We present ten operations positions for U.S. employees in the Culpepper Operations Compensation Survey with the greatest pay increases during 2006 (Table 1). Of the ten positions listed, half play a role in finance/accounting duties.

High increases in the finance area continue a several year trend for jobs in this function. Driven by business needs, including increasing federal regulatory requirements, compensation levels in finance continue to change at a fast pace and should be closely watched.

Jobs in Marketing, Human Resources, and Legal complete the list in Table 1. Companies should pay close attention to compensation issues impacting recruitment and retention for these roles. 

Changes in market pay rates for positions vary by job type, job level, location, and other factors. Not all jobs experience similar market level increases throughout the year.

Note that all of these market pay rates increased at levels higher than the average increase budgets of 3.9% we reported for operations positions in the U.S. earlier this year. It is important to distribute salary increases wisely, taking into consideration the variability in pay rate changes by position within local markets.
 

Table 1: U.S. Operations Positions with the Highest Pay Increases
Culpepper Job Code & Title	Average Base Salary (USD)		Average Target Total Cash Comp. (USD)
	$1,000's	Change	$1,000's	Change
58758-Marketing Analyst I
Prior Year	$49.7	5.6%	$51.7	9.1%
Current Year	$52.5		$56.4
54218-Benefits Administrator
Prior Year	$43.1	7.4%	$44.6	8.1%
Current Year	$46.3		$48.2
50803-Credit/Collections Supervisor
Prior Year	$48.6	5.1%	$49.9	8.0%
Current Year	$51.1		$53.9
50809-Associate Credit/Collections Specialist
Prior Year	$26.2	5.7%	$26.2	6.9%
Current Year	$27.7		$28.0
50157-Accounting Clerk II
Prior Year	$37.1	5.9%	$37.9	6.3%
Current Year	$39.3		$40.3
56702-Internal Purchasing/Inventory Control Manager
Prior Year	$71.6	4.7%	$74.9	6.3%
Current Year	$75.0		$79.6
59302-Web/Electronic Marketing Manager
Prior Year	$70.6	7.5%	$77.2	6.0%
Current Year	$75.9		$81.8
52555-Senior II Paralegal
Prior Year	$70.1	6.8%	$75.3	6.0%
Current Year	$74.9		$79.8
52516-Senior Staff Attorney
Prior Year	$129.7	6.6%	$152.0	6.0%
Current Year	$138.3		$161.1
55008-Treasury Analyst II
Prior Year	$54.4	7.0%	$58.3	5.8%
Current Year	$58.2		$61.7
Source: The Culpepper Technical Compensation Survey database. Current year values reported from data collected as of 12/1/2006. Prior year values reported from data collected as of 12/1/2005.