IOPP SALARY SURVEY
Salary Confidence Cautiously Returns MATT REYNOLDS, EDITOR, PACKAGING WORLD WITH KEREN SOOKNE, DIR. EDITORIAL CONTENT
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re we there yet? Is it safe to say we’re emerging from the uncertainty of a pandemic into the (forgive the now-cliché) new normal? Are we recalibrating to adjust to what global consumer trends monitor Mintel calls the “next normal?” If the results of the annual Institute of Packaging Professionals (IoPP) Salary Survey are any evidence, the answer seems to be “almost.” Uncertainty is diminishing, and confidence is returning. We’re on the downslope, but we fully aren’t there yet. Getting down to brass tacks, overall reported salaries rebounded slightly in this year’s reporting, up 5.7% after a dip last year. But only a little more than a third of this year’s 828 respondents also took the survey last year, with another quarter who may or may not have (they don’t recall). The remainder absolutely didn’t take it last year. Since people are mostly different, the reported salary number is less of an indicator of what’s happening than the reported change in salary. We’re looking for change velocities more than dollar figures. And according to this year’s crop of respondents, fewer people this year reported having received a traditional salary increase last year (63% in 2020 compared to 73% in 2019). Not surprisingly in a pandemic year, pharmaceutical respondents edged out others with 74% receiving increases. Expectations for future traditional salary increases are flat from last year (71% expected to earn more in the coming year in both last year’s and this year’s results). But the number of people worried about making less in the coming year dropped from 8% in last year to 5% this year, a hint of relief of anxiety. (However, 19% of nutraceutical respondents reported fears.) It feels like we’re on the cusp of returning to normalcy. Another hint of this is in bonuses. Last year, when responding at the outset of the pandemic, respondents were more worried about not receiving bonuses in 2020. But it looks like some
What Keeps You Up At Night? Survey participants were asked to comment on the one thing that kept them up at night regarding job security. 605 of the 828 total respondents weighed in, and this is what they had to say…
2021 Category
Percentage
Count
Nothing
15% 14% 12% 8% 7% 7% 6% 6% 5%
92 85 74 48 44 40 37 35 28
4% 4%
24 24
Health/Mental health
3% 2%
21 11
Opportunities for growth
2%
11
Uncertainty
1%
8
Automation
1%
8
Competition
1%
6
Management
1%
5
Job satisfaction
1%
3
Sustainability
0%
2
100%
605
Stability (company) Job loss COVID Stability (industry) Economy Personal Performance Regulations/Policy Undefined Personal Compensation Ageism & continued relevance Staffing/Staff shortage
Total Source: Institute of Packaging Professionals 2021 Salary Survey
of those worries were unfounded, with more people actually having received bonuses in 2020 than had expected to. Across all industries, 63% of respondents said they received a bonus in 2020 and expect to receive one this year. Among the 147 pharma, medical, and nutraceutical respondents, that number was over 71%. And more people this year expect to receive bonuses than did last year, another hint of greater
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