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Chicago Area Employers Feel Financial Sting of Rising Fuel Prices - The Management Association
About Us
Chicago Area Employers Feel Financial Sting of Rising Fuel Prices
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 2, 2011
Contact: Elizabeth Weber
312-251-9912
eweber@ksapr.com
Chicago Area Employers Feel Financial Sting of Rising Fuel Prices
Companies pursue alternatives to help employees save on travel expenses
DOWNERS GROVE, IL – Seventy-three percent of Chicago-area employers said that high fuel costs have increased travel expenses for their companies and their employees, and many of them are taking steps to ease the burden, according to survey results released today by The Management Association.
“The most common money-saving strategies are to use conference calls instead of traveling for meetings and to utilize web-based training instead of in-person sessions,” said Mary Lynn Fayoumi, President and CEO of The Management Association.
Of the 277 employers surveyed in the 2011 Fuel Costs Impact Survey, 53 percent said they were using conference calls to save money on fuel costs. Another 48 percent opted for web-based training and conferences.
Also, more than a quarter of the businesses reported that employees had asked them about telecommuting, but only 14 percent had actually followed through on the request. Employers have also accommodated employees who bike to work (27 percent) and compressed work weeks or created alternative schedules for employees (20 percent).
About 34 percent of companies that employ a sales force, drivers or service technicians said they are encouraging the use of phone calls instead of face-to-face visits. Also, 13 percent have considered re-routing drivers, 10 percent are passing on additional surcharges to their customers and 9 percent have decided to reimburse more than the current IRS recommended rate of .51 cents per mile.
The survey respondents come from a cross-section of the Chicago region, including 44 percent manufacturers, 32 percent in the service sector , 9 percent in finance or insurance, 6 percent in public administration and 5 percent in wholesale trade. Forty-five percent of those responding have fewer than 100 employees, 48 percent employ between 100-499 employees and 8 percent have more than 500 employees.
Editor’s Note: Full survey results are available upon request. The news media can sign up for access to this survey and others from the Management Association by joining the association’s Press Room. Contact Kevin Menzer at kmenzer@hrsource.org.
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The Management Association, which serves more than 1,000 Chicago-area and Illinois companies, is the trusted source of practical human resource expertise for businesses from one to 45,000 employees.
