MHM 2007 Salary Survey: General Profile (Tables)

April 1, 2007
The "typical" material handling professional is male, is 47 years old, has 20 years experience and earned $69,250 last year, plus a $7,000 bonus (for the 63% of managers who received a bonus).

Why Focus on Medians

When it comes to knowing what fair levels of compensation are, medians are a better indication of central tendency than the arithmetic mean, or average. With an abnormal distribution-the pay data of material handling and inventory managers that we collected has a long tail at the upper end of the scale-the mean will be skewed in one direction. Because of this upwardly skewed distribution, the median pay level-­the central data point-is a better representation of typical pay levels in the industry or region than the mean.

Use the range between the upper and lower quartiles in the tables in this article for a better understanding of the standard pay range by age, job title, experience and company size. If you think that you're a top performer-and can back up your claims with hard examples of recent achievements-the 90th percentile might be a good target the next time that salary negotiations roll around.

Current job title/function

Total Respondents, %

Corporate Management (CEO/COO/Pres/CFO)

5.1

Senior/Exec VP

6.0

Operations Manager

12.9

Plant/Manufacturing Manager

6.0

DC/Warehouse/Facility Manager

17.5

Transportation/Fleet/Traffic Manager

7.7

Supply Chain Manager

4.1

Procurement/Purchasing Manager

5.5

Inventory/Materials Manager

7.4

Information Technology Manager

1.1

Consultant

2.2

Other

24.6

*North American responses only; total=1,386

Industry

Total Respondents, %

Aerospace

1.4

Apparel

1.9

Automotive

4.4

Chemicals/Petroleum

3.0

Computer Equipment & Peripherals

1.2

Consumer Goods

4.7

Construction/Building Materials

3.8

Electronics/High-Tech/Telecom Equipment

4.3

Food & Beverage

8.0

Furniture

0.7

Government

1.3

Industrial Products/Machinery/Metals/Plastics

18.0

Pharamaceuticals/Healthcare

4.9

Paper/Printing/Publishing

4.9

Retail

4.8

Third-Party Logistics Provider

3.8

Transportation Services

3.6

Utilities/Energy

0.7

Wholesale Distribution

10.5

Other

14.1

*North American responses only; total=1,386

Sex

Total Respondents, %

Male

89.7

Female

10.3

*North American responses only; total=1,386

Age

Years

Minimum

23

Maximum

77

Mean

47

25th Percentile

41

Median

47

75th Percentile

54

90th Percentile

59

*North American responses only; total=1,328.

Age

Total Respondents, %

20-30 years

3.4

31-40 years

20.3

41-50 years

39.0

51-60 years

30.8

61 years or more

6.5

*North American responses only; total=1,313.

Experience

Years

Minimum

1

Maximum

50

Mean

19

25th Percentile

10

Median

20

75th Percentile

26

90th Percentile

33

*North American responses only; total=1,377

Experience

Total Respondents, %

0-5 years

8.4

6-10 years

16.6

11-15 years

15.9

16-20 years

18.2

21-25 years

14.4

26 or more years

26.5

*North American responses only; total=1,377

Seniority

Years

Minimum

0

Maximum

50

Mean

13

25th Percentile

6

Median

11

75th Percentile

20

90th Percentile

29

*North American responses only; total=1,377

Seniority

Total Respondents, %

0-5 years

22.9

6-10 years

26.8

11-15 years

16.6

16-20 years

12.0

21-25 years

7.8

26 or more years

14.0

*North American responses only; total=1,377

Highest level of education

Total Respondents, %

High school

14.3

Some college

36.8

4-year undergraduate degree

30.1

Some graduate study

7.3

Graduate degree

11.5

*North American responses only; total=1,375

Most recent promotion

Total Respondents, %

Within the past 12 months

17.3

Within the past 1-2 years

18.5

Within the past 3-5 years

26.0

More than 5 years ago

38.3

*North American responses only; total=1,362

Geographic region

Total Respondents, %

New England

6.2

Middle Atlantic

11.9

South Atlantic

15.6

North Central

33.8

South Central

14.2

Mountain

3.8

Pacific

11.0

Canada

3.2

Mexico

0.3

*North American responses only; total=1,386

Annual direct compensation

Minimum

$20,000

Maximum

$550,000

Mean

$77,996

25th Percentile

$51,000

Median

$69,250

75th Percentile

$91,499

90th Percentile

$120,000

*North American responses only; total=1,386

Annual direct compensation

Total Respondents, %

$40,000 or less

9.3

$40,001-$60,000

29.9

$60,001-$80,000

26.5

$80,001-$100,000

16.9

$100,001-$120,000

7.9

More than $120,000

9.6

*North American responses only; total=1,386

Receive a bonus?

Total Respondents, %

Yes

63.3

No

36.7

*North American responses only; total=1,386

Most recent bonus (for those who received a bonus)

Minimum

$100

Maximum

$850,000

Mean

$17,157

25th Percentile

$2,500

Median

$7,000

75th Percentile

$15,000

90th Percentile

$34,500

*North American responses only; total=864

Most recent bonus (for those who received a bonus)

Total Respondents, %

$1,000 or less

11.1

$1,001 to $5,000

30.9

$5,001 to $10,000

23.5

$10,001 to $25,000

21.0

More than $25,000

13.4

*North American responses only; total=863.

Most recent bonus

% of direct compensation

Minimum

0%

Maximum

500%

Mean

17%

25th Percentile

4%

Median

9%

75th Percentile

18%

90th Percentile

33%

*North American responses only; total=863.

Raise last year

Total Respondents, %

No Raise

20.9

0-3% Increase

45.8

4-6% Increase

25.4

7-10% Increase

5.2

Greater than 10% Increase

2.8

*North American responses only; total=1,378

Corporate annual revenue

Total Respondents, %

Less than $50 million

35.9

$50 million-$100 million

17.4

$101 million-$500 million

18.5

$501 million-$1 billion

7.9

$1 billion or more

20.3

*North American responses only; total=1,359

Full-time people managed directly

Total Respondents, %

0

13.9

1 to 5

27.7

6 to 10

19.3

11 to 25

18.2

More than 25

20.9

*North American responses only; total=1,370

Career priorities

%

Base salary

77.5%

Medical benefits

62.6%

Job stability

60.0%

Retirement benefits

51.7%

Individual recognition

39.5%

Advancement opportunities

36.4%

Vacation time

33.7%

Relationships with co-workers

27.3%

Flexible schedule

23.7%

Company recognition of the importance of material handling and inventory mgmt.

15.5%

Continuing education/training

13.1%

*North American responses only; percentages add up to more than 100% because respondents could identify up to five key priorities; total=1,386

Career satisfaction

Total Respondents, %

Very satisfied

21.7%

Satisfied

47.2%

Neither satisfied nor unsatisfied

23.4%

Unsatisfied

6.3%

Very unsatisfied

1.3%

*North American responses only; total=1,342

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