2000 Salary Survey
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Produced for the Huntsville/North Alabama Chapter By
Christi Parker and Dauphne Rogers
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Abstract
The Huntsville chapter of the Society for Technical Communication (STC) has sponsored an annual salary survey for the past two years in order to inform technical professionals in the Huntsville/North Alabama area of compensation levels. In gathering data for the 2000 Survey, approximately 210 surveys were mailed. Survey recipients included all technical professionals contacted in last year’s survey in addition to another 83. We had 92 responses (a 44% response rate), and 37% of these were STC members. The response rate is down from last year's 51%, but the 1999 survey was based on 127 surveys mailed. Though our response rate dropped, our number of surveys returned rose from 65 to 92.
To see how Huntsville compares regionally and nationally, we collected other salary data and compared it to that collected by Tammy Callaway in the 1999 Salary Survey of Technical Communicators in Huntsville/North Alabama. In an effort to increase participation, STC offered a $100 cash prize or one full year of STC membership dues to those responding to the survey in a random drawing to be held in December 2000.
Mean salaries in the Huntsville area in 1999 were fairly competitive with those at the national level in most categories. We compared the 1999 Huntsville data to the 1999 Society data and the 1998 Atlanta data. The mean salary in 1999 for entry-level technical communicators in the Huntsville area was $37,500, compared to the Society's entry-level average of $37,800 (Atlanta did not report this data). Contracting rates in Atlanta were higher than the rates in Huntsville: $25/hr Huntsville, $36/hr Atlanta. In contrast, the benefit packages offered by local companies were much better than those offered in Atlanta. The Huntsville education level ranked the same as compared to the information from the Atlanta and Society urveys. The highest number of technical communicators held bachelors degrees, with masters ranking second. Huntsville had a much higher return rate in 1999 than Atlanta had in 1998: 51% for Huntsville, 15% return for Atlanta.
Survey methods from the 1999 survey were duplicated and used for the 2000 salary survey. This had advantages because the mailing list had already been developed and a boilerplate format made it easier when preparing the final report. STC provided basic guidelines and reimbursement for postage and stationery and also provided a $100 cash certificate or a free membership to increase participation levels. All materials and data gathered will be turned over to an STC representative who in turn will assist future researchers with upcoming surveys. A pre-survey letter was not used for the 2000 survey as was used in 1999 to avoid extra cost. A cover letter was used to explain the purpose of the study and to let respondents know how to obtain survey results.
Most data analysis is based on 87 usable surveys. Sixty percent of the technical communicators surveyed were writers, compared to 51% for 1999. As indicated in other surveys, the technical communication field is dominated by women both in Huntsville and around the country: 61% female, 21% male (the rest not indicating gender). Traditionally, in technical fields, men eceive higher salaries than females but this trend seems to be changing in the Huntsville/North Alabama area. Women's salaries were equal to or higher than men's in all four experience categories.
The results of the academic background are very similar to the results from the 1999 survey: indicates that 66% percent of the respondents have a bachelors degree and 24% have a masters degree. The level of education seems to have a direct effect on the wages earned in technical communication. Salaries tend to increase in increments of about 10-25% as the education level increases. The mean salary for technical communicators with 2-5 years and 6-10 years experience increased from the 1999 survey to the 2000 survey. However, the mean salary for less than 2 years and more than 11 years experience decreased.
Almost all companies in the Huntsville/North Alabama area supply their employees with adequate health coverage. Benefits like health, dental, disability, and tuition reimbursement, provided by the Huntsville area companies, are very competitive with the benefits on the national level.
The education level of technical communicators in the Huntsville area nearly remained the same from the 1999 survey to the 2000 survey with 65% having a bachelors degree and 24% having a masters degree. The national level indicates a 10% drop in communicators with a bachelors degree.
The 2000 Salary Survey of Technical Communicators in Huntsville/North Alabama was a success. The information was gathered in a timely manner and was found to be very useful. Technical communicators working in the area should be able to take this information and negotiate better and higher paying positions with local companies.