Totals: California is the second-best place within the U.S. for staff, in keeping with a Labor Day scorecard created by a pro-union group.
Source: In my trusty spreadsheet, I evaluated Oxfam's annual Best States to Work Index, which takes into consideration 27 workplace policy issues to measure the strength of staff' rights in each state.
Top line
The only place that was higher to work than California, in keeping with this calculation, was Washington, D.C. After California got here Oregon, New York, and West Virginia. The worst places were North Carolina, Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama, and South Dakota.
And what about California's economic arch-rivals? Texas ranked forty sixth, Florida twenty ninth.
Details
Let’s take a have a look at the three elements of working conditions that make up this evaluation system…
Wage policy: Minimum hourly wage is vital to this rating. California ranks third. Top performer? First place is DC, then West Virginia. After California comes New Jersey and New York. Worst? Indiana, then North Carolina, South Dakota, Georgia and Alabama. Texas was forty fifth and Florida was twenty sixth.
Employee protection: This yr, inventory regulations were included within the calculations. California got here in second. Top performer? Oregon. After California, New York, West Virginia and DC. Worst performers? Mississippi, North Carolina and Alabama. Texas? forty fifth. Florida? thirtieth.
Right of association: How easy is it to form a union? California ranked first, followed by DC, New York, Oregon, Delaware and Illinois, and Ohio. Worst? Arkansas, Georgia, North Carolina, South Dakota, Utah and Texas. Florida ranked twenty seventh.
Conclusion
Is there a price to pay for labour market-friendly regulation? Let us take into consideration three labour market-related variables after which compare them with the rankings.
Where is one of the best pay?
California ranked fourth with an annual wage of $80,900 in the primary half of 2024. DC topped the list at $105,900, followed by Massachusetts at $85,400 and Washington at $85,000. Mississippi had the bottom salaries at $54,400, followed by New Mexico at $58,100 and West Virginia at $58,900. Texas ranked twenty third at $68,000 and Florida ranked twenty sixth at $66,700.
Where is organized labor stronger?
California has the fifth highest union representation at 16.9% of all jobs. Top? Hawaii at 25.6%, New York at 21.5%, West Virginia at 18.1% and New Jersey at 17.3%. Lowest? South Carolina at 3%, North Carolina at 3.3% and South Dakota at 4.2%. Texas is forty fifth at 5.4% and Florida is forty first at 6.1%.
And finally: who’s hiring?
California ranked twenty fifth with five-year job growth of three.7%. That's not nearly as much as Idaho's 14.6%, Utah's 13.1% and Nevada's 11.6%. Texas? sixth at 10.9% and Florida's fifth at 11.2%. The worst job markets? Hawaii saw a 3.4% decline in 2019-24, then DC's 3.3% and Louisiana's 1.8%.
So if you happen to have a look at the highest 10 states with the very best wages in keeping with Oxfam, you'll see that the common annual wage is $78,400. In the underside 10 states, the common wage is $64,200 – 18% less. Also, in the highest 10 states, 15% of staff are unionized, in comparison with 8% in the underside 10.
But consider that average employment growth in the highest 10 has been just 1.7% since 2019. In the underside 10? There was employment growth of 6.2%—almost 4 times as much.
If you're in search of work, know that bosses appear to avoid employee-friendly states with high costs of living.
postscript
California ranked fifth in a Ranking “Best Workplace” by StartFleet behind New York, Washington, Hawaii and Oregon. Worst? Arkansas, Wyoming and Louisiana. Texas? No. 43. Florida? No. 28.
Originally published:
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