Watching Where Your Money Goes

Lowest-Cost EU Labor in
Portugal, Greece, Ireland

Europe’s lowest hourly labor costs are in Portugal (US$6.25), Greece ($9.83) and Ireland ($14.13), while Germany, Austria and Belgium are Europe’s highest-cost labor locations, reports Eurostat (www.europa.eu), the Statistical Office of the European Communities.
Hourly rates vary as much as $20 among the 14 countries, says Eurostat’s 1999 “Labor Costs Statistics” report. While the 15 European Union members’ average rate is $20.69, the Euro zone is “even higher” at $22.13, Eurostat notes. Both averages, says the report, exceed the norm in the USA ($17.82) and Japan ($20.18).

Expat Utility Costs:
Japan Highest, South Africa Lowest

Often a major location decision factor, utility costs can also greatly influence employee transfers. They can, for instance, prod transferred expats to decide that another location better fits their wallets, given the US$5,325 difference in annual utility costs in a recent 21-nation report from New York-based Windham International (www.windhamint.com).

Unsurprisingly, the high-cost leader is Japan, with an annual tab of $7,256, followed, more unexpectedly, by No. 2 Brazil and No. 3 Argentina. South Africa ranks as the low-cost utilities location leader, with an annual tab of $1,931, followed by No. 2 Hungary and No. 3 Mexico.

Ann Arbor Ranked ‘Best City for Women’

Finding quality women workers is a major bottom-line concern for most Western firms, and some cities are far more women-friendly — particularly Ann Arbor, Mich., ranked as the “Best City for Women” in a Ladies’ Home Journal (LHJ at www.lhj.com) statistical study of the 200 biggest U.S. cities.

Workplace-related city ranking factors included female workers’ income levels, and sexual-harassment and discrimination complaints. Other analysis factors included crime rates, the quality of area life, health care and public schools, “stress levels,” and (yes) a “romance index.”
Eight of the top 10 rank among LHJ‘s “least stressful” cities.

SS