Overall, in this year’s SPE and Gros Executive Recruiters’ “Plastics Salary and Trends Survey,” respondents continued to display the optimism seen in the last few surveys.

For example, respondents in 2009 were not very confident their jobs would exist in twelve months and did not expect salary increases. And managers were expecting their companies to decrease the number of full-time employees. Overall, the responses to many questions were fairly gloomy then.

But since the 2009 survey, respondents have reported becoming very confident that their jobs will exist in twelve months, and most expect salary increases. Managers also expect their employees’ compensation to increase, and they expect to hire more full-time employees than they did in the previous year.

A total of 1,250 respondents completed the 2015 survey; here are some of the basic findings:

• The percentage of respondents reporting they have at least some confidence that their job will exist in twelve months has remained fairly stable over the last eight surveys, at around 92%.
• The percent of respondents reporting being happy with their jobs has not changed.
• Non-managers expect to see an increase in base salary this year (with a higher percentage of respondents reporting this than in past surveys).
• Managers expect to see an increase in their employees’ compensation this year (likewise at a higher percentage than in past surveys).
• And more managers expect their company to increase the number of full-time employees this year.

Long-Term Patterns & Trends

The survey investigated a number of industry employee trends, comparing 2015’s results with results from the past, as summarized below.

Working hours per week

The percent of respondents who report working 41 or more hours per week has remained fairly stable at about 85%. Respondents in 2015 were no more likely than those in the previous year to report working 41+ hours per week. However, there is a significant difference between 2006 and 2015, with a higher percentage reporting working 41+ hours in 2006 than in 2015.

Employer-covered insurance

In 2004, 17.7% of respondents indicated their employers covered 100% of their insurance. That proportion has dropped significantly in 2015 to 11.9%.

In 2015, 7.6% reported that none of their health insurance is covered by their employer. This is significantly higher than the low reported in 2004 of 4.3%. The first four surveys averaged around 5%, while the last seven are closer to 8%.

However, in 2004, when respondents were asked about the change in percentage of their healthcare covered by their employer, 28.2% said it was less than the year before; in 2015, significantly fewer respondents—15.9%—report that it was less than the year before. Over the eleven surveys there has been a gradual decrease in the percent of respondents reporting their coverage is less than the year before.

Workforce trends

From 2006 to 2009, the percentage of managers who expected their company’s number of full-time employees to increase steadily declined. In 2008, 19.2% of managers expected the number of full-time employees to decrease, but in 2009 almost 49% expected a decrease in full-time employees. The 2010 survey seemed to indicate a rebound: Almost 48% expected to hire full-time employees in 2010—up from only 18% in 2009. Only 9.2% expected to decrease their number of full-time employees.

Once again, 2015 respondents show a continuing optimism that has been seen with many of the other survey questions so far. This year, 55.5% of managers expect their company’s number of full-time employees to grow. Only 7.3% expect to decrease their number of full-time employees.

Salary trends

Of those who responded to the 2015 survey, their average base salary is $104,772, and the average total cash compensation is $119,576. In terms of trends, 2013 was the first year since 2009 where the reported salaries—both base and total cash compensation—declined from the previous year. This current year shows an increase in base salary from 2014, but a decrease in total cash compensation (see graph).

Non-managers in 2015 continue to appear much more optimistic about their chances of a base salary increase than they were in 2009. Roughly 77% are expecting some base salary increase this year, up from 66% in 2010, 72% in 2011, and up considerably from the low in 2009 when only 33% expected any increase.

The trend noticed in non-manager responses has carried over to the managers as well. In 2009, 37% expected a compensation increase, while in 2010, almost 70% expected an increase. In 2015, almost 84.5% of manager respondents are expecting a base salary increase.

In the past, managers and non-managers have had consistently similar expectations, but in 2014 there was a 10 percentage-point gap. This gap has closed some in the 2015 survey.

The survey also gathered data on salaries categorized by gender, age, education level, position type, manufacturing process, industry sector, and job title. The complete statistical data (including p-values), in summaries with charts and tables, are available via the “2015 Salary Survey Results” link at www.4spe.org/Membership. Gros Executive Recruiters can be contacted at U.S. 800-283-5643 or 615-283-4568.