Pay Inches Upward While Satisfaction Slips Slightly

Perhaps one of the more interesting outcomes of the 1994 Salary Survey conducted by P-O-P Times is the finding that designers of point-of-purchase displays and signs are a little less satisfied than they were a year ago. Last year, a full 30 percent of all designers at point-of-purchase supplier firms, as well as those at consumer-product marketer companies, listed themselves as "highly satisfied" in their current position. In 1994, that "highly satisfied" group dropped to 24 percent. (See accompanying article on job satisfaction.)But at the same time, pay levels seem to have crept up, if just a little, and only on the lower end of the scale. In 1993, 4 percent of respondents were paid less than $20,000 annually, while this year that group has shrunk to just 2 percent. For 1994, 22 percent of all respondents fall into the $21,000 to $30,000 annual pay range, up from 18 percent a year ago.There was little change in the middle pay ranges -- where the majority of all designers fall. Some 27 percent of the designers surveyed report themselves in the $31,000 to $40,000 pay range this year vs. 29 percent a year ago. And 24 percent of all responding designers report annual salaries between $41,000 and $50,000, down an insignificant 1 percent from a year ago. Percentages of respondents paid above $50,000 annually did not vary more than 1 percent from a year ago."Designers are at the base of the P-O-P industry, so having high-quality people in the design department is crucial to the success and growth of a P-O-P company." So says Marvin Gardner, president of Gardner Associates Inc., a New York-based recruiting firm.A primary talent that many P-O-P companies are seeking in a designer, according to Gardner, is a familiarity with computer-aided design. "As more and more companies are going to computer-aided design, that ability is a necessity."Gardner cautions, however, that being a competent CAD user does not guarantee that a designer will be up to the job. "CAD is just a tool. Concepts still come from the individual."Fewer Women RespondThe number of respondents also seems to shift significantly to the male side this year. Last year, 31 percent of the designers answering the questionnaire were women. In 1994, that level falls to 20 percent. The survey also confirms that the design departments at those companies that manufacture and/or market point-of-purchase displays, signs and fixtures are dominated by men. Among the P-O-P vendor companies, 91 percent of the survey's respondents are men. At the consumer-product manufacturing companies, only 68 percent of the respondents are males.Why so few women? "There are significantly more women designers in other similar fields, like cosmetics and advertising," explains Gardner. "Maybe because P-O-P grew out of the corrugated industry, which has historically been dominated by males."In the 1994 survey, 43 of all respondents work for P-O-P vendor firms, while 41 percent are employed as designers at companies that market and/or manufacture consumer goods or services. Approximately 16 percent of the respondents work for sales promotion agencies, advertising agencies, marketing firms, retailers, distributors or wholesalers. But all survey respondents who were included in the final tally are designers of point-of-purchase displays, signs or fixtures.But not all respondents spend all of their time designing. The survey found that designers at P-O-P vendor firms spend more of their time designing than their counterparts at consumer-product companies. At P-O-P companies, 25 percent of all designers spend all of their time designing (opposed to 8 percent of designers at consumer-product companies).Overall, 62 percent of P-O-P vendor-company designers spend at least half of their work hours dedicated to P-O-P design. At consumer product companies, the figures indicate that the majority of designers spend less than half of their time at the drawing board or the computer screen. Approximately 80 percent of the designers at consumer-product marketer/manufacturer companies spend 50 percent or less of their time designing.Those nondesigning hours are spent on a variety of other tasks. Of all designers who have other duties, 29 percent are involved in purchasing functions, 21 percent work on marketing tasks, 16 percent have some sort of office management function, 12 percent are involved in sales and 3 percent handle personnel functions.Those figures vary greatly, however, when the results are divided by employer. For example: P-O-P company designers (who have other duties) spend only 12 percent of their time on marketing tasks, as opposed to 28 percent of designers at client companies. At P-O-P vendor companies, 24 percent of the designers surveyed spend a portion of their time on office management, as opposed to 11 percent of designers at client companies.Longevity, Age and EducationThe survey shows that designers tend to last longer at their jobs at P-O-P vendor companies than they do at consumer-product marketing companies. More than a third of the designers -- 35 percent -- at the client companies have been in their position three years or fewer, as opposed to 27 percent of designers at P-O-P vendor companies. Conversely, 31 percent of the designers at P-O-P companies have been in their current position for 11 years or more, as compared with 25 percent of designers at client companies.Only 3 percent of the respondents were under the age of 25 and only 1 percent were 66 years of age or older. Forty-five percent of the designers surveyed fall in the 26 to 35 age range, while another 32 percent are between 36 and 45 years of age.Approximately 66 percent of the respondents carry the burden of supervising others. And 61 percent of the designers work in departments of five or fewer people. Work locations employing 100 or more people are the norm for 55 percent of the respondents.Of the surveyed designers, 15 percent have been employed by their present company for less than two years, while 35 percent have worked for their current employer for two to five years. Twenty-five percent of those surveyed have been with their current company for six to 10 years, and 16 percent have been getting their paycheck from the same place for 11 to 20 years. Only 8 percent of the survey participants have worked for the same company for more than 20 years.Among the 450 designers who answered the 1994 survey, all were high school graduates, and 52 percent had earned a four-year college degree. There were no Ph.D.s among the respondents, although a total of 7 percent of all respondents had earned a master's degree.Bonus and IncreasesPay bonuses have made a very small recovery. In last year's survey, 50 percent of all designers reported receiving no bonus in the prior year. For 1994, that number dips to 44 percent. Twenty percent of those surveyed earned bonuses of less than $1,000, while 21 percent reported bonuses of $1,000 to $3,000. Bonuses of $3,000 or more were reported by 14 percent of the respondents.Recent pay increases were also on the small size, according to the survey. Salary boosts of 1 to 5 percent were reported by 62 percent of the respondents, while 27 percent of the designers report pay jumps of 6 percent to 10 percent. Only 2 percent of the respondents report recent pay increases of more than 15 percent.For those people looking for a 40-hour work week, P-O-P design is not the place to be. Of all respondents, 83 percent report working an average of more than 40 hours a week, with 15 percent working 51 or more hours a week on average. At the same time, 82 percent of all respondents report that they are not compensated for overtime work.Benefits AboundBenefits, however, abound according to the survey. Medical insurance is available to 96 percent of the respondents, and life insurance benefits are available to 83 percent of those surveyed. Dental insurance is offered to 69 percent of the respondents, while 68 percent are involved in a 401K savings plan.Sixty-five percent of those answering the survey have disability insurance, and 56 percent are reimbursed for education expenses. Half of all the designers are involved in a company pension plan and 33 percent can work a flexible-hours schedule. Company stock options are available to 27 percent of those surveyed.

Pay Inches Upward While Satisfaction Slips Slightly

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