Food Processing - July 2008 - (Page 22) Race East Asian 5% Other 2% Middle Eastern/ Western Asian 1% Latin/ Hispanic 5% Caucasian 84% AfricanAmerican 3% What’s the highest level of education you completed? Doctorate MBA Master’s degree (not MBA) 6% 5% 13% 8% 14% 12% Elementary school 0.2% e Plant Ops/Engineering group is still overwhelmingly Caucasian and male, at 86 percent and 89 percent, respectively. is group reports a salary median also at $85,000, but a five-figure average salary: $88,677. Purchasing Agents’ average compensation took a hefty drop, falling from $83,563 to $72,280, with the median the lowest of all our groups at $65,000. e level of college degrees in this group still sits at just more than half (52 percent, down from 55 percent in 2007), and 69 percent are men, down a percentage point from last year. But purchasers no longer are the most heavily imbalanced as far as race: Last year, 95 percent labeled themselves as Caucasian but this year that’s fallen to 85 percent. Overall, self-described African-Americans made up about 3 percent of our respondents, a level that’s pretty consistent across all the job titles; their average salary is $83,142. Latin/Hispanics make up more than 11 percent, with an average income of $89,066. Women, who made up nearly 32 percent of our respondents, earned $73,196 -- in spite of 76 percent holding college degrees, compared to 72 percent of men. One of them is in that $500,000+ club. Overall, more than 73 percent of our respondents are college graduates, with 18 percent holding master’s degrees and 5 percent doctorates. The little extras High school/ GED College 42% Post-grad/ cert.program Junior college/ Vocational How many hours per week do you work? Fewer than 35 61+ 3% 6% 36-40 13% 51-60 23% Raises and monetary benefits are always a sticking point, but this year’s comments on the topic betray growing frustration. “Cost of benefits goes up most every year and (our) pension was frozen five years ago. e company is much more conservative with raises and bonuses now,” said an operator at a large grain milling and cereal products corporation in St. Louis. Just over three-fourths of respondents get a raise every year (80 percent said so in our 2007 report. But the raises are better: In 2007, two-thirds of raises were only 1-3 percent of salary. is year, 49 percent made 1-3 percent but another 25 percent made 4-6 percent of their annual salary. is year, 69 percent told us they received a bonus, incentive or share in profit. Last year, only 65 percent did. For more than half of those, this equaled 1-9 percent of their salary. Although it’s lower than last year’s 61 percent in that category, that’s because those receiving 10-20 percent bonuses rose above 31 percent (29 last year) and those getting 21-35 percent bonuses went over 9 percent compared to less than 7 last year. On the other side of the coin, the number of processors taking a pay cut stayed at about one in seven. 41-50 55% METHODOLOGY This web-based survey was sent as an e-mailed link to all food and beverage processors who subscribe to Food Processing and provide their e-mail address. There were 1,700+ responses. All are kept confidential. Product categories in which respondents work the majority of their time: fruits and vegetables (6 percent), dairy products (7 percent), baked goods (8 percent), beverages (8 percent), confectionery products (5 percent), meat/poultry/seafood (19 percent), grain products/milling (4 percent), snacks (4 percent), further-processed & packaged foods & specialties (including frozen foods, meals, pet foods, sauces & condiments — 14 percent), value-added ingredients/powder mixes (7 percent) and 19 percent logged under “other.” FOODPROCESSING.COM Women rose to 42 percent from 36 percent in 2007, and Caucasians were 93 percent (last year 87 percent); 15 percent have MBAs. R&D again was the most gender-even, with 57 percent male and 43 percent female, 2 percentage points more balanced than last year. ey’re still the best educated, with 93 percent college-degreed (nearly 14 percent doctorates). But the median of their salary range is $85,000 with a mean at $101,307. 22 • FOOD PROCESSING JULY 2008 http://FOODPROCESSING.COM
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