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.
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The independent nature of a researcher’s job consistently rates as the
leading factor that inspires them in their jobs. Researchers continue to be
given this authority by their management, as reflected in other responses.
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.
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A significant increase in survey respondents replied that they would be retired
in five years—from 19% in 2004 to 27% this year. This reflects upon the
large share of the overall researcher population who are “baby boomers.”
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
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Staffing levels (and the resultant support provided) and bureaucracy are the
consistent responses that researchers indicate interferes with their ability
to get their jobs done and work efficiently.
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
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About 80% of the researchers surveyed in a recent poll indicated that they
are satisfied with their current position, similar to those results obtained
in previous R&D career surveys.
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
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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
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While three quarters of the researchers surveyed said that they're satisfied
with their total compensation (salary and bonuses), there is an increasing
number that finds compensation is not at satisfactory levels.
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.
