The New Castle Henry County Economic Development Corporation (EDC) recently partnered with other counties in the East Central Indiana region to conduct a wage and benefit survey. The Purdue Center for Regional Development (PCRD) conducted the confidential survey of 165 employers in the region. Survey questions included topics like total number of employees, types of benefits, and ranges of wages.
The survey results reflect the wages and benefits of 12,605 employees in the region including full-time, part-time, salaried, and hourly staff. Production workers comprise 43.6% of these jobs, with healthcare coming in second with 23.7% of the jobs surveyed.
Wage And Benefit Results
Average hourly wages in the region were $25.57 for the actual entry wage, $29.46 for the average wage, and $32.12 for the highest wage. The lowest average wage recorded was for food service workers at $13.23 an hour and the highest average wage was for Corporate Counsel at $116.68 an hour.
More than 35% of respondents offered benefits to hourly employees. A majority of respondents offered more benefits to full-time versus part-time employees. According to the survey results, the most popular benefits for full-time employees were health insurance, vacation, life insurance, and retirement benefits. Roughly 85 respondents offered these benefits to full time employees. Some more non-traditional benefits included pet insurance, show vouchers, and gym membership stipends.
Additional benefits included mileage reimbursement, which was offered by 67.9% of respondents. Other added benefits were long- and short-term disability, bonus programs, tuition reimbursement, and profit-sharing programs.
Expanding the Workforce
Employers surveyed also plan to add 1,876 staff members to their workforce, with 654 planned for the next year, 644 over the next two years, and 578 over the next three years. Surveyors asked which hiring services employers used for their past five hires. Top answers were Indeed, corporate social media, and LinkedIn.
Most respondents (51.3%) did not offer remote work flexibility, according to the survey, but 10.6% did offer remote work flexibility to more than half of their workers and 38% of respondents offered remote work options to less than half of their workers.
More than 85% of respondents thought the rising cost of healthcare was a moderate to high concern. The impact of childcare availability was also a concern to employers, with 66% citing absenteeism as a result of limited childcare.
Find the complete survey results here.
For more information about the East Central Indiana Regional Partnership, which commissioned the survey, visit ecirp.org.