New survey suggests stability in the workplace

A slim percentage of local business owners say they plan to send workers packing in the coming six months, according to a new survey.

What they may not realize is that some employees are quietly packing their bags after four years of loyalty.

Just over half of companies responding to a new poll stated they plan to hire in the first half of this year, while just 4 percent said they are planning to lay off workers.

The survey was published by OperationsInc, a human resources consultancy and training firm, and Performance-Solutions-Group Inc. (PSG), with both companies located in Stamford. More than 55 organizations in the tristate area participated in the survey.

“I”™m not sure so much it caught me by surprise, as much as it was very encouraging,” said David Lewis, CEO of Operations Inc. “We have been ”¦ discouraged in some of the tentativeness over the last several years. We are seeing something more in the way of solid cement under our feet rather than sand.”

In a separate, larger survey published last October by New York City-based Mercer, however, a third of employees polled said they are seriously considering leaving their company. At the top of their priority list ”“ a desire to be treated with respect, among a dozen other criteria queried by Mercer including pay and benefits.

“Widespread apathy and high turnover can be detrimental to an organization”™s business performance, especially in the difficult economic environment we”™re experiencing as companies are looking to drive productivity and efficiencies,” said Mindy Fox, a senior partner who leads Mercer”™s U.S. region, in a statement released with the survey.

Lewis said the same phenomenon is at work in Fairfield County and Westchester County, N.Y., with businesses wringing more work out of fewer people for minimal pay increases.

“The big issue is going to be compensation,” Lewis said. “It has essentially ”¦ been ignored since the end of ”™08, and that”™s a long time. You are dealing with three years of companies getting to yearend and doing nothing ”¦ but give them a small increase, pat them on the back and tell them they should be happy they are still employed.”

For those that see valued employees walk, good luck filling those jobs ”“ despite persistently high unemployment, half of respondents to the OperationsInc and PSG survey said they continue to have difficulties finding qualified talent to fill jobs they are posting.