Light Reading Telecom Salary Report

7/31/2019 Light Reading Telecom Salary Report

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Light Reading’s

2011/2012 Salary Survey

Light Reading’s 2011/2012 Salary Survey

OCTOBER 12, 20

CONTENTS

» Introduction

» Who Works Where

» Job Function

» Job History

» Salary

» 2011 Salary Comparisons

» Salary Outlook for 2012

» Job Satisfaction

» Headcount Changes

» Personal Outlook

» Employer Outlook

age 3

Photo by Matt Carr/Getty Images

Looking ahead

The story could be dierent next year as 4G growth spurs job creation. According to an August

Deloitte Development LLC study, operators could invest $25 billion to $53 billion in the next-gen

networks between 2012 and 2016, creating 371,000 to 771,000 new jobs. (See 4G Investment Will

Mean U.S. Job Growth and Scarce Spectrum Could Set Back Job Growth.)

But this year, it’s still a story o struggling to maintain stability. To get a sense o the employment

landscape across the globe, and see how it’s evolved since last year, we’ve broken down the survey

into the numbers, the changes and the intangibles that made up the communications industry in2011.

— Sarah Reedy, Senior Reporter, Light Reading Mobile

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Light Reading’s



OCTOBER 12, 20

age 4

CONTENTS

» Introduction

» Who Works Where

» Job Function

» Job History

» Salary



» Job Satisfaction


» Personal Outlook

» Employer Outlook

Who Works WhereOur more than 2,500 survey respondents spanned all ages, regions o the world and sectors o

the communications industry. The two biggest groups, service providers and hardware or sotware

vendors, made up 28 percent and 46 percent of respondents, respectively.

O the global service providers:

• Forty-ve percent work at Tier 1 service providers

• Seventeen percent at mobile service providers

• And 18 percent at cable operator/MSOs or independent cable operators

Nearly hal o our survey respondents work at hardware or sotware vendors. We didn’t break down

hardware versus sotware vendors, but know that the industry has seen the most growth in the sot-

ware and cloud space this year, while a lot of equipment makers cut back on staff. (See NSN Slims

Down GSM, WiMax Teams, Euronews: NSN Starts Moto Staff Cull, Tellabs Cutting 10% o Sta, RIM

Cuts Jobs, Reshules Team, RIM Cuts 2,000 Jobs, Cisco Simplifies; Cuts 6,500 Jobs, Extreme Cuts

110 Jobs and Report: Cisco Cuts Could Hit 10,000.)

The folks who don’t work at service providers, hardware or software vendors identied themselves as

coming from consultancies/integrators/VARs, components suppliers, nancial institutions, the public

sector, education or utilities, or as being business users of networking services or equipment.

This year, the percentage of respondents from outside of the U.S. increased by 5 points, with more

participation from those in Western Europe and Asia/Pacic. Within the U.S., 16 percent came from

Caliornia, 11 percent rom the opposite coast (New York and New Jersey) and 10 percent rom Texas.

Moving abroad:

• Six percent work in Canada• Fifteen percent in the U.K.

• Nineteen percent work in the wireless hotbed of India, up from 16 percent last year

• The rest are spread across the globe, with some notable participation from Germany (5 percent)

France, Sweden, Israel, Australia, Brazil, Italy and Spain (all 3 percent)

NEXT PAGE: JOB FUNCTION



























Light Reading’s



OCTOBER 12, 20

age 5

CONTENTS

» Introduction

» Who Works Where

» Job Function

» Job History

» Salary



» Job Satisfaction


» Personal Outlook

» Employer Outlook

Job FunctionThis year, there was a 10 percent uptick in engineers taking the survey and a 6 percent decline in

sales or marketing proessionals taking the survey. At 17 percent o the total, there were also 8 per-

cent more C-level executives taking the survey in 2011.

Despite the engineering-to-marketing mix o our survey takers, recruiter Chambers is seeing more

requests for marketing and sales people as vendors look to pitch their products to the wireless opera-

tors. In fact, Chambers says the telecom industry is a great place to be right now if you are in sales

or have a background in technology marketing — particularly or Long Term Evolution (LTE), VoIP or

unied communications.

“As the carriers market 4G technology and the demand picks up to increase network capacity, that’s

when I get the calls to nd people to show the carriers the products to use to expand their capacity,”

Chambers says. “All the job requisitions I have are to do with 4G expansion or for marketing people

to further penetrate unied communications.”

Regardless o their job unction or management level, our respondents are heavy hitters in the com-

munications industry.

• More than 70 percent attend tradeshows each year, with 66 percent traveling to between one

and ve annually.

• They are also consumers of mobile devices, reporting a fairly even split between Android (29

percent), Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) (27 percent) and Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM) (Nasdaq:

RIMM; Toronto: RIM) (23 percent) device ownership.

• Of the 40 percent that own a tablet, two-thirds use the iPad.

NEXT PAGE: JOB HISTORY



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Light Reading’s



OCTOBER 12, 20

age 6

CONTENTS

» Introduction

» Who Works Where

» Job Function

» Job History

» Salary



» Job Satisfaction


» Personal Outlook

» Employer Outlook

Job HistoryNearly 85 percent of our survey respondents have at least ve years of relevant job experience for their

current position, with 65 percent reporting 10 years experience or more. When it came to how long

they’d been in their current position, the split was more evenly spread between new hires and veterans.

What was interesting, however, was to break out Caliornia numbers in this category. Caliornia ishome to Silicon Valley, tech capital of the U.S. Subsequently, it’s a desirable place to live for a lot

of industry veterans, but there’s also a lot of movement thanks to the large startup population. More

than 70 percent o respondents rom Caliornia had 10 years or more experience, but 30 percent had

only been at their current employer or three years or less.

Looking at India, where wireless is coming down from a boom in hiring as cost cutting replaces

headcount growth, both experience and tenure in a current position were signicantly less. Here,

respondents skewed younger, with 83 percent younger than age 39. More than 60 percent had less

than 10 years experience, and 63 percent had been in their position for ve years or less. (See India

Crosses 800M Mobile Mark, India’s Mobile Growth Slows, India’s Mobile Growth Rate Slows Further

and Mobile Growth Slumps in July.)

NEXT PAGE: SALARY

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Light Reading’s



OCTOBER 12, 20

age 7

CONTENTS

» Introduction

» Who Works Where

» Job Function

» Job History

» Salary



» Job Satisfaction


» Personal Outlook

» Employer Outlook

SalaryThe good news or the communications industry is that salaries seem to have improved somewhat

compared with 2010. There are ewer respondents making the lowest tiers o annual salary, while

those reporting in the highest tier are slightly increased. The majority all in the middle range.

The chart above outlines the salary breakdown rom 2011 to 2010, but slicing this year’s salaried

respondents (92 percent) a few different ways reveals that:

• One-fourth made $70,000 or less

• Nearly 50 percent made less than $100,000

• Nine percent made between $100,000 and $110,000, the largest response for any single pay

range, measured in $10,000 increments

• Only 8 percent made more than $175,000 and 4 percent reached the upper echelon of more

than $200,000

Amongst the 84 percent that will receive annual bonuses, expectations or 2011 ranged rom $0 to

$200,000 with some respondents noting that the total amount was “unknown as bonus compensa-

tion may be frozen” or that it “depends on group’s protability.” One small business owner said his

would be whatever he decides he earned.

There was a slight a correlation between a company’s overall revenues and an individual’s salary. Hal

o the respondents were working or companies with annual revenues o more than $1 billion, and a

larger portion of this group -- 57 percent -- reported six-gure salaries. That being said, 7 percent of

people working or a company making less than $50 million in annual revenues still pulled in more

than $200,000 every year.

As recruiter Chambers explains, sales people are still in the highest demand and are, thereore, pull-

ing in the biggest salaries. This was the case amongst our survey respondents as well. More than 60percent make six gures, compared to the 47 percent of engineers who make more than $100,000.

NEXT PAGE: 2011 SALARY COMPARISONS



Light Reading’s



OCTOBER 12, 20

age 8

CONTENTS

» Introduction

» Who Works Where

» Job Function

» Job History

» Salary



» Job Satisfaction


» Personal Outlook

» Employer Outlook

2011 Salary ComparisonsSurvey takers reported that their salaries or 2011 will come in higher than they did in 2010, but only

slightly. Whereas last year, 16 percent thought they would make at least 10 percent more than they

did in 2009, this year 18 percent said they would improve again for 2011.

Those who thought they would make 1 to 10 percent more jumped to 43 percent rom 41 percent in

2010. This range would include cost-o-living raises, which usually all between 1 and 5 percent.

One bright spot was that the proportion o those who thought their salary would all by 10 percent

or more this year fell by 2 percent compared with last year’s gure. There’s that cautious optimism

creeping back in to the survey this year.

NEXT PAGE: SALARY OUTLOOK FOR 2012



Light Reading’s



OCTOBER 12, 20

age 9

CONTENTS

» Introduction

» Who Works Where

» Job Function

» Job History

» Salary



» Job Satisfaction


» Personal Outlook

» Employer Outlook

Salary Outlook for 2012One would think that by 2012 the recession would be ar in most companies’ rearview mirrors, but

the outlook reported amongst our survey respondents was virtually unchanged since last year. When

asked to look ahead to 2012 and predict how their total compensation would change compared with

2011, 29 percent said they expected no change. This is the same number that also expected no

change between 2010 and 2011.

Just over one quarter didn’t expect to see a change in 2011 either, which could account for their lack

o optimism.

For those survey takers who elt a change coming:

• Eighteen percent thought they would make at least 10 percent or more money in 2012,

compared with the 16 percent who had that year-on-year expectation in 2010

• Forty-three percent expected a 1 to 10 percent increase, 2 percentage points higher than last year

• Nine percent (identical to last year) expected to make 1 to 10 percent less in 2012

• And 4 percent, down from 6 percent last year, expected to make at least 10 percent less in 2012

Despite the low expectations for improvements in salary, the majority -- 67 percent -- said they were

at least somewhat satised with their current compensation package. That’s up 4 percent from last

year. And, dissatisaction in salaries was also slightly decreased. Only 33 percent o respondents

were dissatised, compared to 37 percent last year.

NEXT PAGE: JOB SATISFACTION



Light Reading’s



OCTOBER 12, 20

age 10

CONTENTS

» Introduction

» Who Works Where

» Job Function

» Job History

» Salary



» Job Satisfaction


» Personal Outlook

» Employer Outlook

Job SatisfactionJob satisfaction isn’t necessarily measurable in dollars, so we asked our respondents directly: “In

general, how satised are you with your current employer?”

Here, again, not much has changed over last year. Fifty-four percent are somewhat satised, while20 percent report being very satised. Both of these gures are less than half a percentage point

greater than last year.

Likewise, 22 percent and 5 percent (both just 1 percentage point more) said they were somewhat

dissatised or very dissatised this year, respectively.

To hash out the correlation between money and satisfaction, we looked back at India, where hiring

is slowing, and California, where job growth is more pronounced. In California, one-fourth of people

make more than $160,000. Of these high earners, 69 percent said they were at least somewhat

satised with their job, with 15 percent indicating they are very satised.

On the ip side, over in India where 45 percent of people make less than $30,000, 60 percent are

at least somewhat satised and 9 percent are very satised. Notably, 62 percent said they would

leave or more compensation, but that wasn’t the entire story. Since they were allowed to select more

than one answer, another 80 percent said they’d quit for better opportunity for career advancement.

One responder also noted that “the top management is very uninspiring in many companies” in India

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Light Reading’s



OCTOBER 12, 20

age 11

CONTENTS

» Introduction

» Who Works Where

» Job Function

» Job History

» Salary



» Job Satisfaction


» Personal Outlook

» Employer Outlook

Job Satisfaction (continued)

Here’s the full picture on job satisfaction, with India and California broken out for 2010 and 2011:

Respondents were also asked what would make them leave their current position, and were allowed

to pick multiple responses. Here’s what they said:

• Signicant compensation increase (10 percent or more), 72 percent

• Better opportunity for career advancement, 68 percent

• Better working conditions, 25 percent

• More nancially stable employer, 21 percent

• Better benets plan (health care, vacation policy, etc.), 22 percent

• Better geographic location, 22 percent

• Other, 8 percent

Some of the more notable ll-in-the-blank responses from the “Other” category:

• “Green-tech business with the same compensation

• “High-growth startup with momentum to BIG outcome”

• “More mentally stable employer”

• “I like more progressive-thinking companies. I’m not in one currently”

• “Hire more women from the interview pool -- they apply, they interview, they don’t get selected”

• “I’m having the best time ever. Not leaving”

• “Less micro-management of everything that I do. I am a successful professional, I don’t need this”

• “Treat me like a human, not a widget”

NEXT PAGE: HEADCOUNT CHANGES



Light Reading’s



OCTOBER 12, 20

age 12

CONTENTS

» Introduction

» Who Works Where

» Job Function

» Job History

» Salary



» Job Satisfaction


» Personal Outlook

» Employer Outlook

Headcount ChangesIn 2010, 38 percent of respondents thought their company would add headcount in the upcoming

year, which almost perfectly ts with the 39 percent who this year say their company added extra

sta during the past 12 months.

Other predictions were not so accurate, however. In 2010, 46 percent of people thought their com-

pany’s headcount would remain the same, but only 33 percent o this year’s respondents reported

that trend.

Headcount reductions also came as a surprise to our respondents. Only 15 percent o people ex-

pected them or 2011, but 28 percent saw job losses in their division during the past 12 months.

Indeed, staff reductions were common this past year, even in wireless, last year’s fastest growing

sector. According to the US Department of Labor, the wireless industry employed 166,600 people

as of July. That’s the lowest it’s been in 12 years, despite revenue growth of 28 percent since 2006

when wireless employment peaked at 207,000 workers. (See Euronews: Deutsche Telekom Wields

the Axe and Euronews: Telefonica to Cut 6,500 Jobs.)

Looking at just our mobile service provider respondents, to see how they stack up, reveals that 39

percent added people, another 39 percent stayed the same and 22 percent cut down on headcount

in the past year.

[Note: AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile and the wireless trade association CTIA all declined to com-

ment on the salary survey.]

One area that has seen an uptick in hiring is in VoIP and unied communications, says telecom

recruiter Chambers. Whereas last year operators were planning ahead and hiring LTE engineers, now

VoIP is in the position where it has only penetrated 12 percent of total telephone commercial and

residential line connections, he says, making it a new hot spot. It’s also a way for businesses to cut

expenses, which could be why it’s attracting more interest.

The other hot occupation now, Chambers says, is Internet application engineers. There aren’t enough

to go around today, making them a hot commodity or companies such as Google (Nasdaq: GOOG)and Oracle Corp. (Nasdaq: ORCL).

“That’s an area o high growth and high demand, that keeps increasing because there isn’t enough

supply,” he adds.

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Light Reading’s



OCTOBER 12, 20

age 13

CONTENTS

» Introduction

» Who Works Where

» Job Function

» Job History

» Salary



» Job Satisfaction


» Personal Outlook

» Employer Outlook

Headcount Changes (continued)

In terms of our respondents’ expectations for the next 12 months, this year’s survey was within 1

percent o last year’s survey in all three categories.

• Thirty-seven said their department will add people

• Forty-seven said it will stay the same size over the next year

• Sixteen said they expect to see headcount reductions in their department in the next year

NEXT PAGE: PERSONAL OUTLOOK



Light Reading’s



OCTOBER 12, 20

age 14

CONTENTS

» Introduction

» Who Works Where

» Job Function

» Job History

» Salary



» Job Satisfaction


» Personal Outlook

» Employer Outlook

Personal OutlookWith salaries slightly up, satisaction steady and headcount reductions a little more common, how

does the sum total aect the outlooks o those in the communication industry? Generally, our respon-

dents are eeling pretty positive -- either because they are well positioned or success or because

they plan to leave to nd a job that puts them in that position.

Forty-two percent o respondents are at least somewhat likely to leave their current employer in the

next year, with 12 percent saying they are very likely to leave. Most of these respondents come from

the 40 percent who also said they need to nd a position that will offer a better career path (when

asked about their attitude toward their personal career). Another less optimistic 10 percent said they

have gotten as ar as they are able, and they need to do something about it.

For those who aren’t planning to leave their current employer:

• Thirty-six percent said it’s because they are well positioned to succeed in the foreseeable future

• Thirteen percent said they have gotten as far as they are going to get, but are comfortable with that

• And, 17 percent said, “It’s all downhill from here”

NEXT PAGE: EMPLOYER OUTLOOK



Light Reading’s

2011/2012 Salary SurveyOCTOBER 12, 20

CONTENTS

» Introduction

» Who Works Where

» Job Function

» Job History

» Salary



» Job Satisfaction


» Personal Outlook

» Employer Outlook

Employer OutlookLike last year, survey respondents were more condent in their employers’ future than their own.

While 36 percent thought they were personally well-positioned for success, 43 percent thought their

employers were. Another 31 percent admitted their employer was struggling, but said they were con-

dent they could succeed in their market sector.

Just 1 percentage point more than last year, 14 percent, said “We are struggling, but our entire mar-

ket sector is in trouble.” And 12 percent, up rom 10 percent last year, said, “We are alling behind

our competition and are in danger of failing if we don’t x our problems.”

The last 1 percent said, “We’re doomed.”

BACK TO INTRODUCTION

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Light Reading Telecom Salary Report