8th Annual Salary Survey: Satisfaction and stability

The results of Modern’s 8th Annual Salary Survey show that veteran materials handling professionals continue to thrive, even as signs begin to emerge of a younger cohort entering the talent pipeline. While businesses work to attract new professionals, they are steadily rewarding those who have been loyal.

At just a few hundred dollars above last year’s record, the average base salary of $98,000 (median $85,000) is the highest in the eight years of our survey. The average of salaries and benefits combined rose 2.2% in 2014, following the nearly 7% jump reported in 2013. In 2015, average overall compensation rose 4.7% and satisfaction is still nearly perfect, including 72% who say they are very or extremely satisfied with their jobs.

Similarly, 93% would recommend the materials handling profession to others. Their efforts might have contributed to an apparent influx of younger respondents. The average age is now 46 years, a significant drop from the 51-year-old average the survey has reflected for at least the previous four years.

There is more good news about the frequency of dramatic cost-saving measures like layoffs and pay cuts, which continue to fall since the highs of 2011. Only one category has increased since then, as this year’s survey shows a slight uptick in the number of respondents who have experienced reduced overtime. Hiring plans also slipped for the first time in years, dropping 1% from last year’s 63% who reported their company added personnel in the prior 12 months. Read last year’s Salary Survey.

Going forward, 46% of our respondents expect to finish their careers with their current employer, down slightly from 50% last year. About 52% have already been with their employers for 10 years—including 26% who boast more than 20 years of tenure. However, the average turnover rate jumped to 8.7%, having spiked to 7.8% last year after hovering around 6.5% for the previous three years.

The compensation picture
Since the economic recovery, bonuses have been rewarded more for individual performance, and 28% of respondents with bonus or commission plans said those increased by an average of 27%. This marks four consecutive years of bonus increases greater than 20%, and the average bonus now sits at $24,010 (median $5,000).

When asked for the factors upon which their bonuses are based, 49% cited personal performance, the highest in the survey’s history and up 4% from 2014. Respondents reported virtually unchanged results for bonuses based on whether the company reaches goals (67%) and increased sales (29%), but rewards for better inventory management dropped by 5% to 10% and lower operational costs were a factor for only 22%, down 4%.

Last year, 65% of respondents said their salary had increased in the previous 12 months, but this year that figure is at 72%. And 2.5%—the lowest since the recession—reported their salaries had decreased, and 5% fewer respondents’ salaries (26%) stayed the same. In 2014, the average base salary increase was 4.6%, dropping below the 5.2% averages of previous years. They have since returned to 4.9% (median 3%). Of those respondents whose salaries increased last year, 17% received increases of 5% to 9%, and nearly one in 10 saw raises of 10% or more.

Demographics
About 8.2% of respondents work for companies with estimated 2015 revenues of less than $10 million. Another 20% are at companies between $10 million and $50 million, and nearly half are at one larger than $250 million, including 24% above $2.5 billion.

Respondents represent industries including food, beverage and tobacco (11%); industrial machinery (8%); wholesale trade (7%); retail trade (7%); chemicals and pharmaceuticals (6%); paper and printing (4%); computers and electronics (4%); and transportation and warehousing services (4%). Primary job functions of respondents include warehouse, distribution and logistics (38%); plant management (16%); engineering (19%); company management (9%); and purchasing (8%).

Fewer than 21% of respondents have been in the materials handling profession for less than 10 years, and 58% have been at it for more than 20 years. Last year, the survey indicated 18% of respondents with 30-plus years in the field, a number that has fallen to 13%.

On average, those who have been in the industry less than five years can expect to earn $79,020, up from $71,750 last year. The 2014 survey reflected a 26% growth from the newest cohort to those with 10 to 15 years of experience, but the latter’s average salary has fallen to $82,440. Above the 20-years-of-service mark, the average salary continues to hover around $105,000.

The 9% of respondents in company management (CEO, VP, GM, etc.) noted an 8% bump in compensation, to an average of $163,140, following last year’s 7% average salary increase. Conversely, the engineers who make up 19% of the survey base saw averages fall yet again to $88,840, shedding 2% after last year’s 10% loss. Compensation for plant management positions moved into six-figure territory last year, but has returned to 2013’s average of $88,000.

Those with supervisory responsibilities (75%) can expect to earn 13.6% more than their non-supervisor colleagues. The gap between the two was 23% last year, and has been steadily falling since a high of 36% in 2012. The average respondent with budgetary responsibilities oversees a spend of $200,000 (median: $16,000). They will earn about 25% more than those without budgetary authority, a gap that has also shrunk from last year’s 37%.

In the 2014 survey, the average supervisor salary slightly decreased and was met with a 2.6% increase in non-supervisor salaries. The trend has continued in 2015, as supervisor compensation fell slightly and non-supervisor salaries grew by 8%.

Average salaries are bucking historic trends in certain regions of the United States. In the Midwest, where 39% of respondents are located, salaries fell by about 3% from 2012 to 2013, only to spike by nearly 9% in 2014. This year the average is 1.3% higher at $97,240. In the mid-Atlantic region, home to 17% of respondents, the average salary jumped 6% to $102,235.

In the Southeast, where 14% of all respondents are employed, average salaries have returned to 2013 levels at $99,670 after an anomalous drop in 2014 to $87,300. Salaries in the South saw a big boost between 2012 and 2013, and held flat last year at about $92,000. In 2015, the South’s average added 6% to reach $97,350. In the West, where one in 10 respondents resides, average salaries shed more than 6%, the first decrease since 2012.

Job satisfaction
Once again, 16% of respondents express “extreme satisfaction” with their careers. The percentage of those “very” or “somewhat satisfied” shifted slightly to 56% and 26%, respectively. Today, only 1% are “not very” satisfied, and 1% are “not at all satisfied.”

This year, 32% of respondents indicate no interest in seeking another job, the lowest in five years. About 40% say they are “always open to other possibilities.” The same 20% as last year are passively looking for work elsewhere and the same 7% are actively looking. Those looking elsewhere are motivated primarily by compensation (61%), the desire for new challenges (40%), and a lack of advancement opportunities (38%).

When asked about stress levels at work, 45% say it is more stressful than two years ago, and 42% say stress levels have remained the same. Among the 10% who report their job is “extremely” stressful and the 32% whose work is “very” stressful, the top complaints included workload (48%), lack of staffing (45%), balancing work life and home life (40%), questionable management decisions (39%), lack of enough time to get the work done (37%) and working with outdated technologies (28%).

Respondents, by the numbers
In October 2015, Modern Materials Handling subscribers received an invitation by e-mail to participate in the annual salary survey. The e-mail included a dedicated URL linked to a Web site that hosted the questionnaire. The study, performed by Peerless Research Group, received a total of 401 responses from qualified materials handling professionals.

The average respondent earns $98,000 in salary, which is level with last year but up from less than $90,000 in 2012. Bonuses, on the other hand, have jumped to an average $24,010 from around $19,000 last year. Median salaries and bonuses have held level since last year’s survey.

The average respondent is a 46-year-old, a significant drop from the 51-year-old average the survey has indicated for at least the previous four years. He has worked with his company for about 10 years of his 17-year materials handling career, during which time he has worked for 2.5 companies. About 68% of respondents work for manufacturing companies. The average respondent works for a company with with 3,253 employees and an estimated annual revenue of $842 million.

In addition to an influx of young talent, females continue to hold a record 12% of materials handling positions. The average base salary for women also spiked from $73,560 in 2014 to $90,400, an increase of more than 20%. That number had dropped from $76,242 in 2011 to $66,635 in 2012 and only slightly more in 2013, but now stands at a record high.

Among respondents, 80% have been in the industry at least 10 years, 49% for more than 20 years, and 13% have been at it for more than 30 years, 5% less than in last year’s survey.

Only 7% of respondents were personally impacted by layoffs in the previous 12 months, which matches the record low of the last five years.