PR Salaries Up Slightly - Corporate PR Bonuses Continue to Rise - PR Firm Hourly Rates Decline
New figures just published in "The Official PR Salary & Bonus Report" - 2005 Edition.
New York, NY (PRWEB) May 11, 2005
Spring Associates, Inc., http://www. springassociates. com (http://www. springassociates. com), a leading New York public relations executive search and consulting firm, has just released the results of their ninth annual public relations and corporate communications study called The Official PR Salary & Bonus Report - 2005 Edition. The data is compiled from Spring Associates' proprietary database containing job information on 15,000 credentialed PR and communications professionals nationwide.
Salaries
Even though PR job creation improved dramatically in the fourth quarter of last year, overall, corporate PR salaries only increased a modest 5.3 percent, and PR agency salaries improved only 3.6 percent overall. It appears as if salaries have some catching up to do this year. However, a review of salaries offered in January, February, March and April point to an upward trend so far in 2005.
As always, the overall salary picture always looks different than the micro view - specifically, title, geographic region, specialty category and so on. Some snapshots --
Corporate Communications:
Midwest: business-to-business +4.8%
Northeast: investor relations +6.4%
Southeast: public affairs +5.5%
Chicago: corporate/financial +7.2%
Atlanta: health/medical/pharmaceutical +4.8%
Washington, DC: internal/editorial communications +9.3%
Dallas: consumer products +7.6%
Boston: hi-tech +6.6%
PR Agency:
Midwest: health/medical/pharmaceutical +3.5%
West: public affairs +6.4%
Atlanta: hi-tech +3.7%
Chicago: business-to-business +4.1%
Washington, DC: corporate/financial +4.9%
Bonuses
For two years in a row, almost all PR agency bonuses were either down or non-existent. However, the only real gainers in agency bonuses were the more junior levels, account executive and senior account executive. Each level was up a healthy 19.3% and 12.1% respectively. The account supervisor through executive vice president levels posted a combined decline of 9.3%.
However, in-house corporate communications professionals once again managed to increase employee bonuses across all levels. Two years ago corporate bonuses jumped 37.3% compared to last year's average of +17.5%. Once again, corporate PR professionals continue to fare much better in the bonus category than their PR agency counterparts.
PR Agency Hourly Billing Rates
Last year's Report showed that PR agency hourly billing rates were increased substantially to keep pace with a marked decline in new business revenue. This year, the numbers tell a different story.
Overall, in the Ad Agency Owned, Top 100 Independents and Other Independents categories - across four regions of the country - agency hourly rates came down 9.2%, 10.3% and 8.3% respectively. As compared to increases for the same agencies of 18.8%, 17.2% and 12.9% respectively.
It's possible that PR agencies are now returning to more equitable hourly rates due to increased competition for the new business that has finally arrived. This was especially evident in the fourth quarter of 2004.
"It looks as if the PR business has finally turned the corner", said Mr. Spring, president of Spring Associates. "More RFPs, modest overall salary increases, coupled with higher bonuses and lower PR firm hourly rates, all point to a promising 2005 - we'll be watching closely."
The Official PR Salary & Bonus Report is compiled from Spring Associates' proprietary database of 15,000 credentialed corporate communications and public relations professionals nationwide. The database is updated daily by the firm's recruiters, researchers and consultants to reflect the latest available information. The salary and bonus numbers are divided into multiple job-information fields, including six title and eight industry categories. Salary numbers are also listed for four nationwide regions and eight "key" metro cities. Public relations agency hourly billing rates are segmented into three categories and cross-referenced with eleven billable titles and four regions of the country. Years of experience ranges and comparable titles are also included.
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