2004 Salaries and Wages Warehousing

It's one thing to wish for that million-dollar pay package, quite another to do a realistic appraisal of where you stand by comparing your salary with industry averages. If you're a logistics executive, chances are you've come out ahead. Salaries for mid- to senior-level managers have gone up considerably in the last two years, according to “Warehousing Salaries and Wages: 2004 Data,” a nationwide survey conducted by Leever Re-search Services for the Warehousing Education and Research Council. The survey of 301 warehouses found that the typical director of logistics earned a salary and bonus in 2004 that was 19.3% higher than his or her compensation in 2002. General managers also scored highly, making a sizable 15.9% more than they did in 2002; salaries for operations and traffic managers rose 11.5% and 9.8% over 2002; and shipping and receiving clerks earned 8.7% more than they did two years ago.

As in most industries, though, the lower echelons didn't fare as well. The WERC report shows that customer service managers received a modest 5% increase; customer service representatives, a meager 3.3%; forklift operators, a shocking 1.1%; and order fillers and pickers, nothing at all. (No wonder shoppers bemoan the state of customer service!) Age also determines salary levels; for instance, operations managers with 15-20 years of experience make $65,000, whereas those with more than 20 years of experience earn $61,300.

For more information, e-mail WERC at wercoffice@werc.org or call (630) 990-0001, or visit www.werc.org.