BANNOCKBURN, Ill., USA, January 20, 2016 — IPC’s recently published biennial wage and salary study for the electronics assembly industry shows a nominal upturn in salary increases from 2015 to 2016. Reporting on data from 162 U.S. and Canadian EMS and OEM facilities, IPC’s 2015 Wage Rate & Salary Study for the North American Electronics Assembly Industry is a valuable tool for electronics assembly companies to gauge the competitiveness of their compensation, benefits and policies in competing for the best talent in the industry.
The study’s findings show that in 2015, participating companies’ organizational wage and salary budgets increased at an average rate of 2.5 percent for hourly employees and 2.0 percent for salaried and management employees. Their projected increases for 2016 are just slightly above last year’s increases.
Results of the survey presents averages, average ranges, and percentile data on 2015 hourly wages, annual salaries and sales compensation in the United States and Canada. Data on 31 positions are segmented by industry segment, region and company size. Salary budget growth in 2015 and estimates for 2016 are included. Sales compensation data covers base salaries, commissions, bonuses and total compensation, as well as compensation of independent manufacturers’ representatives. Data on current HR policies cover hiring, performance appraisal, shifts, paid leave, team activities and other topics. Coverage of employee benefits includes several types of retirement plans, profit-sharing, stock ownership, various types of health insurance plans, life insurance, coverage of dependents, company contributions to insurance premiums, and tuition assistance.
Benefit costs in 2015 averaged 19.4 percent of total wages. Most of the companies that participated in the survey provide retirement benefits to their employees. In 2015, 401k plans were offered by 70 percent of those companies. The study also shows that reporting companies pay more than half of their employees’ medical insurance premiums, on average. In addition, more than half of the reporting companies offer employees paid leave in the form of personal time off (PTO) plans.
