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Purse
strings tighten
The
fifth MRO Today maintenance salary survey, conducted by Compdata
Surveys, shows small wage increases and a decrease in pay for new
hires
by
Paul V. Arnold
Manufacturing
companies battened down the hatches on rough economic waters in 2002,
holding wages for maintenance employees in check and reducing their
hire-on rates. Those are the main findings of the fifth MRO Today
maintenance salary survey, conducted by Compdata Surveys.
Compdata
Surveys’ findings are the result of polling 2,205 manufacturing
companies during spring 2002. These firms collectively employ more
than 1 million
people, including 20,854 maintenance workers
(managers and non-managers). The study for MRO Today encompasses nine
maintenance organization titles:
plant engineering manager, maintenance manager,
senior maintenance supervisor, maintenance supervisor, senior
maintenance mechanic, maintenance mechanic, senior maintenance
electrician, maintenance electrician and HVAC mechanic.
Compared
to the 2001 salary survey, maintenance employees saw little to no pay
increase. Standing pat were maintenance supervisors, maintenance
electricians and maintenance mechanics (0.1 percent increase or less).
All of the other job titles fell within a 2.5 and 3.3 percent pay
increase, except for senior maintenance supervisors, who saw a 4.0
increase. Those numbers
are in stark comparison to the 2001 numbers, where increases were
between 4.5 and 12.4 percent.
Also
of note were the pay rates companies gave to newly hired maintenance
workers. Six of the nine job titles saw a decrease in pay offered,
including a $3,392 drop for HVAC mechanics and a $2,444 drop for
maintenance supervisors. Plant engineering managers ($1,723), senior
maintenance electricians ($1,090) and maintenance electricians ($323)
saw the only increases
in hire-on rates.
Click here to view all of the 2002 results, dissected by job title,
plant size and region of the country.
To
purchase a comprehensive salary and benefit report, or to include your
company in the next survey, call Compdata Surveys at 800-300-9570 or
visit www.compdatasurvey.com. To purchase salary data one job title at
a time, visit www.compdatajobs.com.
This
article appeared in the October/November 2002 issue of MRO Today
magazine. Copyright 2002. Back to top
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