Results of Employee Forum Survey on Personal Impact of Layoffs and Furloughs 1420 responses were ana

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Results of Employee Forum Survey on Personal
Impactof Layoffs and Furloughs1420 responses
were analyzed.Response rate was 11.75, whichis
very good for this type and method of survey.
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This was the survey introduction

• The budget crisis facing the State of North
  Carolina and UNC-Chapel Hill is already affecting
  many thousands of state workers and their
  families. Exactly how it will affect us in the
  months to come depends on decisions that
  government officials and University
  administrators will be making in the next few
  weeks. The Employee Forum at Carolina wants to
  hear how these decisions could affect you and
  your family. We also want to know what Carolina
  employees would be willing to do to try to
  mitigate some of the looming trouble for the
  Carolina community. Please take this short
  survey. We'll share the results with our
  newsletter readers, on our website, with
  University administrators, and with interested
  others.

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Question 1. My job type is
Faculty response was less than half the expected
amount compared to other groups.
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We know the expected percentages by job type from
information gathered by the Office of
Institutional Research in Fall 2008. The
responses were weighted to produce adjusted
percentages.
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• Weighting does not change the results within job
  categories.
• Weighting permits a more accurate comparison of
  results across job categories.
• About 70 responses were submitted on paper, but
  the survey probably still under-represents
  employees with less access to computers.
• How closely do the responses match what we know
  about the actual number of employees?
• We can use statewide data on permanent-SPA
  employees to compare.

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Compare the graph on the left, all permanent SPA
employees in the state, with the one on the
right, those at UNC-Chapel Hill. Note that the
years of service categories are slightly
different, but the distributions are similar.
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Question 4. I have worked for the University
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Compare years of service by job types
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Question 2. My position is
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3. My position is funded by
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Sources of Funding by Job Type
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Question 7. Personnel expenses account for at
least 60 of the University's state-funded
budget. Which of the following would you be
willing (and able) to do personally to help the
University manage its personnel
expenditures?Choose all that apply
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• There was an average of 1.8 responses per person
  to Question 7.
• The category Do Nothing by itself was the
  single most frequent answer at 252 (17.8).
• Do Nothing was checked by an additional 41
  respondents in combination with one or more other
  answers.
• The combination of Furlough Temporarily and
  Bank Hours was checked by 179 respondents
  (12.6).
• The category Furlough Temporarily by itself was
  the next highest with 161 respondents (11.3).

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Question 8. If you would be willing to be
furloughed, indicate how many hours per week
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Question 8. If you would be willing to
permanently reduce your work hours, indicate how
many hours per week
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Question 8. If you would be willing to bank your
work hours, indicate how many hours per week
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Question 9. Which one thing would you prefer to
do, if necessary, assuming that "Nothing at all"
is not an option? Choose only one (Compare
slide 12)
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EPA-NF are more willing to be furloughed than
other job types, while faculty are more willing
to contribute to a fund than other job types.
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When required to select one answer, those who
preferred Do Nothing are more likely to prefer
banking hours over other options. Compare slide
17.
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Question 10. If you chose furlough as your one
thing, indicate how many hours per week
(Compare slide 14, little difference in
distribution, lost 38 of respondents)
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Question 10. If you chose permanently reduce
hours as your one thing, indicate how many hours
per week(Compare slide 15, lost 78 of
respondents)
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Question 10. If you chose banking hours as your
one thing, indicate how many hours per week
(Compare slide 16, little difference in
distribution, lost 51 of respondents)
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When furloughs were selected either as the single
choice (left) or as a multiple choice (right),
employees selecting more than 5 hours per week
would double the cumulative hours sacrificed by
employees even though those employees are only
2/5 of the total number of employees.
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Question 11. If your hours were temporarily cut
through furloughs, how many hours per week would
you be willing to lose before you would actively
start looking for work elsewhere?
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Question 12. If your hours were permanently
cut, how many hours per week would you be
willing to lose before you would actively start
looking for work elsewhere? (Compare slide 24,
distribution shifts left)
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In cross-checking hours that can be permanently
reduced before employees hunt for another job
against hours that employees are willing to be
permanently reduced, there is a high correlation
shown by the clusters of peaks below.
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In cross-checking furlough hours before employees
hunt for another job against hours that employees
are willing to be furloughed, there is a high
correlation shown by the clusters of peaks below.
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• In other words, each employee apparently has a
  personal threshold for the number hours willing
  to be furloughed. Once that threshold is
  approached, the employee is very likely to start
  looking for another job.
• It is unclear from the survey if that job would
  be in addition to their UNC job or instead of
  their UNC job.

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Employees on any state funds are much less
willing to permanently reduce hours than those
solely on grants/contracts
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Employees with fewer years of service are more
likely to prefer no change
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Key Points

• There is a substantial number of employees,
  between 1/4 and 1/3, who would prefer no change.
  This category may also include faculty for whom
  retirement and reduction of work hours are not
  feasible.
• Non-faculty in this category are likely to look
  for another job if hours are reduced even
  slightly, whether permanently or temporarily.

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Key Points

• Although there is a strong preference by many for
  banking hours, this has not been an option
  discussed by administrators or legislators.
• There may be a group of employees who are
  underestimating the loss of income that would
  result from being furloughed for a substantial
  number of hours.

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Key Points

• Between 1/7 and 1/4 of employees would be willing
  to be furloughed more than 5 hours per week.
  This group could produce double the savings over
  those willing to be furloughed less than 5 hours
  per week.
• This indicates that voluntary furloughs could be
  a viable option and should be pursued before
  mandatory furloughs.

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Key Points

• Mandatory furloughs or permanent reduction in
  hours will force many employees to look for other
  work, although it is unclear if this would be
  additional part-time work or a new full time job.
• As the public sector is lagging behind the
  private in recession impacts, the public sector
  is also likely to lag during recovery. When the
  private sector begins to recover, mandatory
  furloughs or permanently reduced hours will
  generate increased turnover and loss of expertise.