Market Research Trends 2008

Market Research Trends 2008
As the second half of 2008 is underway, we wanted to reach out and share our perspective on the first half of the year and offer some interesting statistics centered on hiring trends, compensation, and industry activity.

Hiring trends:

In February, marketresearchcareers.com released an article which surveyed market research professionals on their expected hiring needs in 2008. The typical respondent was seeking to fill between two and four positions; responses indicating that demand would be higher for entry to midlevel roles, with analysts, project managers and market research managers as targeted hires. Senior level researchers, such as market research directors and vice presidents, were not expected to be as highly targeted.

Our Smith Hanley Associates market research team pulled together a sampling of 20 placements that fell between January and June of this year to gauge these projections. Out of these, we found that 9 candidates were placed into manager/sr. account manager roles, and 3 candidates in a director or vice president position; the remaining 8 candidates filled positions titled sr. analyst or project manager.


Compensation:
A compensation survey conducted by marketresearchcareers.com revealed that market research professionals expected an average raise of 4.0% in 2008 (raises ranging from 1.7% to 9.3%) while 1 in 5 believed that they would not receive a raise in 2008.
Source: marketresearchcareers.com

Ten Most Popular Research Job Titles and Average 2008 Salary Avg. 2008 Salary
Research Analyst $51,314
Project Director $60,878
Senior Research Analyst $67,875
Senior Project Director $71,423
Account Executive/Manager $73,366
Research Manager/Director $83,054
Senior Account Executive/Manager $93,833
Senior Research Manager/Director $104,037
Vice President $123,438
Senior Vice President $126,328

As contingent recruiters, we are asked on a daily basis by candidates and employers to measure their competitive salary grades. We have found that existing employees, across the board, can typically expect a merit increase in base salary close to 4%, while candidates securing a progressive move outside of their company on average entertain offers at a minimum of 5-10% of base pay. The aforementioned sampling of 20 placements from the first half of this year represented candidate salaries ranging from $49,000 to $120,000; the average offer extended to these candidates had a proposed salary representing a 14% increase in base pay.

Industry activity:
Smith Hanley Associates has regional offices across the country. Our Chicago-based office supports client needs in the Southwest, Midwest, and Southeastern sections of the United States, concentrating primarily in the marketing research and quantitative marketing arenas. During the first half of this year, outside of existing client hiring needs, we launched 82 new searches in our market research division. Roughly 25% of these jobs were in the consumer packaged goods industry, with another 25% representing custom marketing research supplier hiring needs. A small percentage (3%) of these were in the pharmaceutical space (most of these positions of course are based out of the Northeast), and the remaining roughly 50% were housed in business to business sectors (i.e. financial services, insurance, healthcare, etc.). An interesting trend that surfaced during the first half of this year was the abundance of jobs in the insurance and healthcare industries. Our clients housed in these sectors appear to be spending advertising and research dollars at levels not previously seen in the industry.


Summary:
We hope that some of our aforementioned figures and trends can provide some perspective and guidance as you negotiate the job search and/or recruiting waters the remainder of 2008. Although we find ourselves in a volatile economy, our client hiring needs have continued to circulate at a high rate. We have documented some pocketed layoff activities and certainly the real estate and financial sectors have been adversely impacted. However, by and large, the research industry continues to thrive; our candidates have been active on the interview circuit and our client business continues to grow.

We wish all of you continued success in the second half of 2008, and hope that our dedicated team of market research recruiters can continue to provide you a value-added service!

Please contact me with any questions you have regarding current opportunities or the information. jwillbarger@smithhanley.com