Ifyou work for a lubricant supplier or distributor in the European Union, wouldnt you want a peek at your peers paychecks? You could see if they had received a raise in the past year, or whether their compensation is sweetened with bonuses and commissions. You could learn where on the continent youd likely find the industrys top salaries. You might even be pleased to find your own compensation is well aligned with your age, experience and the number of people you supervise.

A Quick Snapshot

Recently, 107 anonymous sales and marketing professionals, and 47 laboratory/R&D managers granted LubesnGreases EMEA a confidential look at their compensation by participating in our 2017 Lubricants Industry Salary Survey.

As a group, sales and marketing professionals disclosed that their mean annual compensation amounts to 104,083. The median compensation for these professionals is 95,000 per year, meaning half of the respondents earn more than that, and half make less.

Eighty-eight responses from sales/marketing personnel came from people employed at lubricant manufacturing companies, where pay typically is higher than at firms that focus only on marketing and distributing. These respondents said they make a mean compensation of 110,201; their median annual earnings are 100,000.

The remaining 19 sales/marketing respondents indicated they work for lubricant distributors. Participants said they are being compensated to the tune of 75,743 on average, with a median salary of 60,000.

All 47 technical managers who responded were employed at lubricant manufacturers. They reported average earnings of 85,647 and median compensation of 77,000.

Who Responded

The prototype sales/marketing professional responding to our survey is 46 years old and has spent about six years in his or her current position. All told, these professionals have an average of nearly 20 years of relevant industry experience, 11.5 of them with their present employer.

They also say they manage an average of 13 individuals, whether at a lube manufacturer or distributor. The median numbers supervised are a bit lower: five for those with manufacturers and seven for those with distributors.

The prototype laboratory/R&D manager is 45 years old and has spent nearly seven years in his or her current position. These professionals report having an average of nearly 20 years of relevant industry experience, about 12 of them with their present employer. They manage an average of eight individuals, with the median number being four.

Size Matters

Company size is a key input for the pay equation, with compensation climbing as an employer scales up its workforce.

The smallest companies (10 or fewer employees) represent less than 5 percent of the replies. Sales/marketing professionals at these companies said they earn 90,000 per year (one response) on the manufacturing side and 62,875 on the distribution side. The single laboratory/R&D manager from a small company who responded earns 38,500 per year.

Classic lube businesses with 11 to 200 employees represent more than one-third of all responses. Sales/marketing participants said they average 99,966 to 111,147 in earnings working for such lubricant manufacturing companies. And they average 100,004 to 115,234 at large manufacturing companies employing 201 to 500 people.

The 13 sales/marketing respondents working at distributors employing 11 to 50 people earn an average of 77,125. We received only two responses from participants working at large distributors, employing 201 to 500 people.

Lab/R&D managers at classic lube businesses averaged 60,731 to 80,077. They earned between 80,167 and 97,672 when employed by large lubricant manufacturers.

Education Counts

As might be expected in such a highly technical industry, advanced education pays dividends. In sales and marketing, average salary for those with a high school education was 76,895 overall – 80,880 at manufacturers and 63,610 at distributors. Attaining a Bachelors degree boosted average compensation to 121,235 at manufacturers and 100,743 at distributors. A Masters degree did not move the salary needle up, but a Doctorate increased average compensation to 138,750 at manufacturers and 140,000 (one respondent) at distributors.

For lab/R&D managers, the four respondents with a high school education earned an average of 103,394, and the eight with Bachelors degrees averaged 75,663. The numbers become more statistically meaningful for technical managers with Masters degrees (25 participants), who averaged 88,085. The 10 managers holding Doctorates earn an average of 80,438.

Location, Location, Location

By geographic region, Western and Central Europe have a slight edge in terms of compensation. Overall, average salary for sales/marketing personnel in this region was 117,433: 121,677 for lube manufacturers and 80,940 for distributors. In Northern Europe they earn an average of 106,363: 119,252 at manufacturers and 75,061 at distributors. Southern Europe lags behind, with an overall average of 84,209 — 87,083 at lube manufacturers and 72,714 at distributors.

Interestingly, technical managers gain ground at companies located in Southern Europe, ranking second overall with an average salary of 83,300. Western and Central Europe rank first with an average compensation of 93,385. Northern Europe comes in third at 69,490 on average.

Ready for a Raise?

More than one-half of sales and marketing personnel and about two-thirds of technical managers told us they received a raise in the prior 12 months. In addition, the prospects of receiving a bonus this year are viewed optimistically by a large majority of respondents, including 80 percent of sales/marketing professionals and nearly 77 percent of laboratory/R&D managers.

Expectations for other forms of remuneration are more modest, however. Only about 16 percent of respondents in all disciplines said they expect to earn some form of company stock ownership. Similarly, only 6 to 8.5
percent said they will receive a commission this year.

Conversely, about 13 percent of all sales and marketing professionals said they expect to earn profit sharing in 2017, including 9 percent of those at manufacturers and a whopping 31.6 percent at distributors. Seventeen percent of technical managers said they expect to receive profit sharing.

Time is Relative

The survey showed an interesting dichotomy in terms of longevity for sales and marketing professionals. Respondents were almost equally split between those with less than five years in their current positions (56) and those with more (51). Those professionals with less longevity averaged 106,359 while those with more averaged 101,583.

The same 50/50 split held true with responses from laboratory/R&D managers, but the results were reversed. Those with less than five years in their current positions (25) averaged 78,711, while managers with more than five years seniority (22) averaged 95,528.

Safe and Secure

In closing, our questionnaire asked respondents to rate their sense of job security on a scale of one-to-five, with one being the least security and five the most. Admittedly, this is a highly subjective question, but all participants were unified in their positive outlook, pegging their job confidence at 3.7 to 4.1 on average.

Every subgroup, whether with a distributor or manufacturer, provided similar rankings when rating how vital they feel within their organizations. When it comes to making their employees feel valued and indispensable, it appears that industry employers are sounding the right notes, including on compensation.

Methodology

With guidance from experienced specialists in both surveying and personnel issues, LubesnGreases EMEA designed a salary questionnaire for key job functions at lubricant suppliers in the United Kingdom and in countries using the euro. The main objective was to investigate compensation for two professional career paths: sales and marketing, and laboratory/technical. A second objective was to determine whether companies that manufacture lubes offer higher or lower salaries than those that only distribute lubes.

On March 13, 2017, questionnaires were e-mailed to 625 professionals drawn from the LubesnGreases EMEA database, in the job categories under study; a reminder e-mail was sent in each of the following three weeks. Surveys went only to our readers based in the U.K. or in countries using the euro. A total of 154 usable surveys were returned, for a 25 percent response rate. Salaries reported in pounds were converted to euros on the survey closing date of 18 April, 2017. At that time, the conversion rate was 1 = 1.1923.

Participants replied directly to Charles R. Mann Associates of Washington, D.C., an independent statistical survey firm, which compiled and analyzed the results. No one at LNG Publishing or LubesnGreases EMEA magazine saw any individual data or any of the returned forms. Respondents to the 2017 survey included 107 individuals in sales and/or marketing; and 47 in laboratory/R&D/technical management.

Pre-Order Your Copy Now!

The complete 2017 EMEA Lubricants Industry Salary Report will be available as a digital PDF for U.S. $50. LubesnGreases also publishes a U.S. Salary Report. To order, visit www.LubesnGreases.com and select Data Products.