Upward trend continues in production salaries - 1995 Production Salary Survey

For the second year in a row, production professionals are reporting solid increases in their salaries, according to Folio:'s exclusive salary survey for 1995. Respondents report that the average salary for department heads--production directors--this year will be $5 400, an increase of 5.6 percent over 1994, while production managers report an average salary of $37,700, for an increase of 6.3 percent over last year. These increases come during a period of stunning transformation for magazine production departments. The shift to desktop publishing is nearly complete, but DTP itself is metamorphosing at an incredible pace and other electronic media are emerging with blinding speed. As one director from Maine reports, "I now manage the art department and am in charge of new technologies and electronic publishing."

In fact, many of this year's respondents report trend that was also apparent last year: a dramatic increase in responsibilities for production executives who now oversee an array of loosely connected functions, including bookkeeping, circulation, research, photography and reprint sales. And by and large, these respondents do not believe their compensation reflects their new responsibilities. "I also handle all other print jobs," writes one production manager from a consumer magazine headquartered in California, "including media kits, reprints, onsets, tip-ons, etc. I also fill in as necessary in editorial matters and advertising production. I feel inadequately compensated for my job for one reason: I have a great deal of responsibility with absolutely no authority to carry it all out. it makes it awfully hard getting anyone to do anything!"

Interestingly, production salaries are increasing even as production costs, expressed as a percentage of total revenues, are declining, at least for consumer magazines. In 1986, production represented nearly 27 percent of total revenues, second only to combined subscription and newsstand costs, according to Magazine Publishers of America research. But in 1993, that number declined to 21.2 percent. By contrast, advertising represented 9.2 percent in 1986 and 9.3 percent in 1993.

PRODUCTION DIRECTOR

PRODUCTION DIRECTOR OR TOP PRODUCTION EXECUTIVE (may be called vice president of production): Negotiates printing contracts and other vendor relationships; establishes schedules. Oversees production managers. Responsible for quality control.

Production directors can expect to earn their highest salaries while in their forties, according to our survey. There is a big jump up from the thirties, but those in their fifties are underearning younger colleagues.

As we noted last year, consumer-magazine production directors are enjoying larger raises than their trade-side counterparts. In fact, with a few exceptions, consumer-side executives report higher salaries across a variety of criteria, with the difference most pronounced among magazines that produce more than 1,500 pages a year.

PRODUCTION MANAGER

PRODUCTION MANAGER: Responsible for daily production operations of one or more titles, including page make-up, quality control and maintenance of schedules. Is liaison with printing plant and service bureaus.

Although production managers on consumer magazines earn significantly less across the board than their trade-side counterparts, those on small-circulation consumer magazines really take a wallop.

Managers on the trade side are seeing larger percentage salary increases than their consumer-magazine peers, and with just two exceptions, trade-magazine managers report earning more on average than those on consumer titles.

EARNINGS

A look at variables that affect the income of production executives: geography, gender and experience.

Production professionals at West Coast magazines earn more than their peers in the South and Midwest, and in some cases, their pay approaches that of those in the highest-paid section, the Northeast.

Female production executives are in the majority, according to our survey, but male production directors still make substantially more than their female counterparts. How-ev er, like last year, the disparity is much smaller for female production managers than it is for directors.

In other disciplines, including editorial and circulation, those who switch jobs frequently often enjoy higher salaries. This pattern is nowhere near as pronounced among production professionals, though, where salaries steadily increase with experience--except for those who stay in the same job for more than seven years.

PRODUCTION EXECUTIVE DOSSER

A profile of today's production executives by gender, age, seniority and career path.

Male respondents are slightly older, have slightly more experience and supervise slightly more people, which may explain why they tend to make more. Still, these factors don't seem to fully explain why male directors' salaries are 29 percent higher than females, on average, and male managers make 8.6 percent more than females.

While many production directors were managers first, the road to the manager's office is more circuitous. Nearly 4 percent were art directors prior to becoming managers. Others were typesetters, students, or ad reps.

COPYRIGHT 1995 Copyright by Media Central Inc., A PRIMEDIA Company. All rights reserved.
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group