LM Viewpoint: 2018 Salary Survey, delivering more than ever
One challenge that every logistics professional and organization will need to face—and soon—is attracting, developing and retaining new talent
I’m proud to announce that this marks the 34th year that Logistics Management (LM) has published the results of our “Salary Survey,” a
research project conducted by Peerless Research Group (PRG) that is the foundation of our best-read editorial feature and fuels the
most downloaded report that PRG produces over the course of the year.
First and foremost, the editorial staff needs to thank the 512 LM readers who took the time to complete the e-mail survey back in January. When you take into consideration how complex our days have become, this impressive sample validates the importance shippers place on this annual report—and is the core reason the market has identified this study as the most comprehensive available on logistics management compensation. I would also like to thank executive editor Patrick Burnson and PRG research director Judd Aschenbrand for doing another terrific job of putting context around the findings. Aschenbrand is one of the best in the market at making sense of data, and his collaboration with Burnson again this year offers us a story of where we’ve been and where we’re going in terms of compensation and employee development.
But before I dig into some of the trends our team identified, let’s take a quick zoomed-out view. Overall, the average salary inched up from $113,175 to $114,250, while the median salary increased from $90,000 to $93,000. And while this slight increase certainly isn’t cause for vaunted celebration, much of the data paint a rather positive picture of logistics management as a gratifying career path.
However, one challenge that every logistics professional and organization will need to face—and soon—is attracting, developing and retaining new talent—ideally right out of school. In fact, the number of respondents under 35 years old seems stuck at 14%.
“We’re not seeing that needle move at all, and that’s a concern,” says Burnson. “Again this year, nearly a quarter of respondents have been in their current position for more than 10 years and fall into the age range of 55 to 64. Let’s hope this veteran crew can translate the passion for their work into mentoring a new generation—or we may not be able to move fast enough as an industry to keep pace.”
