Although the economy is still reeling and technology workers, particularly IT personnel, are finding themselves increasingly displaced or taking deep pay cuts in order to remain in the work force, another group of technology workers—copier service technicians--remain in demand while at the same time enjoying a certain sense of job security. Despite this sense of security, these individuals have concerns about where they work and who they work for. At least that’s the consensus of the third annual 2003 Technician Salary Survey from CopierCareers.com.

If anything is obvious from this year’s survey it’s that copier service technicians are an inherently stable breed. They’re not actively looking for something better even though they may not be all that satisfied in their current position. "What they are concerned about is the stability of their employer," notes Paul Schwartz, president of CopierCareers.com.

Responses from 3,422 service technicians (up from 3,233 last year) are relatively consistent with last year’s responses although there are a few glaring spikes.

"The fact that this year’s results aren’t dynamic is why it’s dynamic," says Schwartz. "Compared to the IT industry where personnel are taking cuts in salary and blows to their egos by taking on lower level jobs, it’s an isle of sameness for copier service techs." Indeed, this year’s survey reveals that service technicians have many of the same issues and concerns they had last year. In the historically conservative office equipment industry, that’s not all that surprising. What is surprising in this year’s survey are some of the issues that techs are tuning into that didn’t quite click with them last year.

Getting to Know Them

Service techs who responded to this year’s survey have been in the copier industry 7.2 years, up from 6.5 years in the 2002 survey. These individuals have been with their current employer an average of 5.5 years. When asked how many years they expect to stay at their current employer, techs noted 9.5 years, down slightly from 10 years in 2002 with 888 of respondents expecting to change jobs, up from 549 in 2002. Of the 3,422 respondents, 2064 are high school graduates, 472 have some college, 686 have undergone OEM training and 200 have attended a technical/trade school. Just like last year’s respondents, 94% are male and 99% are U.S. citizens (up from 98% last year) while the average age is 36.1 years. This is also a hard-working group with an average work week of 47 hours.

Looking at who they work for, 24% work for companies with less than $1 million in annual revenues while 52% work for firms whose annual revenues are between $1-$10 million. Fully 18% are employed by companies with annual revenues between $10 million and $50 million while 6% are working for companies whose annual revenues are between $51-$100 million.

CREATE & INSERT PIE CHART FOR QUESTION 18

Most respondents (62%) work for an independent dealership with one location while 17% are with a regional dealership with more than one location. Just 6% of respondents are with a national publicly traded sales and service organization and 5% are with an OEM. Based on the above figures, it’s no surprise that 32% of respondents work for companies with less than 25 employees and 51% with companies that employ 25-50. What these numbers are reflective of is the strength and the stability of the independent dealer channel.

"We’ve seen some real changes over the last year or two and I think Americans have been forced to step back and really take note of what’s important," explains Schwartz. "People like to buy from people they know. The independent dealer is not sitting in some marble office making decisions. The owners that I’m involved with day to day are very concerned with their employees and their company. I truly see the independent dealer making a comeback." He notes that by and large, independent dealers are small business owners who focusing on building a good local business relationship with their customers. "Customers are becoming more skeptical of the corporate giants and business is being shifted back to the independent dealers," adds Schwartz. Although his observations are anecdotal, the fact that the majority of respondents to the survey are employed by independents underscores Schwartz’s observations.

Dollars and Cents

CREATE & INSERT CHARTS OR GRAPHS FOR QUESTIONS 9a-10b.

This year’s respondents report a modest increase in their current annual base salary up $810 to $33,144 from $32,334 in 2002. Base salaries were complimented to the tune of $3,492 in 2003 from $3,430 in 2002. Fully 21% noted that these bonuses and other direct cash payments were based on personal milestones while 20% received these perks based on project milestone completion. Only 2% of respondents noted they did not receive a bonus in 2003.

Deviations from the previous year’s figures were noted in company profit sharing where 19% enjoyed this benefit compared to 5% in 2002. On the downside, only 2% of respondents received a retention bonus, down from 16% last year. Similarly, certification/training bonuses fell to 14% from 22% the previous year.

"I believe the base salary is increasing because of simple supply and demand," opines Schwartz. "Many dealerships are very profitable on the service side of the business. That said, it’s important that these companies look at ways of retaining technicians, especially the technician who can be counted on."

Schwartz suspects dealerships may be cutting back on retention bonuses and certification/training bonuses, because of the current economic uncertainty in the U.S. "Everyone is paying attention to world politics on down to their local community and every changing stock market," he says. "This uncertainty has the business owner in a conservative position."

Benefits Plan

CREATE & INSERT CHART OR GRAPH FOR QUESTIONS 11-12a.

Benefits plans and other non-cash incentives remain consistent from the previous year with a few notable exceptions. Fully 30% have 401(k) matching plans, 93% receive health benefits and 63% have a company car or a car allowance. On the decline are those respondents who receive stock options—5% vs. 17% last year, and those who receive tuition reimbursement—11% vs. 19% last year. On the upswing, however, are those who receive certification reimbursement—61% from 54% and those who receive further education and training—41% in 2003 vs. 34% in 2002. For those who receive stock options, the value has dropped to $2,112 from $8,520 the previous year.

Techs Can’t Get No Satisfaction

CREATE & INSERT PIE CHART FOR QUESTION 13

Whether or not they’re trying, techs are still mostly dissatisfied with their jobs. For the second straight year a significant number of respondents—35%--were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied wither their jobs, up from 34% last year while 31% of service technicians noted that they were very satisfied or satisfied with their jobs. Fully 34% were neutral regarding job satisfaction a 1% decrease from the previous year.

Despite the number of technicians who are unhappy in their current position, only 6% are actively looking for new employment. Fully 74% are scanning the want ads albeit not proactively while 20% aren’t looking at all. In a tough economy those who are looking say they aren’t doing it for the stock options. Only 1% of respondents to the 2003 survey cite stock options as one of the reasons they’re looking for a new job compared to 11% in 2002. That response is indicative of a tight economy and further punctuated by the plummeting stocks by the likes of Danka and IKON.

The top five reasons why techs are looking for a new job are 1.) more job stability (59%), 2.) move to a different geographic area (58%), 3.) seeking less stress (52%), 4.) higher compensation (47%) and 5.) personal/family needs (32%). These responses were followed by job market opportunities that are too good to pass up (26%), don’t like present company’s management/culture (24%) and more interesting work (21%).

Again, based on anecdotal evidence, the grass isn’t always greener elsewhere, particularly in the aforementioned IT world. "Many of the technicians I speak with are realizing that leaving the copier industry and becoming part of the IT world is not all that glamorous," maintains Schwartz. He notes that the competition and number of IT unemployed is far greater than the number of unemployed copier technicians. "Although the copier tech is slightly dissatisfied, the reality is that the demand for quality technicians is still there," says Schwartz. "Ultimately, I think most technicians realize that job stability and the copier industry go hand in hand."

What’s Important to Them

CREATE & INSERT GRAPH HERE FOR QUESTION 14

Another thing that is clear from this year’s survey is that service technicians want to feel good about the companies they work for. When asked what’s most important to them about their jobs, 24% noted prestige/reputation of the company, up from 8% in 2002. In an era where faith in corporate America is at an all-time low among the public and employees, that spike isn’t all that surprising. However, the top responses to that question, aren’t all that surprising. Base pay ranks number one at 62%, followed by "my opinion and knowledge is valued" (54%), "having the tools and support to do my job well" (51%) and "job stability" (46%).

Also important to 43% of the service techs responding to the survey is the financial stability of the company. That’s a 31% jump from the previous year where only 12% noted financial stability. No wonder. In this era of corporate scandals, corporate mismanagement and a shaky economy, it’s difficult for employees not to be concerned. "The issues going on in the economy and in the industry are reflecting on how techs feel about their employers and where they work and where they won’t work," says Schwartz. "Although techs are inherently stable, they will consider leaving if their employer doesn’t seem economically stable. The fact that these concerns have trickled down to them is really significant."

Employer Report Card

CREATE & INSERT PIE CHARTS FOR QUESTIONS 17a AND 17b.

Techs have strong opinions about the state of the companies they work for in relation to other copier dealerships in their market. When asked how good a job their company does at attracting and retaining copier industry employees, only 3% of respondents rated their employer as excellent. Considering 14% noted good and 32% rated their employers as fair in this regard, there is either a lot of room for improvement, or at a minimum, work needs to be done from the top down to change this impression. Fully 44% of respondents feel their companies do a poor job in this area while 6% noted their company’s efforts were totally unsatisfactory. When it comes to retention, the results were slightly more favorable. Although only 3% felt their employers were doing an excellent job in retaining employees, 14% said their employers were doing a good job at retention and 49% a fair job. Meanwhile 29% felt their employers were doing a poor job and 5% a totally unsatisfactory job. On the whole, the 2003 numbers were fairly consistent with the 2002 numbers.

Tossing out all the data, the good news is that service techs remain a valued entity within the office equipment industry. That’s why their responses to this survey matter.

In an era where IT personnel are combing the want ads for jobs, there’s a limited number of copier service techs which makes them a valued commodity. "These folks are unchanged by the economy and in demand," says Schwartz. "You don’t see unemployed techs [in the copier industry]."

 

# # #