Work Force Getting Older, More Diverse

Here’s how the American work force will look in the year 2006, according to projections by the Bureau of Labor Statistics:

Nearly 149 million people will be working, an 11 percent increase from today.

One in three workers will be over 55 years old.

The segment of workers ages 16 to 24 will be growing faster than the overall work force.

The median age of U.S. workers will rise to 41. It was 34 in 1994.

The number of workers over age 45 will account for 24 percent of the work force, an increase from 19 percent in 1994.

Women will make up about 47 percent of the work force.

Hispanic, Asian and African-Americans together will comprise nearly 30 percent of the work force.

The fastest-growing industries will be computer and data processing services and health services.

Taking suggestions

The suggestion box, long a workplace fixture but often scorned by workers, may be staging a comeback.

According to a survey by Robert Half International Inc., a staffing services firm based in Menlo Park, Calif., 89 percent of the nation’s top executives say they are more inclined to implement their employees’ ideas than they were five years ago.

In a rut

Workers can expect an average 4 percent pay hike next year for the sixth straight year, according to a new Conference Board survey.

The board offered two reasons to explain why increases have held stable for so long despite a tight labor market:

Companies are shifting a larger percentage of compensation away from fixed salaries and into bonuses or other pay-for-performance rewards and stock options.

Inflation has remained low, so modest raises still provide real earnings gains.

Each of the six major industry groups surveyed, including commercial banking, diversified services, insurance, manufacturing, trade and utilities, all averaged 4 percent gains.