Author: seanl

Sean Leslie was the Sr. Content Strategist at PayScale.com, and he writes for PayScale about work, salary, work-life balance, combining your passions with your career and whatever else catches his fancy. Sean’s a happy husband and father; an erstwhile runner, mountain biker, backpacker and outdoorsman; and—though English by birth—an adopted and fiercely proud Pacific Northwesterner. He's also a huge proponent of flip-flops in the office.

Ghosting

Ghosting

Payback: Prospective Employees Are Ghosting Recruiters

In a schadenfreude-inducing role reversal, thanks to current low unemployment, hiring managers in industries from “food service to finance” are finding themselves being ghosted by job candidates; one minute the candidate seems enthusiastic about the job, the next… they won’t pick up the phone, or even vanish entirely. How do you like...

Working Mom

Working Mom

Do You Live in the Worst State for Working Moms?

If you want to have a really happy Mother’s Day, you should move to Vermont. But you can expect a bad experience as a working mom if you live in… Working moms have it rough. According to a 2015 article in The New York Times, “In most cases … women still do...

Unicorn Mask

Unicorn Mask

Woman Steals Identity to Land Six-Figure Job in HR, Is Promoted Before Crime Discovered

Cindy T. White, 41, of Slidell, Louisiana, took the phrase “fake it ‘till you make it” to new levels in 2015 when she assumed the identity of another woman in order to land a job as a human resources manager at Diversified Foods & Seasonings, Inc. Keep Up the Good Work While...

Image Credit: Pexels / Pixabay

Image Credit: Pexels / Pixabay

Jobs in the Solar Energy Industry

For more information on emerging industries like solar energy, read PayScale’s report, Jobs in Emerging Industries. In 2016 , “solar employment expanded … 17 times faster than the total US economy”, and employed “more than 260,000 people,” according to CNN. But despite sunny prospects, the solar industry faces issues that may cloud its...

How To Price Jobs In Emerging Industries

In this post, we’ll explore the growth of emerging industries, and then dip into questions employers in these industries are likely facing. This blog post is an excerpt from our e-book Jobs In Emerging Industries: The Growth of New Industries, and the Job Creation That Comes With Them. Download your copy here....

PayScale’s New Hero Awards Recognize Work Cultures Employees Love

In a world where the talent market is tight, a world where employees have many choices as to where they commit their time and talents, it can be incredibly difficult for organizations to maintain a culture that continuously motivates employees and retains their loyalty. This is a world that needs heroes. Is...

employee appreciation

employee appreciation

Employee Appreciation Day: 7 Creative Ways to Appreciate Your Employees

Promotions, raises and being named “Employee of the Month” are all tried-and-true ways to reward outstanding employee performance. And while they’re usually well-received, in today’s often imaginative and fun-focused workplaces, these well-worn approaches might feel a little … stale. (Beyond that, you may not have budget for a timely raise.) So, what’s...

communicating pay

communicating pay

Managers: On the Front Lines of Communicating Pay

Yes, you’d love it if your HR team could spend more time with employees across the company. But given your growing organization has more employees than you can consistently see on a regular basis, the internal partners you need to leverage when it comes to communicating pay decisions are your managers. Direct...

talk pay

talk pay

Don’t Wait for an Increase Cycle to Talk Pay

It’s almost the most wonderful time of the year: increase time! That’s right! After the winter holidays have passed, many organizations — organizations that operate on the calendar year — have restocked coffers and fresh budget. And that means managers and HR teams are ready to spend that money on salary increases....

compensation data

compensation data

How PayScale Salary Surveys Become Real-Time Market Compensation Data

Real-time market compensation data is relatively new in the world of compensation management, but it offers a compelling value-add to compensation planning. PayScale’s compensation management software products provide salary information for 15,000 job titles, all specific to industry, employee experience level, company size, market location and numerous other variables. But how? Using...

adoption assistance

adoption assistance

Adopting Better Policies for Employee Family Support

November is National Adoption Month in the U.S. Do you offer adoption assistance to your employees? Find out more about this benefit in today’s post. The choice to become a parent is perhaps one of the biggest decisions most people will face in their life. Beyond the fact you’re committing to a...

Working at SpaceX: Low Pay, High Stress and a Chance to Be Part of History

Who hasn’t dreamed of playing an integral role in mankind’s exploration of space? The first written story of space travel appeared in the early 17th century, but cave paintings and hieroglyphics dating back tens of thousands of years seemingly reference rockets, spaceships and interstellar travelers. The 18th best television show of all...

Why Everyone Would Benefit From Paid Family Leave

In September, my wife Karaka and I will welcome a baby girl into our family. I’m overjoyed. We’re already the parents of a 3-year-old boy, William, who makes me laugh harder and more often than anyone I know. Granted, for a long time William woke us up two to three times a...

college ROI

college ROI

How to Know If Your College Degree Will Pay Off

There’s no such thing as a standard recipe for financial or career success. But if there were, a college education would probably be the key ingredient. According to a 2014 Pew Research Center study, as reported by NPR: Those with a college degree now make $17,500 more per year than those without...

Football Brownies

Football Brownies

Heavily Incentivized: Seahawk Player’s $385,000 Bonus Tied to Losing Weight

Bonuses — also known as “variable pay,” “pay for performance,” or “performance incentives” in the compensation world — are usually framed as rewards for stellar work or contributions toward employer success. Hit your traffic goals for the year? Here’s your bonus. Sell enough widgets? Here’s your bonus. Reduce website loading speed by...

Closing the gender pay gap

Closing the gender pay gap

Why Men Should Care About Equal Pay Day

Fellas, by now it’s old news that there exists a gender pay gap between men and women; the statistics prove it. I can already hear you saying, “People can come up with statistics to prove anything.” (FYI, that’s a quote attributed to Homer Simpson.) Yes, there are different ways to look at...

Workplace Communication: Even If Your Employees Like You, It May Not Be Enough

It’s the question every manager has asked her or himself at some point in their career: “Do my employees like me?” Based on research published in our 2017 Compensation Best Practices Report (CBPR), only 57 percent of employers feel confident that their employees “have a great relationship with their direct managers.” But...

Business Formal

Business Formal

Which Three States Have the Most-Formal Office Dress Codes?

For the past 400 years or so, particularly in the Western world, it’s fair to say no type of clothing has been more synonymous with money, power and business than the suit. Search for “business” images in any search engine, and odds are you’ll soon be scrolling through stock pictures of men...

Style vs Salary - Featured Image

Style vs Salary - Featured Image

Style vs. Salary: Does Your Appearance Impact Your Career?

Does how you look influence how much you make? In June of 2016, Business Insider reported that JPMorgan Chase and Co. had circulated an internal memo expanding “business casual dress firmwide.” According to the memo, the change from business formal—suit jackets and ties—to a less buttoned-up appearance at the world’s fifth-largest bank...

The Most Unappreciated Jobs In America

So, you’re unappreciated at work. Or you feel like you are. Unfortunately, you’re not alone. Almost 30 percent of American workers feel unappreciated. But who are the workers that feel most unappreciated? Why do they feel this way? And what needs to change in order for them to feel more valued? PayScale surveyed...

A PayScale Report: You’re Not the Boss Of Me – Trust in the Workplace

Trust. Pop psychology tells us trust is the foundation of any successful relationship, both personal and professional. With that in mind, PayScale wanted to see whether American workers felt trusted by their manager, whether different types of workers feel differently about trust, and how a variable level of trust impacts aspects of...

Work-appropriate flip-flops?

Work-appropriate flip-flops?

Vote: Is it OK to Wear Flip-Flops at Work?

A number of years ago, when I was working for a large, Seattle-based e-commerce company, my wife and I traveled to England for the wedding of my college roommate. While at dinner, we made small talk with our tablemates, chatting about, among other things, differences in U.S. and American office attire. “What...

The U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team and the Absurdity of the Gender Pay Gap

The gender pay gap is a complicated issue. Though it’s partly caused by the fact that men are more likely to hold higher-paying jobs, it’s also true that women are, on average, paid less for performing the same jobs as men. The solution to the gap is often summed up at its...