This month, five years ago, began the greatest financial crisis in modern times.  Events following the September 15 collapse of the Lehman Brothers investment bank, including massive and country-wide layoffs and a housing crisis that essentially destroyed the U.S. market, have left many questioning the strength of our economy and wondering if the labor market will ever recover.

The Labor Department’s most recent jobs report suggests that yes, recovery is in the works, although at a staggeringly slow pace.  The September 6 reported decrease in the unemployment rate to its current 7.3% should mean that the economy must be getting better.  However, it has been suggested that decline is due not to a growth in the number of people working, but rather to a decrease in the size of the labor force.  In other words, the number of people working, those comprising the labor force, continues to shrink.  In fact, the number of people working is now at a 25-year low.  And as the 6.1 million unemployed workers continue to file for unemployment, it is interesting to consider what might actually be the most telling measure of the number of unemployed throughout the country.

Regardless of that measure, there are fewer Americans working.  This low  is due in part to the demographics of our workers…the aging U.S. population means more workers than in past years are either retiring, or choosing to no longer seek work after becoming unemployed.  It is important to understand, however, that this 25-year low is also due in part to both discouraged workers abandoning the job search, and to individuals choosing to be selective about returning to work.

Unemployed workers today are savvier than those of times past.  Although past trends indicate companies are less willing to hire a long-term unemployed individual over another with a shorter unemployment duration [link to article here], the modern unemployed worker is reportedly holding off for a job offer that meets his or her requirements.  While this is seemingly counter-intuitive at a time of high unemployment, with large severance packages offered to the unemployed, and relatively long State Unemployment award grants, many laid-off workers have the ability to be selective.  To recruit and retain the highest caliber talent, might it be time for employers to improve their benefit offerings to “fit the need” of the selective worker?

Recent survey research indicates the key Human Resource issues upcoming for 2014 include retention and recruitment.  With the changing health benefits landscape and the ongoing recession, two key issues for individuals going back to work are quality health insurance and excellent separation benefits; both can be structured in a way that strengthens recruitment efforts.  While not government-mandated, separation benefits are more often than not awarded to employees upon an involuntary termination.  Many organizations have recently reexamined their separation benefit offerings in the wake of huge recession spending.  And a key theme is central to that examination…how to save money and still provide financial support to a departing worker.

A SUB Plan gives an organization the ability to offer competitive separation benefits to employees without spending a fortune.  Government benefits awarded (in most cases) to laid-off workers, integrated with monetary separation benefits provided by a company, allow a SUB Plan to significantly reduce the cost of a layoff for a company in distress.  The SUB Plan vehicle can allow a company to offer, for example, twelve weeks of separation benefits rather than eight, or eight weeks of benefit instead of six.  Having a SUB Plan in place can also allow a company to strategically implement other attractive employee benefits, such as a more comprehensive health insurance package.

Workers, even in a tough employment market, have a leg up on hiring organizations.  It is necessary now for organizations to be not only competitive within the industry, but also competitive within the labor market.  Employee benefits are often a deciding factor in an individual’s choice to return to work or stay unemployed.  Employers have the ability to do this, it is only a matter of implementing the right tools and utilizing the right resources to get the best people while saving significant long-term costs.