Twenty years ago, FoodService Director launched its first Compensation Study, a snapshot of salaries for operators in various non-commercial segments. This year, in addition to the current survey, FSD makes a comparison between compensation today and what it was in 1991.
Compensation highlights
- The average respondent to our 2011 Compensation Study earned $64,890 last year, an increase of 9.3% from 2010. He/she has worked in the industry 25 years, and the 57 employees in his/her operation purchased $2.35 million worth of food last year to prepare and serve an average of 1,843 meals a day.
- Operators employed by their institutions earned less, on average, than those employed by contract companies, with respondents working at self-operated facilities earning $64,689 compared with $66,982 for those working in contracted foodservice.
- Half of the operators in our survey said their staff size had remained the same in the past 12 months, with 23% saying they had increased staff and 27% saying they had reduced staff. College operators were more likely to have hired more people (44%), while hospital operators were most likely to have cut staff (32%). Contract operators were more likely than self-ops to have added employees (34% versus 20%). Operators in the Northeast were most likely to have cut staff (35%) and operators in the Southwest were most likely to have added staff (38%).
- Food costs continued to rise last year for 87% of operators. The highest percentage of operators reporting an increase was in B&I, with 93% noting a rise in food prices, while in all other segments between 86% and 88% of operators said costs had risen from 2010 levels.
