The Washington Times
Rob Wilson, President of Employco USA, was recently mentioned in an article from The Washington Times. Read below for an excerpt from the full article, Big business backs Trump tax cuts with bonus payouts.
“After years of stagnant wage growth, many in the private sector say the tax cuts have provided a boost for middle-class workers even before the expected relief starts showing up in their paychecks next month.
“It’s a big win not just for businesses but for employees, and not just employees at big companies,” said Rob Wilson, president of Employco USA, a human-resources firm in Westmont, Illinois. “Bonuses like that for people who don’t typically get bonuses, that could be 3 percent [of their salary]. Across the board, we’ve seen many companies increase bonuses.”
He said the employment situation and wages this year should continue to improve, and that the bonuses are also a sign of companies trying to hold onto workers in a tightening labor market. He said surveys are showing that about two-thirds of employees will be looking for better jobs this year, with companies adding better benefits.
“It’s businesses trying to remain competitive,” Mr. Wilson said. “It does have a ripple effect for other businesses, not just wages but benefits. How can you attract and retain employees?”
With the unemployment rate already at a 17-year low of 4.1 percent, the improving job market also will provide more opportunities for people who had left the workforce permanently.
“One of the things that really has been ignored but was a big issue under the Obama administration was the ‘underemployed’ and the ‘unreported,’” Mr. Wilson said. “There’s now incentive for the underemployed to get back into their original careers. For those people who were not working, there’s an opportunity to get back out in the workforce.”
The workforce participation rate, a measure of how many people dropped out of the workforce altogether, has ranged between 62.5 percent to 63 percent during the last few years of the Obama administration. It hadn’t been so low since the 1970s.”