Plastics industry survey predicts improvement in jobs picture

Plastics industry professionals report a gradually improving employment market, according to a Spring 2010 survey by the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE, http://www.4spe.org/) and Gros Executive Recruiters (http://www.plasticsjobs.com/).

"The number of companies likely to add employees this year is 47.6 percent, compared to 18.3 percent in last year's survey," said Tobi Gebauer of SPE. "This is welcome news. It validates the positive signals we're seeing from other sources."

Dennis Gros, president of Gros Executive Recruiters, characterizes the survey results as relief and reality: "Relief that we're finally on a rebound. Reality that there's no miraculous cure for high unemployment. Improvement will occur day by day."

"Employees told us they expect raises of 1 to 3 percent this year (51 percent of respondents). And 56.4 percent of managers concurred, saying they expect their employees' compensation to increase by 1-3 percent," Gros continued.

Most glaring is the historical difference in the number of employees who reported they are somewhat to actively interested in finding a new job within the next 12 months. In 2007, the percentage was 62 percent. This year, it's 43 percent. "It's the perception of security. Employees are saying, 'If I've got a job and a paycheck, I'm not going to consider the risk of change,'" according to Gros.

The average of total cash compensation was $105,825 for the calendar year 2009. This compares to $103,482 in 2008.

The survey of 958 professionals was conducted during three weeks in May 2010.