DEMOGRAPHICS, DEVICES AND DISCONNECTION NOVEMBER 2015 Presented By Red e App and Edison Research PROFILE OF THE HOURLY WORKER ORIGINAL RESEARCH
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DEMOGRAPHICS, DEVICES AND DISCONNECTION
NOVEMBER 2015
Presented By Red e App and Edison Research
PROFILE OF THE HOURLY WORKERO R I G I N A L R E S E A R C H
2 Profile of the Hourly Worker
As of 2014, hourly workers make up 56.7 percent of the United States workforce1. Think about that for a moment. More than half of all people working in the U.S. make an hourly wage. That’s 77.2 million workers aged 16 and up.
Yet there is little data to be found about the hourly worker. The U.S. Census publishes a total number of hourly workers and breaks that number down by very broad age characteristics, full-time vs. part-time, public vs. private sector and race. But that’s all.
The segment is so ignored that even the monthly unemployment report doesn’t categorize the workforce by salary vs. hourly. The U.S. Department of Labor recognizes them only in an annual report on minimum wage workers. To understand the majority of laborers in the United States, we are left to guess.
Until now.At Red e App, a platform built for companies to communicate with hourly and non-desk workers, we saw great need for a better understanding of this overlooked segment of the labor force. To better build solutions for the disconnected worker — those who are without company email but still need real-time technology solutions for communication and collaboration in the
enterprise — Red e App needed to understand who that worker was, how they worked, how they communicated and what gaps they saw in their relationships with their employers.
As a result, Red e App commissioned Edison Research, long known for its unquestioned quality in surveying and polling audiences, to, for the first time, dive deep into understanding the hourly worker. The resulting research opens our eyes to who these 77 million-plus laborers are, how they are characterized, how they are communicated with and how they view their jobs. This Profile of the Hourly Worker creates an understanding for government, corporations, employers and employees about almost 60 percent of the American workforce. This information will create stronger relationships and better communication paths.
Profile of the Hourly Worker is a first step. Analyzing data and using that knowledge to improve labor conditions, employee communications, enterprise use of technology and worker satisfaction should be the resulting next one. The insights here will help guide companies — enterprise, small and everywhere in between — toward better relationships, communications and results when training, nurturing and communicating with hourly workers.
Use this report as an immersion point. Soak up the information and insights included here to broaden your understanding of your own workforce. Look for weaknesses in your organization, operations and communications, and seek solutions for them, because the questions and concerns raised in this report affect well more than half of our labor force. And positively impacting that segment can only spell good for our market, our workforce and our business.
More than half of all people working
in the U.S. make an hourly wage.
1 U.S. Department of Labor, Characteristics of Minimum Wage Workers 2014 - www.bls.gov/opub/reports/cps/characteristics-of-minimum-wage-workers-2014.pdf
3 Profile of the Hourly Worker
We know that 56.7 percent of the U.S. workforce is paid hourly. Beyond that, we know little. Assumptions might tell us that they work at or near the poverty level, that they aren’t well educated or perhaps even that many of them hold more than one job.
But assumptions aren’t worthwhile when making business decisions. Facts are. And the data uncovered about the hourly workforce, surveyed for and broadly reported upon here for the first time, is what can wisely guide business leaders, human resources managers and communications decision-makers.
MethodologyRed e App commissioned Edison Research to conduct an online survey of full-time or part-time hourly wage earners. In total, 1,099 online interviews were conducted between Aug. 14 and 19, 2015. The resulting data was weighted by gender and race to match U.S. Census hourly worker demographics. The data was then weighted by education to match U.S. Census data on full-time and part-time workers.
The result is what is believed to be the first independent, quantitative survey of American hourly workers.
PROFILE OF THE HOURLY WORKER
4 Profile of the Hourly Worker
Demographic InsightsWe can begin by understanding that our sample is largely representative of the U.S. population. Core demographics
are merely confirmation of that and do not generally lead to “ah-ha” moments. The demographic profile of the hourly
worker is an even 50/50 split between men and women and matches full-time vs. part-time differences (70/30). It is also representative of the U.S. population racially,
but then we begin to see distinctions.
EM
PLO
YM
EN
T
ETH
NIC
ITY
70%
30%
Par
t-tim
e
Full-tim
e
Sample Demographics (Employment)
Asian/Other
African-American
Hispanic/Latino
White67%
13%
15%
5%
Sample Demographics
(Ethnicity)
5 Profile of the Hourly Worker
AGE DISTRIBUTION
A higher percentage of almost every age group (when compared to the U.S. population as a whole)
are hourly workers, but that is easily dismissed, as the general population figure also includes retirees
and others who are not a part of the workforce.
INDUSTRY
Retail and professional/banking/financial services were both leading industries for hourly workers with 13 percent of the sample. They were followed by construction/manufacturing/logistics (12 percent), healthcare (11 percent), education (10 percent) and hospitality/food and beverage (7 percent).
17%
19%
24%20%
15%
5%
45–5
4 5
5–64
65+ 18–24
25–34
35–44
Sample Demographics
(Age Distribution)
Arts & EntertainmentTransportation
Government
Tech & Telecommunications
Hospitality/Food & Beverage
Education
Healthcare
Construction/Manufacturing/Logistics
Professional Services/Banking/Financial
Retail
Other17%
13%
13%
4%
4%
6%
7%
10%
11%
12%
3%
Sample Demographics
(Industry)
DEMOGRAPHIC INSIGHTS
6 Profile of the Hourly Worker
EDUCATION
Contrary to what many may believe, the majority of hourly workers are well-educated.
In fact, 45 percent of the hourly workforce has at least a four-year college degree. Eighteen percent have advanced degrees. Just a little
over 25 percent have a high school diploma or less.
HOURLY WORKERS ARE LOYAL AND EDUCATED
Advanced DegreeSuch as MA, MBA, or PhD
Some GraduateCredits
Four YearCollege Degree
One to ThreeYears of College
High Schoolor Less
27%
28%21%
6%
18%
Sample Demographics
(Education)
7 Profile of the Hourly Worker
For those who believe that the hourly workforce is a high-turnover workforce, they might be surprised to learn that, generally speaking, the hourly worker is a loyal one. Sixty-three percent of hourly workers have been with their current company for more than two years. Forty percent have been with their current employer for more than five years, and 20 percent have worked with them for 10 years or more.
Ten Years or More
5 Years to < 10 Years
2 Years to < 5 Years
One Year to < 2 Years
Six Months to < One Year
Less Than Six Months
11%
15%
11%
23%
20%
20%
HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN WITH YOUR CURRENT COMPANY?
HOURLY WORKERS ARE LOYAL AND EDUCATED
8 Profile of the Hourly Worker
HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN WITH YOUR CURRENT COMPANY?
(INDUSTRY BREAKDOWN)
As we expected, the industry with the least amount of loyalty was restaurants, with 29 percent of hourly worker tenure at less than six months. Both schools or universities and healthcare industries showed higher than average long-term tenures. (Across all industries, 39 percent of hourly workers reported a tenure of five years or more.) In the education segment, 58 percent of hourly workers have been with their current company for more than five years. For healthcare, that longevity measured at 55 percent.
HOURLY WORKERS ARE LOYAL AND EDUCATED
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Home
Restaurant
Retail Store
Factory/Manufacturing/Construction Site
Healthcare
School or University 9% 6% 9% 18% 22% 36%
9% 10% 10% 16% 25% 30%
13% 6% 14% 28% 17% 22%
7% 8% 13% 30% 23% 19%
12% 16% 16% 20% 22% 14%
29% 12% 21% 15% 11% 12%
16% 17% 22% 25% 12% 8%
< 6 months
6 months – < 1 yr
1 yr – < 2 yrs
2 yrs – < 5 yrs
5 yrs – < 10 yrs
10+ years
9 Profile of the Hourly Worker
More than half of hourly workers have household incomes of $50,000 or more. The data shows 26 percent live in households that earn more than $75,000 per year,
while 11 percent report living in households that earn $100,000 or more.
Still, 14 percent have a household income of less than $25,000 per year, which is just north of the $23,000 poverty line for a two adult, two children home.
Despite the income challenges for some, 83 percent of hourly workers maintain just one job. By industry, only hotel workers stood out as multiple job holders, with 27.2 percent reporting that they hold more than one job.
NO
YES
17%
83%
DO YOU HAVE MORE THAN ONE JOB?
SAMPLE DEMOGRAPHICS (INCOME)
$100,000 or More
$75,000 — $99,999
$50,000 — $74,999
$25,000 — $49,999
$10,000 — $24,999
Less than $10,000
Refused3%
2%
12%
32%
25%
15%
11%
10 Work Environment
Other
Healthcare in Patients’ Homes
Other Health Care Facility
Hospital
Restaurant
School or University
Factory/Manufacturing/Construction Site Retail Store
14%
39%
11%
8%
5%
4%
4%
2%
13%
Despite the surprising number of hourly workers who call an office their primary work environment, 60 percent of hourly workers do not. This often means they are not connected to their company via the standard means of electronic communications — namely email.
WORK ENVIRONMENT
HOURLY WORKERS ARE PREDOMINANTLY MOBILE
Where the data gets really interesting is when you break it down by the work environment. When you think of hourly workers, you often think of retail environments, restaurants and even factories. Yet almost 40 percent of hourly workers call the office their primary work environment. Retail accounts for 14 percent of the total work environments, while 11 percent say they work in factories, manufacturing facilities or constructions sites.
Is Your Primary Work Environment
A(n) ...? (Base: Work Outside
the Home)
11 Work Environment
A MOBILE WORK ENVIRONMENT = DISCONNECTION
For some, connectivity issues are a symptom of being part of a truly mobile workforce, with 15 percent of hourly workers saying that they mainly work outdoors or out of their vehicles. Almost 30 percent say their job regularly requires them to spend time in a car or truck. Not only is this workforce segment disconnected, it is also forced to be mobile on company time.
IS MOST OF YOUR TIME AT WORK SPENT INDOORS, OUTDOORS OR
IN A CAR OR TRUCK?
Car or Truck
Outdoors
Indoors
3%
85%
12%
12 Work Environment
EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT
IS A STRUGGLE NO MATTER
THE NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES
And the problems of the hourly worker affect the largest
companies in the enterprise. Ten percent of the hourly worker population works at locations with 500 or more
employees. Additionally, 38 percent of the hourly workforce polled reported working at locations with more than 100
employees. Yet these companies account for just 20.9 percent of all establishments in the U.S.2
500 +
300– 499
100– 299
50–9 9 25–4 9
2– 24
You Work Alone9%
27%
13%13%
20%
8%
10%
How Many Employees Work In The Same Location
As You?
The challenges of the hourly worker — communications, operations, logistics, compliance, job satisfaction — are, by definition, the challenges of the enterprise. The nation’s largest companies should be compelled to embrace their workforce to improve their own efficiencies.
2 U.S. Census Statistics of U.S. Businesses Employment and Payroll Summary - www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2015/econ/g12-susb.pdf
13 Technology & the Hourly Worker
TECHNOLOGY AND THE HOURLY WORKER
As Red e App is a communications solution for the hourly worker, we were keenly interested in
how this majority segment of the workforce uses technology. Not surprising to us, but perhaps to
others, the hourly worker is a technologically savvy, well-connected individual. More than
8 in 10 hourly workers carry smartphones. Almost 7 in 10 own some sort of tablet.
DEVICE OWNERSHIP % owning a device
HOURLY WORKERS ARE CONNECTED AND TECH-SAVVY
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
84%
69%
TabletSmartphone
14 Technology & the Hourly Worker
Of those who access the Internet, 72 percent do so via a smartphone while 57 percent do so using their tablets. And 28 percent said a mobile device
is the primary way they access the Web.
Desktop or Laptop Computer
Desktop or Laptop Computer
Mobile Phone Mobile PhoneTablet Tablet0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
96
7257
DEVICES USED TO ACCESS THE INTERNET
% accessing internet via device
DEVICES USED MOST OFTEN TO ACCESS THE INTERNET
measured by percent
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
72
199
%
%
%
%
%
%
15 Technology & the Hourly Worker
HOURLY WORKERS ARE DISCONNECTED
FROM CORPORATE DESKTOPS AND
APPLICATIONS
While we noted before that almost 40 percent of
hourly workers consider an office their primary work environment, 53 percent say half or less of their workday
is spent using a desktop or laptop computer for their work responsibilities. Of the 51 percent of hourly workers whose primary work environment is not
an office, the percentage who spend half or less of their day on a computer
rises to 79.3 percent.
HOW MUCH OF YOUR TYPICAL WORKDAY IS SPENT USING A
DESKTOP OR LAPTOP COMPUTER FOR YOUR WORK RESPONSIBILITIES?
% of non-desk workers
None of Your Workday
Less than Half of Your Workday
About Half ofYour Workday
More Than Halfof Your Workday
But Not All
Almost All ofYour Workday
12%
13%
9%
29%
37%
16 Technology & the Hourly Worker
HOW MUCH OF YOUR TYPICAL WORKDAY IS SPENT USING A
TABLET OR MOBILE DEVICE FOR YOUR WORK RESPONSIBILITIES?
IS THERE DIGITAL ACCESS TO HOURLY
EMPLOYEES?
If this workforce is generally not using a computer for work responsibilities, surely they are communicating with their co-workers and the organization they work for with smartphones and tablets, right? Wrong. More than half of hourly workers say they don’t use those devices
professionally at all during their typical workday. Only 19 percent say they use them for more
than half or almost all of their workday.
By modern methods, according to the data, they generally are not.
THIS RAISES THE QUESTIONS:
How are hourly workers staying connected to the company?
How is a company, particularly a company with larger numbers of employees,
efficiently communicating with the hourly employee? None of
your workday
Less than halfof your workday
About half ofyour workday
More than half of yourworkday but not all
Almost all ofyour workday
52%
10%
9%
10%
19%
17 Technology & the Hourly Worker
SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE INDICATES INTEREST IN COMMUNICATION
But don’t think the hourly worker isn’t a communicator. Like most in the U.S. population, the hourly worker is a user of social media sites, which are primarily used to communicate with friends and family. Reports show 8 in 10 hourly workers are on Facebook. Almost half are on Twitter and Instagram. Even 32 percent used LinkedIn, which is often leveraged by those looking for different employment.
More than half of the hourly workers who use Facebook do so several times per day, with 79 percent using it at least daily. Twitter (68 percent) and Instagram (71 percent) also rate as daily use sites for the majority of hourly workers who use them.
HOW OFTEN DO YOU USE … ?
SOCIAL MEDIA USAGESeveral Times Per Day About Once Per Day Once A Week or Less
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Vine
What's App
Tumblr
Snapchat
Facebook 52% 27% 21%
39% 29% 32%
40% 31% 29%
53%
61%
30%
41%
31%
49%
21% 26%
19% 20%
44% 26%
30% 29%
43% 26%
24% 27%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Vine
What's App
Tumblr
Snapchat
Facebook 81%
45%
42%
38%
32%
28%
25%
24%
23%
Base: Have used each
18 Technology & the Hourly Worker
IN YOUR DAILY LIFE, HOW FREQUENTLY DO YOU USE TEXT
MESSAGING FOR … ?
TEXT MESSAGING IS A RISKY AND CUMBERSOME CHANNEL
But if direct communications methods are best, text messaging rates better than email. Half of hourly workers use text messaging several times per day for both work-related and personal communication. The usage is at 77 percent for those who at least use it several times per week. Only 12 percent say they never use text messaging for work and personal communications.
12%
50%
11%
27%
NEVER
SEVERA
L TIME
S PE
R D
AY
LESS
TH
AN O
NCE
PER
W
EEK
SE
VE
RA
L TIMES PER WEEK
19 Companies at Risk
COMPLIANCE AND SECURITY RISKSEmail is used by the hourly worker several times per day for general communication, including both work- and non-work-related topics.
But only half of hourly workers have an email account provided by their employer.
If that isn’t concerning enough, 42 percent of hourly workers say they use
their personal email account for work communication either sometimes or often.
This opens their companies up to dozens of liabilities, from compensation and
intellectual property issues to compliance and
security risks.
7%
41%
15%
37%
NEVER
SEVERA
LTIM
ES
PE
RD
AY
LESS
THAN
ON
CEPER
WEE
K
SE
VE
RA
LTIM
ES PER WEEK
IN YOUR DAILY LIFE, HOW FREQUENTLY DO YOU
USE EMAIL FOR GENERAL COMMUNICATION?
DO YOU HAVE AN EMAIL ADDRESS PROVIDED
BY YOUR EMPLOYER?
HOW OFTEN DO YOU USE YOUR PERSONAL
EMAIL ADDRESS FOR WORK COMMUNICATION?
NO YES 50%50%
18%
20%
24%
38%
Nev
er
Often
Rarely
Somet
ime
s
20 Companies at Risk
LACK OF CORPORATE OVERSIGHT, CONTROL
AND MEASUREMENT
Amplifying these risks for companies, 37 percent of hourly employees say their company typically communicates new policies and procedures to them via their personal email account. And 25 percent say they receive policy and procedure information via text message. The icing on the risk assessment cake? Sixteen percent say their company communicates policies and procedures to them via Facebook groups.
Adding to the company risk factors, 13 percent of hourly workers indicated that they request time off or shift changes via personal email; 15 percent do so via text message, and 6 percent do so via a Facebook group. Doing so in these non-secure, personal channels leaves companies without oversight, documentation or control.
DO YOU EVER REQUEST TIME OFF OR SHIFT CHANGES VIA … ?
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
Facebook Group
Personal Email
Text Message
Company Email
Phone
Request Form
In-person 48
30
25
19
15
13
6
DOES YOUR COMPANY TYPICALLY COMMUNICATE NEW POLICIES AND
PROCEDURES TO YOU VIA …
% saying yes
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
Facebook Gro
up
Text Mess
age
Postal M
ail
Personal E
Posted S
ign
Phone
Company E
Writ
ten M
emo
In-P
erson
Comm
unication
79
5244 41 40 37
26 2516
% saying yes
21 Profile of the Hourly Worker
CONCLUSION
So, what have we learned? The hourly workforce does look slightly different than we perhaps assumed. Perhaps they strike you as better educated? Higher household income earners? Better connected? Longer tenured?
But we also see clear concerns when it comes to how companies communicate, empower and perhaps value their hourly workers. Certainly, the data presented here is just the beginning of a series of explorations into this study by Red e App. In future reports, we will uncover more about the nature of the relationship an hourly employee has with his or her company, supervisor and more.
The initial signals from our research are clear, however: Companies are not providing safe, secure and measurable methods of communications to their hourly employees. This exposes them to compliance, security and even legal risk.
For a free assessment of your company’s hourly workforce communications, contact us at Red e App. We will help you connect with and empower your disconnected workforce in a method that provides safety, security, compliance, measurement and accountability for you and your employees.
22 Profile of the Hourly Worker
ABOUT
Red e AppRed e App provides a private and secure internal communications platform that connects companies with their hourly, front-line employees and those without company email access. Red e App is focused on building a communication platform that is beneficial for enterprise business departments such as operations, human resources, risk management, and communication teams who need a unified and dedicated communication channel to reach every single employee. Red e App is available on iOS, Android, and web browsers. For more information, visit our website redeapp.com.
Edison ResearchEdison Research conducts survey research and provides strategic information to a broad array of clients, including Activision, AMC Theatres, Disney, Dolby Laboratories, Google, NPR, Oracle, the U.S. International Broadcasting Bureau, Pandora, Samsung, Siemens, Sony, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, The Gates Foundation, and Univision. Another specialty for Edison is its work for media companies throughout the world, conducting research in North America, South America, Africa, Asia, Australia, and Europe. Edison Research is the sole provider of election exit poll data for the National Election Pool comprised of ABC, CBS, CNN, FOX, NBC and the Associated Press. Edison is also the leading provider of consumer exit polling and has conducted face-to-face research in almost every imaginable venue. All of Edison Research’s industry studies can be found on the company’s website at edisonresearch.com and can be downloaded free of charge.
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