Bucking the tide
Perhaps our timing could have been better. After all, fielding a salary survey for the first time during one of the worst economic downturns in U.S. history seems a bit on the cruel side. But to our surprise, no one lashed out in the verbatims or took us to task for our actions. And, far from being a continuation, research industry-style, of the daily tales of career woes found in the media, our results actually had a tinge of optimism to them.
Our 19-question survey was conducted online in June among Quirk’s subscribers at client-side organizations. We received 864 usable completed surveys and achieved an interval of 3.2 at the 95 percent confidence level. (Not all respondents answered all questions.)
Expect an increase
Perhaps surprisingly, over half (54 percent) expect their salary to increase in the next year; 42 percent expect it to stay the same and just 4 percent expect a decrease. Of those expecting an increase, 21 percent expect a raise of 1 to 2 percent; 27 percent see a 3 to 4 percent bump. The accompanying tables show survey results by industry, job title, region and company revenues.
In general, our findings show that these client-company researchers are a nomadic, experienced bunch. Thirty percent have been at their current job for three to five years, 22 percent for one to two years and 20 percent for six to 10 years. Twenty-three percent reported having between 16 and 25 years of experience in marketing research (13 percent reported 25 or more years), 21 percent claimed 11 to 15 years and 18 percent have six to 10 years under their belt. The bulk of respondents were in the age ranges of 36 to 45 (34 percent) and 46 to 55 (25 percent).
They are also well-educated: 55 percent have completed a master’s program and 37 percent are college graduates.
Some 230 respondents said their organization has one to two full-time marketing research employees, with 182 claiming three to five full-time research staffers and 127 saying they work at firms with more than 25 full-time researchers.
While certain respondent groups said they spend only a portion of their time conducting, coordinating and analyzing marketing research, a sizeable number (43 percent) said they spend more than 76 percent of their time on research-related duties.
Fifty-three percent said they do not supervise any employees; 23 percent supervise one to two workers and 14 percent oversee three to five staffers.
Over half (56 percent) have marketing research budget responsibility. A sampling of the verbatims supplied in answering the budget question paints a picture of the times in which we live:
“2009 budget is down more than 50 percent from 2008 budget.”
“In the current economic climate, my budget was pulled and all research is done on an ad hoc basis and funded by the internal client.”
“In times of financial hardship, companies tend to cut the market research budget. However, we do a lot of research using internal resources.”
“Our company is way underspent in research compared to peers in B2B and companies our size. We are working on a justification to add to staff and increase the size of the budget.”
However, one soul sounded this positive note: “When we need to spend money on research, we ask for it and have never been turned down.”
