DC Velocity - April 2014

specialreport

WE MAY BE IN A “JOBLESS RECOVERY” AND THE 2013 HOLIDAY SHOPPING SEASON may have been a disappointing one for retailers, but with the housing market gaining traction, industrial production on the upswing, and the U.S. economy improving in many other respects, it’s not surprising that U.S. consumer confidence is up—way up. In fact, the monthly average for the Reuters/University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index for 2013 was the highest since 2007.

Readers of DC VELOCITY have their own reason to feel upbeat about their economic circumstances: In 2013, the average compensation for respondents to our annual salary survey was $119,538—up 10 percent over last year’s average. The median, or the midpoint of all salaries reported, was $102,000, up from $90,000 the previous year. While the mix of respondents who participate in the survey in any particular year will have a big impact on the average numbers, there’s no question that the majority of survey takers are better off than they were a year ago. Well over two-thirds (69 percent) of the 443 qualified respondents said their annual compensation increased last year. In terms of size, those raises remained flat, though—a little above 6 percent on average, slightly higher than the previous year. Meanwhile, about one-fourth ( 26 percent) said their salaries had stayed the same. And just 5 percent said they were making less money in 2013 than they did the year before, the smallest percentage since before the Great Recession.

All of those numbers are an improvement over the previous survey’s responses. Last year, 62 percent of respondents said they had received raises in 2012, 31 percent said their salaries had stayed the same, and 7 percent took pay cuts. That continues a pattern we’ve seen since 2010: more respondents reporting raises, and fewer and fewer reporting stagnant or declining salaries. The steady drop in respondents who suffered pay cuts suggests that fewer readers are out of work or are being forced to take lower-paying jobs these days.

BY DC VELOCITY STAFF

SALARY SURVEY

If the results of our 2014 salary survey are any indication, the economy is indeed bouncing back—and bringing logistics professionals’ compensation along with it.