2008 Salary & Career Survey: Overworked...but not necessarily underpaid
Our 2008 Salary and Career Survey reveals converters have above-average job satisfaction despite long work hours, growing list of responsibilities.
By Editor in Chief Mark Spaulding -- Converting Magazine, 7/1/2008 12:00:00 AM
Ask just about any worker in any industry and you're likely to get the same response: “I work too many hours, manage too many people, have too many responsibilities on my plate, and I don't make nearly enough money.” In general, members of the converting industry would probably answer no differently, but based on the responses to our exclusive 2008 Salary and Career Survey, they may be overworked, but they are not necessarily underpaid.
Our third annual survey gathered base salary and total compensation figures for two dozen job titles in five separate categories. Major results are presented in the adjacent table. The survey, managed by the research group of Reed Business Information-US (Converting's parent company), reflects the answers and opinions of nearly 350 converters from across the country about trends in salaries, job satisfaction and career environment for 2007. Although most of the total compensation figures for last year are down from 2006, many of these changes are not significantly different.
Lots of hours and direct reports
Let's tackle the average work week first. While about a quarter of respondents said they work fewer than 45 hours in a typical week, another 33 percent report working up to 60 hours a week. A handful say they brave even longer hours. The past decade's trend toward operating leaner and meaner has certainly only added work hours to everyone's schedule.
Along with this, one's personal sense of workload is sometimes reflected in how much needs to get done by all those who are your responsibility. Half of our survey's respondents have up to nine direct reports, and 15 percent have up to 40 staff members reporting to them. Even the third who said they have no direct reports are not necessarily immune from working long hours.
Add a variety of changing job responsibilities to this mix, and you can see why many converters may feel overworked. Among the factors reported: Downsizing/cost-cutting (22 percent); new technology (16 percent); re-engineering/staff development (15 percent); and promotion (14 percent).
Comp-plan comparison
On the upside, though, come the questions of pay, and, as with our previous surveys, the majority of respondents received base-salary increases for 2008. Almost half got minimum pay hikes of 1-3 percent, but another 20 percent saw their base salary rise anywhere from 4-10 percent. Getting and keeping skilled labor is a key issue in converting. Perhaps that's why 2 percent were rewarded with pay hikes of more than 10 percent.
Now for the part of any salary survey where people usually start complaining: How do our survey participants think their total compensation compares with other professionals in the industry having the same job responsibilities? A third aren't complaining, saying that it's about on par, but another third feel it's slightly lower, and 15 percent said “significantly lower.” In contrast, the same percentage think their pay is “slightly higher,” and 3 percent said it's “significantly higher.” (There's no data to show if these are the same individuals who got those +10-percent pay hikes.)
What accounts for job satisfaction?
Because we wanted to delve deeper than just dollars, our 2008 study included several more questions on job satisfaction, as well as the career environment, for converters. The long hours, expanding workloads and growing list of responsibilities aside, overall job satisfaction still ranks highly for respondents. In fact, almost 40 percent said they are “very satisfied” while another 48 percent are “somewhat satisfied.”
What accounts for job satisfaction? Salary, of course, will always have a big impact (35 percent chose this as one of the top three factors), but a “feeling of accomplishment” rated even higher (see chart). And in today's volatile business climate, things such as benefits, job security and the financial health of the company also ranked near the top.
Our survey participants are certainly a personable bunch. About equal numbers felt that managing people, leading a team of co-workers and their relationships with their boss as well as their subordinates were important aspects affecting job satisfaction. And despite all the talk about long hours, only 5 percent chose “workload” as having a high impact on satisfaction.
Workers in every industry have their special concerns (converters included), so we offered our survey respondents several choices. More than half ranked “balancing work/life responsibilities” as their top concern (see chart). How do you have a life when you're working 60 hours a week?
Among other areas the respondents felt strongly about: Management support (29 percent); collaborating effectively with other departments (17 percent); a company merger or acquisition (15 percent); and having a sufficient operating budget (14 percent).
Beneficial benefits
As with our previous studies, we asked about the kinds of fringe benefits converters get (seeing that it ranks No. 4 as a top factor for job satisfaction). The insurance numbers changed little compared to last year. Health, life, dental and disability are all standard for about 8 out of 10 converters. Roughly half get vision insurance, tuition reimbursement and maternity/paternity leave.
In ranking the top three most-important benefits, health insurance came in first (83 percent) followed by a pension plan/401k (59 percent) and vacation and other paid time off (38 percent). Obviously, one needs torecover from the aforementioned 60-hour workweeks.
Other benefits sought by converters but ones that are gaining popularity: Profit sharing (16 percent); flexible work hours (14 percent); a company car (12 percent); the ability to work at home (7 percent); and stock options (5 percent).
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