2008 Wage & Benefit Survey

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With cash flow slowed, remodelers look past money to motivate employees.

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Is your pay on par with your peers? In the highly fragmented remodeling industry, it can be difficult to ascertain who your peers are, let alone what’s in their paychecks and how much employees value these items, from pay and bonuses to a host of benefits including health insurance, paid time off, retirement savings, and perks such as vehicle and tool allowances.

And in the current economy, with skilled remodeling professionals begging for work in some areas and commanding six figures in others, tracking compensation trends can be more elusive than ever.

With the 2008 Wage & Benefit Survey, we hope to shed some light on current compensation trends. We asked remodelers to tell us whom they employ; how often and how much they pay them; what kind of paid time-off they provide, and more. Given the broad range of respondents, we also gathered key data points by company size, allowing you to better benchmark your pay against other companies in your revenue range.

Finally, to provide a qualitative perspective on our quantitative research, we conducted in-depth interviews with nearly a dozen respondents representing companies of various sizes. Their insights — issued in the third quarter of the toughest economic climate in years — provide an honest analysis of what could prove to be a leaner compensatory picture for months to come.

Nearly 320 remodelers nationally completed this Wage & Benefit Survey. Respondents’ 2007 revenues ranged from $28 million to less than $100,000, with a median of $800,000. We hope you find the results useful.