Annual 19 Salary Survey th Payroll Annual Salary and Benefits study reveals By Marjorie Troxel-Hellmer and Keith Nunes meat&poultry@sosland.com he results of M&P's 19th Annual Salary and Benefits T Survey reveal an industry that is paying its executives more, but having trouble communicating. With a few exceptions, the data indicates the salaries for managers employed by the industry's largest firms have increased during the past two years. The increases by position are not significant, but reflect a trend in the right direction. Bonuses, on the other hand, have held steady or decreased slightly. 18 MEAT&POULTRY The decrease in bonus money can be attributed to the national economy and the financial state of the industry. Bonus money is usually linked to company performance and the glut of protein that had been flooding the U.S. market during the past two years apparently took a toll. A total of 1,690 salary surveys were mailed to executives and managers in the meat and poultry industry. The group was comprised of a randomized stratified sampling of M&P readers. Only those executives that reported annual, company-wide revenues of $100 million or more were included in the sample. Data collection took place during January and February 2004. Twelve surveys were returned as undeliverable. A total of 440 completed surveys were included in the analysis for a 26 percent response rate. M&P's Annual Salary and Benefits Survey alternates annually between executives working for large companies (those with sales over $100 million) and small and medium companies (those with sales under $100 million). It is not recommended for anyone to compare this year's survey with the results of our 2003 survey, because the www.MEATPOULTRY.com MAY 2004http://www.MEATPOULTRY.com