CE Pro February 2023 - 28

OPERATIONS | Wage, Salary & Labor Rates Study
Wages Spike
11.2% in 2022;
Labor Rates Jump
11% over 2 Years
Installation technician pay rises to average $22.10
per hour, while average national labor rates charged
jumps to $106.67 per hour, per CE Pro's 2023 Wage,
Salary & Labor Rates Study. By Jason Knott
2022 WAS THE
perfect storm for
integration companies in
terms of skyrocketing costs
for... everything! And while
supply chain shortages and
inflation certainly took their
tolls on lightening dealers'
wallets, it was the escalating
cost of labor that appears to
have done the most
damage. According to the
just-released 2023 CE Pro
Wage, Salary & Labor Rates
Study, the average wage for
an installation technician
rose a dramatic 11.2% in
2022 to $22.10 per hour, up
from $19.86 per hour the
previous year.
Luckily, the catapulting
costs hit during a time of
unprecedented demand,
with integration companies
reporting a remarkable 33%
average increase in total
28 | CE Pro February 2023
revenues in 2022, according
to the recent CE Pro 2023
State of the Industry Report
revealed in January. So, high
customer demand allowed
dealers to accordingly
boost their labor rates, with
the average hourly wage
charged for an installation
technician hitting $106.67,
up 11.1% over the past two
years. CE Pro has not gauged
average labor rates since
they logged in at $95.98 per
hour in 2020.
Looking ahead, integration
company owners don't
foresee the same elevated
wage increases in 2023.
Dealers are anticipating they
will increase the wages they
pay by an average of just
3.9%. Sadly, that is the exact
same percentage that dealers
predicted they would
boost their wages heading
into 2022... and we know
what happened.
Likewise, CE pros believe
they will be able to adjust
the labor rates they charge
to their clients up by 3.8%
this year. Let's hope inflation
is under control enough
to enable dealers to keep
those lower raise percentages.
According to the
Consumer Price Index, the
inflation rate in 2022 was a
whopping 9.1%, on the heels
of a 6.8% inflation rate in
2021. Fortunately, inflation
appears to be slowing a tad
- it was 7.1% in December.
Still, these are the highest
inflation rates in 40 years.
Digging into the Data
The 2023 CE Pro Wage,
Salary & Labor Rates Study,
which was conducted in
November and December
2022, delved into the wages
paid by integrators across
the nation for installation,
service, sales, programming,
administration, project
management and more. The
research also looks at the
owner compensation, bonus
programs, and types of
benefits among many other
data points.
Similar to 2021, in 2022
across the board, dealers
had to pay more for every
role within a custom installation
company, including
project managers (up
9.2%), sales managers (up
9.3%), sales reps (up 8.6%),
programmers (up 4.7%),
systems designers (up 3.8%),
installation technicians (up
11.2%), lead technicians (up
10.8%), service technicians
(up 9.4%), IT specialists (up
4.8%), and even office admin
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CE Pro February 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of CE Pro February 2023
