Many organizations have a policy prohibiting their employees from discussing salaries with each other. We can safely assume that employees disregard plenty company policies on a regular basis. Sneaking in a few minutes late. Checking Facebook every once in a while – or maybe all the time. You might think salary discussions are another example of employees ignoring their bosses, but that might not be the case. A recent survey from CareerBuilder suggests that men and women have starkly different views of gender inequality in the workplace – especially when it comes to income.

Here’s what the survey found:

From the women’s perspective:
-38 percent feel they earn less than their male counterparts
-39 percent believe men have more opportunities to advance their career
-36 percent believe men receive more recognition for accomplishments
-35 percent believe their decision not to rub elbows with upper management (while the men are doing it) is the reason for the pay and advancement disparity
-22 percent cited favoritism toward men as the reason for the income and advancement differences

From the men’s perspective:
-84 percent believe males and females with the same qualifications are paid the same
-72 percent believe opportunities for advancement are the same for both genders
-6 percent believe they are paid less than their female counterparts
-17 percent believe women have more opportunities for advancement
-18 percent say women receive more kudos for accomplishment

Salary reality
If you’re the one handing out the paychecks, you know more than anybody how inaccurate the men’s salary (and overall) outlook is. What you might not realize is how large the gap is between the sexes:

Of surveyed female workers:
-40 percent earn $35,000 or less
-25 percent earn $50,000 or more
-3 percent earn $100,000 or more
-21 percent hold a management position
-49 percent hold a clinical or administrative position

Of surveyed male workers:
-24 percent earn $35,000 or less
-45 percent earn $50,000 or more
-10 percent earn $100,000 or more
-20 percent hold a management position
-25 percent are in a clinical or administrative role

And once you drill down into specific industries, you can see where the gaps are widest:

For government workers:
“59 percent of male government workers surveyed reported they make $50,000 or more, compared to 30 percent of women. On the other end of the pay scale, 29 percent of women reported they make $35,000 or less, compared to 13 percent of men.”

In health care:
“12  percent of men make $100,000 or more, compared to just 4 percent of women.”

According to retail workers:
“15 percent of men surveyed reported they make $50,000 or more, compared to 12 percent of women. On the other end of the pay scale, 61 percent of women reported they make $35,000 or less, compared to 50 percent of men.”

In sales:
“49 percent of salesmen surveyed reported they make $50,000 or more, compared to 28 percent of saleswomen. Thirteen percent of men make $100,000 or more, compared to just 9 percent of women.”

Looking at how the disparity repeatedly plays out, it’s obvious that gender inequality is alive and well in the workplace. What’s interesting to note is that, if you judge by the survey, this news is not news at all for women. Yet, for men, it’s not how they see things. Even if your employees aren’t openly discussing their paychecks, women are aware of where they stand in the business world.

It seems like just a year ago we were telling you that 72 percent of workers 60 and older were postponing retirement due to financial reasons. Turns out, it was. Where does the time go?

Who knows, but apparently in that year, the situation for mature workers began to improve. According to this year’s survey, 60 percent of mature workers are postponing retirement because of finances. Hopefully this is a sign that nest eggs are improving in a post-financial meltdown world.

For employers, it’s a definite sign that mature workers aren’t following any template when it comes to retirement. Financial concerns are still keeping workers tied to their jobs, but many other factors are playing a role, too. For example, 47 percent of workers intend to find freelance or part-time opportunities after retirement because they want to stay active as well as earn some extra money.

Additionally, 20 percent of surveyed mature workers have already asked their bosses about staying with the company longer. Meanwhile, 29 percent of employers are open to keeping these workers on board. These results suggest you have a good chance of retaining your most seasoned employees on either a full-time or part-time basis if you’re interested. That said, would-be retirees clearly have their retirement plans mapped out, so you should have a clear idea of where mature workers fit into your plan.

Looking ahead

Another positive sign that workers are feeling more financially secure than they were in recent years can be found in the amount who plan to leave the workforce in the near future. Surveyed mature workers were asked when they plan to retire, and most see it happening sooner than later:
•  28 percent will retire within the next two years
•  27 percent will retire in three to four years
•  18 percent will retire in five to six years
•  16 percent don’t expect to retire for at least seven years
•  10 percent of workers don’t expect to ever be able to retire

Financial concerns are the primary reason workers are postponing retirement, but workers are taking other issues into consideration. When asked why they’re putting off retirement, mature workers gave several reasons:
•  58 percent need the health insurance and other benefits of their employer
•  39 percent enjoy their jobs
•  36 percent enjoy where they work
•  26 percent fear retirement will be boring
•  14 percent enjoy feeling needed

What to consider
As you can see, retirement isn’t simply something every worker chooses to do (or not do) for purely financial reasons. Matures workers who are debating what to do once they reach retirement age have several options, and each one comes with questions they should ask themselves. Employers, too, have questions consider:

“Is HR prepared to handle mature worker questions?”
Retirement involves many components, such as planning a budget and knowing the ins and outs of finances. Workers will often turn to HR with questions about retirement funds and the company policy on retirement age, if part-time or freelance workers receive benefits, and more. Human resources departments should be prepared to handle these questions.

“Is part-time the right option for us?”
The survey found that 47 percent of mature workers intend to find part-time jobs after officially retiring. This means that you could have a significant portion of your retiring employees who aren’t prepared to leave the company fully. They might be willing to freelance for you or work as contractors so that you don’t lose their intellectual capital and can more easily adjust to their departures.

“What can they teach us?”
Mature workers have experience that comes from years of working in the industry. No new employee, even with the best education, understands difficult customers or last-minute emergencies like an industry veteran. Before they retire, ask your mature workers if they’re open to mentoring rising employees or leading a training course.

Ultimately, you want to remember that whether your mature workers retire today or in two years, they are going to take an invaluable amount of first-hand experience with them. You don’t want to throw them a farewell party and then realize the next day that you have two dozen questions you never asked them. By then they’ll be swinging in a hammock in Hawaii.

Job seekers, employers, analysts and any other person who’s paid attention to the news for the last two years has been looking for signs that the economy has a brighter future. Well, optimists, we might have what you’re looking for. Today CareerBuilder and USA Today released their quarterly job forecast, and for the third consecutive quarter more employers expect to increase headcount in the next three months, while fewer will cut staff. I think that deserves a “Yeah!”

Looking back at the first quarter (January, February and march) of 2010, here’s what the nationwide survey of employers found:

• 23 percent of employers increased full-time, permanent staff, which is a welcome increase from 13 percent in the first quarter of 2009.
• 12 percent decreased headcount, which sounds grim until you remember that the figure was 26 percent in the first quarter of 2009.
• 64 percent didn’t change their number of full-time, permanent employees. (At least this means a majority of employers didn’t make staff cuts.)

Looking ahead to the second quarter (April, May and June), you can’t help but be optimistic that the situation is improving:

• 23 percent of employers intend to add full-time, permanent employees.
• Only 8 percent plan to decrease headcount.
• 64 percent don’t plan to change their headcount, and 6 percent haven’t decided yet.
• In the second quarter of 2009, 18 percent hired full-time, permanent staff and 17 percent decreased staff. If this year’s projections hold true, then the situation is an improvement over last year’s.

What else is happening in the second quarter of 2010?

• Compensation: 40 percent of employers don’t plan to change salary levels. But 37 percent do expect to give increases of 3 percent or less, while 13 percent plan to give raises ranging from 4 to 10 percent. People lucky enough to work for a certain 2 percent of employers will receive raises of 11 percent or more. Only 4 percent of employers will decrease salaries.
• Location: Employers in the Northeast (26 percent) and West (25 percent) plan to hire full-time, permanent workers in the second quarter. The South and Midwest aren’t too far behind their figures, with 21 percent and 20 percent respectively.
• Contract workers: Some employers are apprehensive about ramping up their hiring too quickly, which might explain why 25 percent of employers will use contract workers or freelancers in the second quarter. For those workers looking for long-term employment, the good news is that 13 percent of these employers plan to hire these workers on a permanent basis.
• Interns: If you’re looking to get your foot in the door somewhere this quarter, an internship could be your ticket. Expect 24 percent of employers to hire interns in the coming three months because they’re valuable additions to the staff and are a way to keep costs low.
• Social media: Social media continues to be all the rage, so use your Facebook and blog savvy to land a job. Nine percent of employers will hire new employees to focus on social media this quarter.
• Bilingual workers:Your knowledge of a second language can come in handy on your job hunt, too, as 33 percent of employers will hire bilingual candidates this quarter. Given the choice between two equally qualified candidates, 50 percent of employers say they will pick the bilingual one. So don’t be afraid to list that skill on your résumé.

The forecast has even more good news in it, so download the full report here.