Employees Prefer Flexibility over Salary Increases

Employees Prefer Flexibility over Salary Increases Employees Prefer Flexibility over Salary Increases 45 percent of working adults would give up some percentage of their salary in exchange for a mora flexible work schedule. The average salary proportion respondents were willing to sacrifice for more scheduling options was 8.6 percent, up from 5.8 percent from the inaugural 2011 survey. 67 percent of employees feel that it is possible to have it all regarding work-life balance. Over half of respondents indicated that they would be more productive if allowed to work from home occasionally. For 18 to 34 year olds that proportion rose to 62 percent. 60 percent of workers agree that the state of the national economy does not impact their want for more flexibility at work.This years dialogue surrounding work/life issues has helped professionals realize that having control over the way they work shouldnt be an extraordinary request, says Mom Corps CEO, Allison OKelly. Companies are becom ing more amenable to alternative work programs, and as professionals come to terms with the idea of flexibility, they are shaping their careers accordingly.Additionally, over 80 percent of working parents felt that increased work flexibility would allow them to be better parents to their children. Over 70 percent of working parents feel that flexibility is a primary factor when considering which company to work for.

Wooden Tornado Shelter Withstands High Winds

Wooden Tornado Shelter Withstands High Winds Wooden Tornado Shelter Withstands High Winds Tornadoes wreak destruction across the U.S. every year, killing or injuring hundreds of people and causing millions of dollars in property damage. Some climate experts agree that climate change will increase the frequency and severity of these storms in coming years, putting mora people in harms way.As a result, more homeowners are installing stahlkammer rooms in their homes. These shelters are made from steel or reinforced concrete and are typically located in the basement or under the garage floor.The downside is the cost. Installing a safe room can cost as much as $15,000 or more, which makes many people decide to take their chances with the weather.Soon, however, a more affordable safe room may be on the market, made from basic, low-cost construction material wood.A lumber safe-room wall prior to impact testing (top), and with 2x4 missile imbedded in it.A Wood Tornado Shelter?Thats right, en gineers at Forest Products Laboratory (FPL) in Madison, WI, have built an 8-foot by 8-foot safe room prototype out of wood that can withstand winds up to 250 mph.Robert Falk is the lead scientist on the project. The construction concept is based on nail-laminating 2-inch by 8-inch lumber into a tongue-and-groove beam that can be easily carried into an existing garage or basement. These beams are then stacked into a wall to the height needed. Plywood is then attached, further reinforcing the wall. The interlocking konzept makes constructing the wall easy and results in a layered system that effectively dissipates the energy of debris impact, says Falk.Falk and his engineers tested the energy of debris impact using a debris cannon. The impact tests meet the ICC-500 standard and are conducted at a level commensurate with a 250-mph wind speed A 15-pound, 2-inch by 4-inch missile fired at 100 mph).The design easily passes the impact test, says Falk. In fact, it took six cannon shots all clustered within about 18 inches of each other to fail our latest design per the criteria of ICC-500. Only the plywood layer cracked and no debris was generated. This is a testament to the energy dissipation characteristics of wood and wood construction.This current model of the safe room is constructed from readily available, low-cost building materials, including construction-grade two by eights, three-quarter-inch CDX plywood, nails, and construction adhesive. Falk is trying to further reduce costs by optimizing fastener and adhesive placement, as well as sheathing type. He is also designing the connection system to secure the room to a concrete slab.We expect to have a full-size safe room ready soon for lateral wind load and impact testing in the next few months, he adds. This should verify the wind load capacity of the design as well as connection performance.Saving LivesFalk envisions having online blueprints that can be downloaded so do-it-yourselfers can build their own shel ters. They buy the lumber, take it home, and put it together, says Falk. Thats an important aspect. By providing an economical and easy-to-build safe room, we will increase the number of people who can afford and install one. Another option is providing a kit priced at about $3,000 to $4,000 for wood and materials, including a steel door.Falk is also collaborating with a large wood-products manufacturer to investigate different engineered wood products for a safe-room door. He hopes they can build a wood storm door that will be more economic than currently available steel doors.Robert Bonnie, the U.S. Department of Agricultures undersecretary for natural resources and the environment, is excited about FPLs work. This research is critically important, not only for the direct use of providing safe shelters for people in tornadoes, but also for creating a vibrant wood-products industry, he says.Mark Crawford is an independent writer. For Further Discussion By providing an economical an d easy-to-build safe room, we will increase the number of people who can afford and install oneRobert Falk, lead scientist, Forest Product Laboratory

10 Youngest Billionaires Right Now

10 Youngest Billionaires Right Now10 Youngest Billionaires Right NowCheck out our list of worlds 11 youngest 1000000000000aires. Some of them earned billions thanks to their brilliant ideas, hard work and some of them simply inherited tons of money. Nethertheless everyone included in this list is interesting and worth knowing.10. Drew HoustonAge 32Net Worth $1.2 billionCountry USAThis self-made billionaire earned his fortune thanks to internet cloud service called Dropbox. Houston welches fascinated by technology since his childhood and was participating on many different projects during his youth years. It seems like it worked out for him.9. Perenna KeiAge 24Net Worth $1.3 billionCountry Hong KongPrenna Kei is Chinese businesswoman who became billionaire thanks to a family business. She holds 85% of Logan Property Holdings, which is a major real estate company ran by her father Ji Haipeng.8. Anton Kathrein, JrAge 30Net Worth $1.51 billionCountry GermanyKathrein-Werke Anton Kathrein , Jr. is the head of automotive antennas company, which provides mobile communications as service. He is currently the third generation of a family members who run this company.7. Evan SpiegelAge 25Net Worth $1.5 billionCountry USACo-founder of the fastest growing social network Snapchat. Interesting fact about Snapchat Spiegel didnt agree on the offer from facebook inc to buy Snapchat for at least $3 billion in 2014.6. Albert durch Thurn und TaxisAge 32Net Worth $3.8 billionCountry GermanyNot many people can claim them selves to be an aristocrat, businessman, race car driver and billionaire at the same time. Albert von Thurn und Taxis inherited the family fortune at the age of 18.5. Eduardo SaverinAge 33Net Worth $4.1 billionCountry SingaporeEduardo Saverin studied in Harvard University and thats exactly where he met Mark Zuckerberg. He owns 53 million Facebook shares (0.4% of all shares). He became a billionaire thanks to several start-up and oil investments.4. Scott DuncanAge 32 Net Worth $6.3 billionCountry USAScott Duncan inherited the family fortune after his fathers death in 2010. Thanks to an elimination of the estate tax for the year 2010, Duncan inherited $3.1 billion tax free. Since 2010, Duncan worked to double his fortune.3. Dustin MoskovitzAge 31Net Worth $6.8 billionCountry USAAnother co-founder of Facebook. It seems like everyone who was around the born of facebook is insanely rich now. Dustin Moskovitz left facebook in 2008 and started his own successful project Asana.2. Yang HuiyanAge 34Net Worth $6.9 billionCountry ChinaThis business woman is the majority shareholder of Country Garden Holdings, which is a property development company in China. She belongs to Top 5 wealthiest Chinese people, is the youngest female billionaire and the richest woman in Asia.1. Mark ZuckerbergAge 31Net Worth $28.5 billionCountry USAMark Zuckerberg started worldwide revolution called facebook in 2004. He is one of co-founders and currently CEO of this hugely suc cessful company. Thanks to his brilliant ideas and innovative company leading is facebook still growing and probably wont stop anytime soon.Check out beautiful infographic by Masters in Accounting on this topcSource Forbes, Masters in AccountingDo you like this story? Share it with your friends.Share Your Feedback or Ideas in the Comments