No End in Sight: The Agony of Prolonged Unemployment

Despite positive signs of economic growth and a rising stock market, millions of unemployed Americans see no end to the Great Recession that devastated their finances and threw their lives into turmoil. No End in Sight: The Agony of Prolonged Unemployment, a nationwide Work Trends survey of more than 900 workers who have been jobless since August 2009, documents their continuing struggle to find jobs and the sacrifices they have endured in a punishing economy. The report is based on a six-month follow-up survey with the national scientific sample of unemployed Americans reported in the Heldrich Centeras Anguish of Unemployment report released in September 2009. Seventy-six percent of those interviewed in August 2009 were re-interviewed by Knowledge Networks of Menlo Park, California between March 10-23, 2010

Taking Stock of Retirement: How Workers and Employers Assess Pensions, Trust, and the Economy

This survey polls workers and employers regarding their views on corporate scandals and the collapse of Enron, the impact of these events on trust in the workplace, and policy strategies needed to increase pension and retirement security

The Disposable Worker: Living in a Job-Loss Economy

This important survey finds many U.S. workers have experienced job loss and the pinch of economic uncertainty during the 2000-2003 recession. The survey includes a large sample of workers who lost their jobs. The survey shows that many workers were laid off without any advance notice, severance pay, health care coverage, or career counseling. However, large numbers of workers believe these services and benefits are critical to their economic survival. Worker confidence in the U.S. economy and political leadership were at the lowest levels recorded in the history of the then six-year Work Trends series

Identifying Gaps and Setting Priorities for Employment and Training Research

The report summarizes recent workforce and employment related research, to identify current gaps in employment and training research and makes recommendations for future research processes and priorities that could better inform policy makers, practitioners, job seekers and employers. The report reviews workforce and related research funded by several federal agencies, including the US Departments of Labor, Education, Agriculture, Health and Human Services, and Housing and Urban Development, the National Science Foundation and other federal entities, as well as research undertaken by regional, state and local workforce agencies and philanthrophic organizations

American Workers Assess an Economic Disaster

Nearly three years into a devastating economic recession, American workers are deeply pessimistic about prospects for economic recovery. The majority believe that the nationas economy has undergone a fundamental and lasting change, according to American Workers Assess an Economic Disaster, a new nationwide Work Trends survey from the Heldrich Center.Some of the key findings of the national survey are:Nearly three in four (73%) Americans have been directly affected by a recession that is unprecedented in its length and severity. Nearly two in three of those surveyed expect the United States to still be in a recession next year; another 18% fear a depression is coming. More than half (56%) think the U.S. economy has undergone a fundamental and lasting change as opposed to a temporary downturn (43%). Fully 41% anticipate that the United States will be experiencing similar economic conditions a year from now while another quarter (27%) actually believes the economy will get worse before it gets better. Nearly 9 in 10 Americans (86%) who are still working express at least some concern about their job security; half of them report being very concerned

A Workplace Divided: How Americans View Discrimination and Race on the Job

In this Work Trends survey, American workers express their views on the contentious issue of discrimination in the workplace -- how they perceive and experience discrimination as well as what they expect government and employers to do about it

Older and Out of Work: Employer, Government and Nonprofit Assistance

This Issue Brief, prepared by the Heldrich Center research staff, examines employer, federal, state, and community-based strategies designed to help unemployed older workers obtain new skills and return to work

Turning Brownfields into Jobfields

A handbook for practitioners and citizens on making brownfields development work