Employers also are willing to pay more, offer sign-on bonuses and flexible work schedules as competition for labor is tight and pressure to satisfy increasing consumer demand is high. In May, Waste Management said that it would pay for its workers’ college and professional education and, beginning January, extend that benefit to their employees’ spouses and children.
“The war for talent is so fierce that compensation can’t be the only differentiator between us and another company,” says Tamla Oates-Forney, Waste Management’s chief human resources officer. “We had to find a way to show that working for us goes beyond the paycheck.”