Harvard survey of company executives finds many foresee stagnant or lower pay for workers

U.S. workers face a dim future, with stagnant or falling pay and fewer openings for full-time jobs.

That's the picture that emerges from a survey of Harvard Business School alumni.

More than 40 percent of the respondents foresee lower pay and benefits for workers. Roughly half favor outsourcing work over hiring staffers. A growing share prefer part-time employees. Nearly half would rather invest in new technology than hire or retain workers.

At the same time, it's becoming harder for the executives to find skilled workers, according to the survey results being released Monday.

Jan Rivkin, one of the survey's lead authors, suggested that a failure by companies to develop a skilled workforce could ultimately hurt those companies and the competitiveness of the U.S. economy.