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Median salary hasn’t budged for three years and a majority of shippers say that next rung is just out of reach. However, a surprising 57 percent report that they’re satisfied with their logistics careers despite the slowdown in pay increases.
Back in March 2007 we had the unenviable task of reporting that the median salary for logistics professionals over the course of 2006 didn’t budge from the previous year—it held firm at $80,000.
Based on our reporting at the time, we learned that the key reason for this stagnation was that annual compensation for logistics and supply chain professionals was in the early stages of a “leveling off” phase—data that was confirmed by a number of industry recruiters—after logistics professionals enjoyed 10 years of consistent salary growth form 1994-2004.
Well, we’ve tabulated the 2007 results and we regret to report that shippers who are attempting to navigate toward a more lucrative career unfortunately find themselves mired in a period of “dead calm.” According to our findings, the median salary came in at $80,000 for the third year in a row.
Get the full report from our webcast which will air live at 1pm EDT March 27, 2008. Following that date the event will be available to view on-demand. Register for this free informative webcast presented by Logistics Management today.
However, we did manage to find a sliver lining. Despite the flattening of salaries in recent years, it’s encouraging to report that nearly two-thirds—or 57 percent—of respondents indicated they’re actually quite satisfied with their logistics or supply chain careers. A couple predominate reasons shippers cited for career satisfaction were the increasing number of new challenges they’re facing day-to-day and the fact that those challenges have made the work more interesting.
That’s certainly easy to understand, since the state of the current freight market have given shippers new opportunities to show top management that, through savvy transportation management and distribution network re-design, they can make an impact on the bottom line. Some of the positive factors affecting job satisfaction among this 57 percent were a feeling of accomplishment (67 percent); salary (45 percent); and relationship with their boss (45 percent). For the 35 percent that said they were dissatisfied, company politics, salary, and “no room for advancement” were their biggest issues.
But not matter how satisfied many shippers may be with their careers at this point, the fact remains: The median salary has flattened. Here are the detailed results from our 24th Annual Salary Survey.
Just the Facts
All the data for this year’s Salary Survey is based on feedback from 1,228 respondents. The survey was conducted via e-mail from January 3–8, 2008; and it’s important to note that 29 percent of this year’s respondents participated in last year’s survey. However, even with the changes in the sampling pool from one year to the next, the typical profile remains remarkably similar year over year.
Download a PDF of the research results of our Salary Survey from the Logistics Management Resource Center
This year’s average respondent is a 45-year-old, college-educated male. To dig even deeper into the demographics, the majority—86 percent—of respondents were male, and 93 percent have attended college. The average female respondent is 43. The typical respondent has spent 6.4 years with his current employer—matching last year’s number—and has been in his current position for 4.8 years. Average length of work experience was 15 years, down slightly from 15.7 last year.
The fact that these core metrics have stayed pretty much the same over the past three years may help shippers digest that the median salary has held steady. According to Jim Rohan, senior partner a JP Canon Associates, a supply chain executive search firm in Manhattan, this data supports his contention that “job security” is one major factor in holding salary numbers flat.
“Many people are comfortable in their job for any number of reasons, and there is not a lot of turnover,” says Rohan. “But they are possibly paying a price for staying where they are, with the result being a correlation between time spent with a company and the flattening of the earning curve—making annual raises subject to what the survey is finding.”
While the median salary—the mid point used when extreme highs and extreme lows skew the average—has hit a dead calm, the median raise did come in at 3.6 percent, which is identical to 2007 and slightly ahead of the 3.4 percent median raise reported in 2006.
Average raises were fairy even with past years, the survey found. Seven percent of respondents reported receiving a raise of 2 percent or less, while 47 percent reported a 2-4 percent bump. Seventeen percent reported getting a 5-7 percent raise, 6 percent told us they received a bump of 8-10 percent, and a lucky 7 percent said they saw their paychecks rise by 11-20 percent. Five percent told us they received a raise of 20 percent or more—marking a pretty good year for a fortunate few.
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