U.S. job quality is in trouble [View all]

[rfranklin]

-snip-

With almost 13 million unemployed workers, competition is intense, and some workers with new jobs are taking cuts in pay and responsibilities. Henry Farber, an economist at Princeton University in New Jersey, studied employment in the Great Recession, and found that job losers who found new positions earned on average 17.5% less in the new job.


Job gains during early part of recovery were greatest in lower-wage occupations. A "Now Hiring" sign seen in front of a McDonald's recently in Fair Oaks, Virginia.
With persistent high unemployment, there’s downward pressure on wage growth.

“Employers know workers don’t have outside options. If your employer knows you don’t have outside options, it reduces your bargaining power,” said Heidi Shierholz, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington think tank.


http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-job-quality-is-in-trouble-2012-02-27?dist=beforebell