Credit Union Salary Increases Outpace Most Other Sectors, But Are Down Over Previous Years

MADISON, Wis. – The recently released CUNA 2003 E-Scan Complete Credit Union Staff Salary Survey for Human Resources Planning reveals that credit union pay increases are following the national downward trend of most U.S. employers. According to the survey, although average pay increases for credit union employees are slightly higher than the averages among all U.S. employees, the average salary increase for credit union management was 4.31% in 2002, down from an average increase of 4.83% in 2001 and 4.86% in 2000. In addition, the average salary increase for credit union non-management employees in 2002 was 4.04%, down from 4.36% in 2001 and 4.40% in 2000. The downward trend is expected to continue in the next couple of years for both management and non-management employees. On average, credit unions have budgeted a 4.12% salary increase for management employees and a 3.88% increase for non-management employees in 2003. Credit unions also project salary increases of only 3.83% and 3.66% in 2004 for management and nonmanagement employees respectively. Since noncompetitive compensation and benefits, corporate turmoil, and limited career opportunities are cited as factors in unwanted turnover, credit unions need to keep an eye on how well they are compensating top performers. The survey also finds that Web administrators, network administrators, systems analysts and compliance officers tend to have the highest average salaries among credit union nonmanagement employees. In contrast, teller and receptionist positions rank among the lowest paid credit union non-management staff in most asset categories. While many in credit union-land focus on the 25% of CEOs set to retire in five years, the survey finds that just over 10% of credit union EVPs, COOs and CIOs also report that they plan to retire in the same timeframe. Only about four in 10 credit unions have a formal succession plan in place. Of the credit unions that have a CEO who plans to retire in the next five years, only 54% have a formal succession plan in place. The survey suggests credit unions attract and retain top performers with incentives and bonuses. Although variable pay is only a small percentage of a credit union employee’s total cash compensation package the use of variable pay is becoming more common. For more information on the E-Scan’s 2003 Complete CU Staff Salary Survey from CUNA visit the Web site at advice.cuna.org. [email protected]