Most employees in Jefferson County have an excellent work ethic and are well-qualified for their positions, their bosses report.

That's according to the 2008 Employers' Survey, released Monday by the Jefferson County Job Development Corp.

The biennial survey, last released in 2006, is a snapshot of the local work force, examining such issues as wage incentives, health-care benefits, retirement benefits and professional-development options offered by local businesses.

In March, the JCJDC sent copies of the survey to some 300 firms. The survey also was distributed by area chambers of commerce, while the North County Human Resources Association helped spread the word about the effort.

By the completion date of April 25, the JCJDC had received responses from 88 firms, representing 11,569 employees.

This year, the agency added an online response form, which JCJDC Director of Marketing Mary Anne Hanley said helped both streamline the survey questions and increase the response rate.

The online form also may have contributed to the highest participation rate in the history of the survey, up 6 percent from 83 businesses in 2006.

Although Mrs. Hanley said she was hesitant to include an online form, she said the option proved to be very popular and easy to manage.

"I was afraid we wouldn't get the response rate that we've had in the past," Mrs. Hanley said. "I think why we get such good participation is that people understand that their information is confidential."

Of the firms that responded, 51 were for-profit and 37 were nonprofit or public organizations.

The majority of survey respondents were from the manufacturing sector (16), followed by government (12), other (12) or health care and social assistance (11).

The lowest number of respondents were in finance/insurance/real estate (five), with construction, education, recreation/hospitality/tourism and professional and business services tying at six respondents each.

The firms represented 9,366 permanent full-time and 1,356 permanent part-time employees.

Employers reported low levels of turnover rates (65 percent), absenteeism (78 percent) and tardiness (82 percent) with most noting that their work force was moderately to fully qualified and had an excellent work ethic.

"I'm always gratified when I see the attributes of the work force," Mrs. Hanley said. "We still have a strong and good work force here, so we're very fortunate."

In terms of health-care benefits, employers said they generally offered medical, dental and optical options. They reported that such benefits represented almost 12 percent of their annual payroll costs and that premiums for health-care plans had increased an average of 9.7 percent.

When it came to work force development and recruitment, the majority of responding employers said they paid for training and professional development, including financial assistance to those employees looking to further their education.

Mrs. Hanley said the work force development figures, in particular, were "terrific."

"That means that our companies understand that training, retraining and professional development is extremely important," she said. "Our employers get it. They understand that this is something they have to do in order to maintain competitiveness."

Mrs. Hanley said JCJDC hopes the survey, copies of which were sent to participating employers today, will give area businesses an idea of how the area is progressing.