Job Satisfaction and Salaries Improve
Researchers have continued the trends seen in previous years with improvements
in salaries and benefits, but workforce appears to be less dynamic.
The editors of R&D Magazine recently completed an analysis of two independent reader surveys for this 9th Annual R&D Career and Salary Report. Overall, most areas revealed similar trends in job satisfaction and compensation levels to those seen in previous years. Salaries over the past year continued a steady improvement that generally exceeded the inflation rate, especially for R&D scientists and engineers (S/E). Standard compensation levels for R&D directors for the past year, however, stabilized or even declined in some categories. Nevertheless, director-level researchers received significantly larger performance bonuses than they did over the past three years for an overall compensation level that matched the approximately 10% improvements they saw in those previous years.
This year’s study is based on 1) a Web-based reader survey performed in
August-September 2005 on researchers’ job satisfaction and career goals,
and 2) a mail survey performed in April 2005 by Abbott, Langer & Assoc. (www.abbott-langer.com),
Crete, Ill., (supported by R&D Magazine) on U.S. researchers’ 2004
salary and total compensation levels. (A more detailed analysis of the salary
survey was presented in the August 2005 issue of R&D’s 2005/2006 Reference
Guide—electronic and print copies of this article are available by sending
requests to vwojewski@reedbusiness.com.)
Age having an effect
The general aging of the R&D workforce, with many “baby-boomer” (those born just after World War II) senior-level technicians, S/E, and directors now approaching retirement age, appears to be having an effect on the overall levels of career goals in our job satisfaction surveys. When asked where they would like to be in five years, the number of respondents who indicated they would be retired jumped from 19% in 2004 to 27% this year. This responds well to the overall demographics of the R&D workforce that government and industry analysts have been predicting for the past 10 years.
This one data point can then be mirrored in:
• A drop in those researchers who said they would be running their own businesses in five yr from a level of 21% in 2004 to only 14% this year.
• A drop in those researchers who said they would be in a better job in their own organization in five years from 33% in 2004 to 29% in 2005.
• An increase in those researchers who said they would be doing the same thing in five years as they’re doing now from 20% in 2004 to 30% this year.
• An increase in those who said they would be teaching in five years from 10% in 2004 to 14% in 2005.
Clearly, the reality of the positions that senior-level researchers find themselves in at present will have an effect on the makeup of the workforce in the next five years. These demographics will present opportunities to mid-level and junior-level researchers to “take-over” and move up within their current organizations, and possibly even work with venture capitalists to create their own companies where technology voids might present themselves.
Smaller satisfaction shifts
Researchers seem to enjoy the work they do at similar or even higher levels
than they did in previous years, with more than 90% of this year’s
survey respondents indicating that it’s the kind of work they really
like to do. This continues to be a better job fulfillment ratio than was
seen in similar surveys in 2000.
The overall benefits that researchers receive from their employers shifted slightly, but improved overall. Those receiving paid vacations jumped from 82% in 2004 to 90% this year, while those having medical insurance increased from 85% last year, to 88% this year. Those participating in 401K plans also increased from 73% of the respondents in 2004 to 81% this year. This overall benefit package improvement in 2005 is a change from previous, recession-influenced years where benefits actually dropped in last year’s survey (reflecting 2003 benefits) by about 10% from those in the previous year’s survey (reflecting 2002 benefits).
The bonus-effect in R&D Directors’ compensation noted above (Abbott, Langer & Assoc. survey) and the improvement in the overall general economy from the recession in previous years are reflected in 41% of this year’s R&D Magazine survey respondents who indicated that they received a performance bonus in 2004, compared to only 32% in last year’s survey (who received a bonus in 2003).
Likes and dislikes
The ability to work independently has been the single most satisfying aspect
of researchers’ jobs in the past five years of reader surveys. This year
the level increased to 60% of the respondents, compared to 54% last year. Following
this leading point, the next three responses (variety of work, solving challenging
problems, and doing what they’re good at) again have been the same, plateauing
in the mid-40% range of all responses. Researchers’ compensation, as
a measure of job satisfaction, traditionally a low ranking attribute, climbed
to sixth place with 21% of the responses.
On the other side of the coin, researchers’ least satisfying aspects of their jobs followed mostly familiar lines as well. Too much bureaucracy and inadequate staff were again at the top of this list and at the same mid-30% response levels, although switching positions from last year. Compensation levels, as noted above in the satisfying area, also appeared in the least satisfying area with 26% of this year’s respondents indicating that it was an issue, compared to only 18% in last year’s survey. The R&D operating budget also showed up on the list this year (with a quarter of the respondents indicating it was an issue), where in the 2004 survey, it was not indicated as an issue.
Working environment
The average number of hours that researchers worked/wk at their place of employment
remarkably remained the same for the fifth consecutive year—46 hr. While
this statistic appears to be unchanging, about 30% of the survey respondents
indicated that they work more now than they did five years ago, compared to
only 21% who said they work less now than five years ago. This workload issue
is also reflected in an increasing level of those researchers who indicate
that their job demands interfere with their personal time, increasing to 36%
(‘Often’ and ‘Most of the time’ responses) this year
from 30% in last year’s survey.
When asked “Does your employer have a commitment to R&D?”, just 56% of the respondents in our 2000 reader survey said that their employers had such a commitment—a significant indicator of a weak interest level in R&D. This rose dramatically in 2004 to 80% of the responses. While still within statistically similar levels, this response dropped to 76% this year, possibly indicating an area that needs to be monitored over the next year for a change in employer commitment trends.
Overall, researchers appear to be confident of their current employer’s future—about 76% responded that their employer would grow or stay the same over the next five years. Only 14% said that their employer would decline or contract in the future and less than 4% expected their employer to be out of business anytime in the future. Indeed, about 18% of the respondents said that their employer would expand into Asia in the future (no specific dates provided).
Changing compensation
As noted above, the compensation levels of R&D Directors in 2004 continued
to increase if you include the effect of bonuses, which nearly tripled from
their recession-depressed levels of 2003. The same effect did not hold true
for S/E or R&D technicians; their level of bonus participation in 2004
was cut nearly in half over the amounts provided in 2004, according to the
2005 Abbott, Langer and Assoc. survey.
From 2002 to 2004, technicians saw an approximately 2.6% absolute improvement in their compensation levels. This was up significantly from the depressed level of 2003, but overall for the two-yr span, it did not meet the inflation levels for those combined years. The decline was noticed in all areas, but especially felt in the life sciences—pharmaceutical and medical. Those in senior level positions and with advanced degrees saw fewer reductions, but still did not grow at the levels that had been seen in earlier years.
S/E-level researchers experienced the most uniform growth over the past three years. While increases in 2004 were below those seen in 2003, they still nearly doubled the inflation rate, accounting for about a 3% real dollar improvement. While S/E saw their bonuses cut in half, this additional compensation only accounts for about 1% of their total compensation. Engineers saw the greatest improvement in their salaries, while scientists in the life science arena saw smaller improvements, reflecting the overall economic mood of the life science industry—a flat to declining industry due to regulatory issues, reduced government investment increases, and the failure to realize paybacks from previous large research investments.
Overall, scientist salaries improved slightly in government labs, declined in academic areas, and were primarily flat in industry labs.
The editors of R&D Magazine recently completed an analysis of two independent reader surveys for this 9th Annual R&D Career and Salary Report. Overall, most areas revealed similar trends in job satisfaction and compensation levels to those seen in previous years. Salaries over the past year continued a steady improvement that generally exceeded the inflation rate, especially for R&D scientists and engineers (S/E). Standard compensation levels for R&D directors for the past year, however, stabilized or even declined in some categories. Nevertheless, director-level researchers received significantly larger performance bonuses than they did over the past three years for an overall compensation level that matched the approximately 10% improvements they saw in those previous years.
 Click here to enlage |
Age having an effect
The general aging of the R&D workforce, with many “baby-boomer” (those born just after World War II) senior-level technicians, S/E, and directors now approaching retirement age, appears to be having an effect on the overall levels of career goals in our job satisfaction surveys. When asked where they would like to be in five years, the number of respondents who indicated they would be retired jumped from 19% in 2004 to 27% this year. This responds well to the overall demographics of the R&D workforce that government and industry analysts have been predicting for the past 10 years.
 Click here to enlage |
• A drop in those researchers who said they would be running their own businesses in five yr from a level of 21% in 2004 to only 14% this year.
• A drop in those researchers who said they would be in a better job in their own organization in five years from 33% in 2004 to 29% in 2005.
• An increase in those researchers who said they would be doing the same thing in five years as they’re doing now from 20% in 2004 to 30% this year.
• An increase in those who said they would be teaching in five years from 10% in 2004 to 14% in 2005.
Clearly, the reality of the positions that senior-level researchers find themselves in at present will have an effect on the makeup of the workforce in the next five years. These demographics will present opportunities to mid-level and junior-level researchers to “take-over” and move up within their current organizations, and possibly even work with venture capitalists to create their own companies where technology voids might present themselves.
Smaller satisfaction shifts
 Click here to enlage |
The overall benefits that researchers receive from their employers shifted slightly, but improved overall. Those receiving paid vacations jumped from 82% in 2004 to 90% this year, while those having medical insurance increased from 85% last year, to 88% this year. Those participating in 401K plans also increased from 73% of the respondents in 2004 to 81% this year. This overall benefit package improvement in 2005 is a change from previous, recession-influenced years where benefits actually dropped in last year’s survey (reflecting 2003 benefits) by about 10% from those in the previous year’s survey (reflecting 2002 benefits).
The bonus-effect in R&D Directors’ compensation noted above (Abbott, Langer & Assoc. survey) and the improvement in the overall general economy from the recession in previous years are reflected in 41% of this year’s R&D Magazine survey respondents who indicated that they received a performance bonus in 2004, compared to only 32% in last year’s survey (who received a bonus in 2003).
Likes and dislikes
 Click here to enlage |
On the other side of the coin, researchers’ least satisfying aspects of their jobs followed mostly familiar lines as well. Too much bureaucracy and inadequate staff were again at the top of this list and at the same mid-30% response levels, although switching positions from last year. Compensation levels, as noted above in the satisfying area, also appeared in the least satisfying area with 26% of this year’s respondents indicating that it was an issue, compared to only 18% in last year’s survey. The R&D operating budget also showed up on the list this year (with a quarter of the respondents indicating it was an issue), where in the 2004 survey, it was not indicated as an issue.
Working environment
 Click here to enlage |
When asked “Does your employer have a commitment to R&D?”, just 56% of the respondents in our 2000 reader survey said that their employers had such a commitment—a significant indicator of a weak interest level in R&D. This rose dramatically in 2004 to 80% of the responses. While still within statistically similar levels, this response dropped to 76% this year, possibly indicating an area that needs to be monitored over the next year for a change in employer commitment trends.
Overall, researchers appear to be confident of their current employer’s future—about 76% responded that their employer would grow or stay the same over the next five years. Only 14% said that their employer would decline or contract in the future and less than 4% expected their employer to be out of business anytime in the future. Indeed, about 18% of the respondents said that their employer would expand into Asia in the future (no specific dates provided).
Changing compensation
 Click here to enlage |
From 2002 to 2004, technicians saw an approximately 2.6% absolute improvement in their compensation levels. This was up significantly from the depressed level of 2003, but overall for the two-yr span, it did not meet the inflation levels for those combined years. The decline was noticed in all areas, but especially felt in the life sciences—pharmaceutical and medical. Those in senior level positions and with advanced degrees saw fewer reductions, but still did not grow at the levels that had been seen in earlier years.
S/E-level researchers experienced the most uniform growth over the past three years. While increases in 2004 were below those seen in 2003, they still nearly doubled the inflation rate, accounting for about a 3% real dollar improvement. While S/E saw their bonuses cut in half, this additional compensation only accounts for about 1% of their total compensation. Engineers saw the greatest improvement in their salaries, while scientists in the life science arena saw smaller improvements, reflecting the overall economic mood of the life science industry—a flat to declining industry due to regulatory issues, reduced government investment increases, and the failure to realize paybacks from previous large research investments.
Overall, scientist salaries improved slightly in government labs, declined in academic areas, and were primarily flat in industry labs.
—Tim Studt
Use of this website is subject to its terms of use.
Privacy Policy
