Modern's first salary survey
Results of our first reader salary survey show that materials handling professionals are pretty comfortable—when it comes to paychecks and job satisfaction.
By Corinne Kator, Associate Editor -- Modern Materials Handling, 6/1/2008
Materials handling professionals earn a comfortable living, and the vast majority of them are satisfied with their career choice and current jobs. Those are the key takeaways of Modern's very first salary survey.
According to our survey data, the median salary for materials handling professionals in 2008 is $73,000. (The median is the midpoint used when extreme highs and extreme lows skew the average.)
Add what readers say they expect to receive in bonuses and commissions this year, and median total compensation for materials handling professionals rises to $80,000.
Compared to what the average American worker takes home, that's a respectable paycheck. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median U.S. salary in 2006 (the most recent year for which data is available) was $33,634—less than half of what Modern readers earn.
And materials handling professionals hold their own when compared to peers in similar fields:
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The March 2008 issue of Logistics Management reports a median salary of $80,000 for logistics managers.
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The December 2007 issue of Purchasing reports an average salary of $84,611 for purchasing professionals.
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The July 2007 issue of Design News reports an average salary of $78,000 for design engineers.
Given that this is Modern's first salary survey, we have no historical data to show how this year's salaries stack up to previous ones. We can, however, report that 72% of our survey respondents say they got a raise in 2008, and the average raise was around 4%.
Satisfaction is high
We can also report that Modern readers are a contented bunch: 93% report being at least somewhat satisfied with their careers in materials handling and 54% report high levels of satisfaction.
When asked specifically about their current jobs, 87% say they like the job they're doing. Fewer than 10% report they're actively searching for new jobs.
When asked about specific aspects of their jobs, readers say they're most satisfied about relationships with their subordinates and with their ability to influence important decisions in their departments. (As might be expected, they're most dissatisfied with company politics and levels of pay.)
Seeing the broader impact of their work also seems to be a source of reader satisfaction. Survey respondent Jesse Rodriguez, warehouse coordinator for Liturgy Training Publications, says he feels a sense of accomplishment when one of his shipments places training materials in the hands of missionaries in South Africa.
Likewise, Richard Jones, a DC operations manager for Bridgestone Firestone, says he enjoys knowing that a set of tires from his DC is “getting somebody to Disneyland.”
Not surprisingly, salary seems to affect career satisfaction. Median salary among readers who report high satisfaction with their careers is $79,300. Those who are “somewhat satisfied” make $69,000. Median salary among those dissatisfied with their careers is $58,000.
A stable profession
Our data also show the materials handling profession is a stable one. Nearly 43% of respondents have been with their current employer for more than 10 years, and almost a third have worked for just one company during their materials handling career.
Jones, for example, has been with Bridgestone Firestone (his first employer) for 18 years. He's leaving this spring for a new job, but he says he stayed with Bridgestone Firestone for so long because the company gave him “ample opportunity to learn and grow.” He started loading and unloading trucks for the company when he was 20 years old and rose through the ranks to become manager of his DC.
Mike Steward, operations manager for Rutherford Equipment, a distributor of propane equipment, says he's worked for Rutherford for 24 years. “It's a good company with good people,” he says, and management gives him leeway to make his own decisions.
Industry recruiters weren't surprised to hear Modern readers are loyal to their employers. Readers reported being happy with their work, “and if people are happy, there's very little that can get them to leave a job,” says Jim Rohan senior partner at supply chain search firm JP Canon Assoc. (888-233-3131). Higher pay alone, he says, is rarely enough to lure someone away from a comfortable position.
All that stability, however, may not be good for salaries. Our data show the median salary for those who've worked for only one employer is $70,000, while median salary for those with four or more employers on their resumes is $80,000.
According to Rohan, a typical salary increase for someone changing jobs can be 8% to 12%—much higher than the incremental raises most workers get each year.
Mike Flamer, vice president The Dorfman Group (480-860-8820), a recruitment firm specializing in materials handling, agrees that taking a risk on a new employer usually pays off financially, and it keeps people from falling into ruts. “The best candidates that I place have been with a company no longer than 7 years,” he says. “I like candidates who show flexibility and aggressiveness.”
What affects compensation?
If you're looking for a new position that will land you a bigger paycheck, what should you showcase on your resume?
First and foremost, says Flamer, is “a measurable track record of success.” For warehouse and distribution professionals, he says, that means offering hard data about the efficiency and accuracy of your operations. For engineers, that means illustrating improvements in throughput and efficiency as a result of your designs.
Second is education. An engineering degree and an MBA is a killer combination, Flamer says. And our data seem to agree.
When we divided survey respondents by education level, those with MBAs came out with the highest median salary, at $100,000. In fact, having any higher education is enough to bring your pay above average: respondents with undergraduate degrees earn a median $74,000.
Age and years of experience also affect pay, but not as dramatically as education.
The amount of responsibility you're willing to shoulder certainly helps determine your salary. Median salary for readers with no supervisory responsibilities is $70,000, while median salary for readers supervising 50 or more people is nearly $99,000.
Likewise, median salary for readers with no budgetary responsibilities is $62,000, while median salary for those authorized to spend more than $50,000 is $96,200.
Job function also plays a role. Vice presidents and others in corporate management shake out at $100,500, while median salaries for engineers, manufacturing plant managers and warehousing/distribution managers all fall below $80,000.
Whether you work in a manufacturing plant or a warehouse/DC doesn't seem to affect pay very much, but the size of your company certainly does. Readers working for small companies with annual revenues of less than $10 million have a median salary of $60,000. By contrast, readers at companies with revenues exceeding $1 billion have a median salary of $90,000.
A closer look at our readers
We e-mailed our survey to a sampling of Modern readers this March and received 854 responses (a number we hope will grow as our survey becomes an annual tradition). The margin of error for our survey is plus or minus 3.4% at the 95% confidence level.
Our typical survey respondent is a 47-year-old college-educated male. In fact, 93% of respondents are male, and 68% of them hold college degrees.
Job functions are well-distributed to include directors and managers of warehousing and distribution operations, plant management and company management. A wide range of vertical industries are represented and include electronics, food and beverage, retail, and fabricated metal products. On average, our readers' companies employ about 1,850 people.
Modern readers are an experienced lot: nearly two-thirds have worked in the materials handling industry for at least 10 years, and 40% have been in the industry for 20 years or longer.
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