by Robert Powell
This is not going to be a good year for getting a raise if a survey of Richmond employers is any indicator. But the encouraging news is employees are not likely to face pay cuts either.
The Titan Group, a Richmond-based human resources consulting firm, today released its 2010 Greater Richmond Compensation Survey of 112 employers. It found that 54 percent don’t expect to increase or decrease employees’ pay this year.
Only 26 percent expect to raise salaries this year. The median increase is about 3 percent.
Forty-seven percent of the respondents said they have placed more emphasis on variable compensation such as bonuses and incentives during the past 12 months.
In fact, revising pay practices and employee retention are the biggest human resources issues the companies face.
“I can’t say we are surprised by the findings, especially given the slow pace of the recovery and an abiding sense of uncertainty among employers,” said Lee Weisiger, a founding partner of The Titan Group. “While some sectors are growing, the growth has not been so robust that employers are inclined to add to their operating costs by increasing salaries. And with the unemployment rate holding steady, there really is not a pressing need to raise salaries so as to retain talent.”
More than half the employers surveyed by Titan (55 percent) have 200 or fewer workers. Forty-one percent are private employers. The rest of the organizations are nonprofits and government agencies, such as the Virginia Department of Transportation.
The survey also collected salary information for 163 job classifications. The median pay for a chief executive officer, for example, was $219,695 while chief financial officers were paid $150,000 and chief operating officers received $127,903. (Median figure means half of the salaries were higher and half were lower.)
The median salaries for other positions were:
• Accountant III (minimum of four years experience) - $59,942
• Controller - $101,228
• Director of fundraising and development - $83,556
• Event and meeting coordinator - $49,623
• Social/case worker - $43,185
• Cook - $25,802
• Executive secretary - $50,220
• Mailroom supervisor - $42,400
• Office manager - $48,507
• Human resources manager - $77,439
• Recruiter - $53,000
• Warehouse supervisor - $42,000
• Mechanical engineer - $62,962
• Customer service manager - $57,044
• Marketing coordinator - $45,492
• Regional sales manager - $88,477
• Automotive mechanic - $41,451
• Painter - $34,150
• Truck driver (heavy) - $34,653
• Network administrator - $60,000
• Web content administrator/editor - $61,344
Companies use compensation studies to ensure their pay scales are in line with market conditions. Right now, the market seems to be saying, “Make no change.”