEPHEN FRAZIER, CNN ANCHOR: For much of the year, corporate layoffs have been driving the national unemployment rate higher. And joining us now with a closer look at the state of labor in the United States is Diane Strahan from Careerbuilder.com. Mr. Straham, thank you for joining us today.

DIANE STRAHAM, CAREERBUILDER.COM: Thank you.

FRAZIER: And happy Labor Day to you. Let me ask you first about this report just out from the U.N. that the American work force is putting in a lot more hours than people anywhere else, including Japan and Germany.

STRAHAN: That's correct. Careerbuilder conducted a survey, and one of the things that we found is that due to the number of layoffs that are happening, as well as other economic factors, we're finding that more and more workers are feeling extremely stressed out and very, very overworked. And that's a result of the layoffs and a result of the economy.

FRAZIER: So, what are people saying is the thing that affects them most when you say stressed out?

STRAHAN: Well, it definitely is a result of the layoffs, whether you yourself have been laid off or your coworker has been laid off, because that puts more stress on you and more work on you. So we found in January that there was a high level of satisfaction, I mean, 69 percent of all workers are still very satisfied in their job in January. But that slipped down to 65 percent in August.

And what we're find is more and more workers are putting in more hours, but they are also accomplishing less of what they want to accomplish what they go into their jobs, and there's a lot of reasons for that.

FRAZIER: And 57 percent of your respondents have said that their work loads had increased dramatically in just the past six months?

STRAHAN: That's correct. And when you take a look at those who have been working a lot, there is a number of reasons that they are not happy with that work load and their situation on their jobs. The number one reason people always say that they are not happy, of course, is money, so you pretty much need to take that off the board. But after that, you find that people really aren't happy with their supervisors and their top management, and some of that might be because of the lack of clarity and direction the companies are now finding themselves in.

The number two reason is that there's just too many hours that they are putting in the day, and number three reason that they are not satisfied as much as they were previously is the repetitive work that they are doing now. Because companies have less money to spend, there is not as many new products, as many new initiatives, and so they are finding themselves doing the same thing over and over. And then, of course, office politics plays into things. Everybody plays it, but nobody likes it.

FRAZIER: Well, I'm surprised that given that kind of unhappiness that so many people feel that they can take the risk to consider a job change. You think it would be a time to hunker down and just hold on for dear life.

STRAHAN: You know, it's very interesting. We have two things going on right now. We have workers feeling extremely stressed and overworked, but at the same time in this economy of choice, consumers and workers are feeling very empowered and very confident.

FRAZIER: What do you mean "an economy of choice"?

STRAHAN: Well, I think that what happens today is that consumers have so many things to choose from, whether it's walking down the shopping aisle and choosing from different products and services, they kind of feel the same way about their job. And the Careerbuilder survey revealed that even if they were laid off, 50 percent of those people felt they could get a job within one month period of time.

FRAZIER: Wow! Do you that's correct or is that overly optimistic in your experience?

STRAHAN: I think it really depends on what professional level you're looking at. Many of the hourly workers absolutely can get a job probably in a week. Depending upon moving up the line in the level of profession, it could take you up to a month, and if you're in the executive ranks it could take you three to six months.

FRAZIER: Now, let me just...

STRAHAN: But overall...

FRAZIER: Sounds like you're talking more about while-collar workers here than people in the manufacturing sector, would that be right?

STRAHAN: Yes. I mean, the manufacturing sector has been one of the hardest sectors that have been hit. But many of those workers are recognizing that they need to retool, get new skill, and be able to put themselves back into the work force. And because there are many other jobs that are available today, definitely in the hourly labor pool, those jobs will become available for them to choose from. FRAZIER: Well, we're grateful for those insights on this Labor Day weekend. Diane Strahan, from Careerbuilder.com, thank you very much.

STRAHAN: Thank you.

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