Opinion: Salary survey shows how your pay fares

Well, I can give you an average: $134,400.

That’s according to Associated Industries of Missouri’s 2005 Springfield Area Wage, Salary & Benefits Survey, released to SBJ by special permission last week.

How about those CEO bonuses? The 31 CEOs of the Springfield area companies whose salaries were reported to the survey receive average yearly bonuses of $67,350, pushing their total compensations above $200,000.

What about those next in line? Area chief financial and chief operation officers earn around $140,000 a year on average, including bonuses. But in this region, plant managers hold even higher values, as the average straight salary reported is $156,096 – the highest of any position in the survey. It’s only after factoring in bonuses that the CEOs move ahead.

Those aren’t too shabby in a place where the median family income is $38,114 – well below the U.S. average of $50,046, according to the 2000 Census.

The AIM survey, now in its 60th year, gathered information from 57 area companies earlier this year. They’re mostly larger companies, as more than half of them have in excess of 100 employees, and nine participating companies employ more than 1,000. And they’re heavily weighted in manufacturing, processing or fabrication work. The list of participating companies includes American Dehydrated Foods, CoxHealth, City Utilities, Great Southern, Loren Cook, Noble, O’Reilly, the News-Leader and Tracker Marine.

So we know what the upper echelon pulls in. What about the entry-level professional jobs?

An accounting grad can expect to make $37,000, including a bonus, in his first year on the job. A bookkeeper makes about $25,000, and a call center customer service representative averages about $24,000 annually.

According to industry officials, call center reps in Springfield typically start at slightly below $20,000 a year working full time, and can earn as much as $47,000 a year in union jobs. That sector should blossom with the coming $20 million T-Mobile center at Airport Plaza that will employ 700 to start. In June, T-Mobile will join SBC, Chase, Alltel and MCI in an already significant sector of more than 2,600 workers.

That’s huge news for those seeking quality jobs in northwest Springfield (the center’s at Kearney and West Bypass) and also for those already employed in the industry, due to pressures created by competition.

Wondering what’s the top pay in your field? Here’s a quick guide:

Accounting: Next to the chief financial and operating officers is the controller’s $74,608 and the budgeting supervisor’s $72,330. A real disparity emerges when bonuses are factored: $18,930 a year on average for the controller vs. $300 for the budgeting supervisor.

Engineering: engineering manager’s $83,374, plus a bonus of $26,975.

Health Care: occupational registered nurse’s $46,811.

Human Resource: HR director’s $64,480.

Insurance: risk management director’s $89,176.

Information systems: management information system manager’s $75,767.

Sales: sales director’s $74,617, plus a hefty average yearly bonus of $38,850.

Skilled trades: supervisor’s/foreman’s $47,827. Then there’s the journeyman machinist’s $37,776, the power plant maintenance mechanic’s $37,215 and the electrician’s $37,185.

Manufacturing: material manager’s $57,357.

More in-depth analysis is available through AIM, the Jefferson City-based business-trade association.

Eric Olson is SBJ News Editor.