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Canadian Industry Statistics (CIS)

Salaries and Wages
Petrochemical Manufacturing (NAICS 32511)

Under this topic you will find information on total and average compensation paid in Canada's Petrochemical Manufacturing (NAICS 32511) industry, broken down between production and administrative employees. This information can be used as a benchmark to evaluate the salary and wage structure of your business and may help you to identify important trends in how labour is being used in the manufacturing process.




Total Salaries and Wages Paid by Type of Employee

Initially we examine the total salaries and wages paid, including a breakdown of the amounts paid to production workers and administrative workers.

Wages and Salaries Paid by Type of Employee: 1998-2007*
Petrochemical Manufacturing (NAICS 32511)
Type of Employee
Value in
$ millions
% of Total
2007
CAGR**
1998-2007
% Change
2006-2007
1998
2007

*Prior to 2004, data covers incorporated establishments with employees, primarily engaged in manufacturing and with sales of manufactured goods equal or greater than $30,000.

**Compound Annual Growth Rate.

Source: Statistics Canada, special tabulation, unpublished data, Annual Survey of Manufactures, 1998 to 2003; Annual Survey of Manufactures and Logging, 2004 to 2007.

Production
80.1
90.8
77.8%
1.3%
13.0%
Administrative
26.8
25.9
22.2%
-0.3%
11.8%
 
Total
106.9
116.7
100%
0.9%
12.7%

In the Petrochemical Manufacturing industry, total salaries and wages paid to employees have increased from $106.9 million in 1998 to $116.7 million in 2007, an average annual increase of 0.9%. Between 2006 and 2007, salaries and wages increased by 12.7%.

In comparison, for the Manufacturing industry group, salaries and wages paid out increased by 1.5% per year since 1998 and decreased by 1.5% over the course of 2006-2007.

Changes in total salaries and wages depend, for the most part, on the relative fortunes of particular industries, as some become more significant to the Canadian economy and others decline in significance. This may be due to changes in comparative advantage with other countries, shifts in consumer tastes or changes in the cost or availability of supplies, to name a few factors.

When broken down by type of employee, in the Petrochemical Manufacturing industry production worker wages increased from $80.1 million in 1998 to $90.8 million in 2007 or at an average rate of 1.3% per year. Between 2006 and 2007 production worker wages increased by 13.0%.

The salaries and wages of administrative workers, on the other hand, declined from $26.8 million to $25.9 million over the 1998-2007 period, yielding an average annual decrease of 0.3%. Between 2006 and 2007, these salaries and wages increased by 11.8%.

Total Wages Paid By Employment Type: 1998-2007
Petrochemical Manufacturing (NAICS 32511)

Total Wages Paid 
By Employment Type

Source: Statistics Canada, special tabulation, unpublished data, Annual Survey of Manufactures, 1998 to 2003; Annual Survey of Manufactures and Logging, 2004 to 2007.

In comparison, when looking at the Manufacturing industry group over the years since 1998, salaries and wages paid to production workers increased by an average of 0.7% per year, whereas those paid to administrative workers increased by 3.2%. Over the course of the most recent year compensation for production workers decreased by 1.6% while salaries and wages for administrative workers decreased by 1.2%.

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Comparing Compensation Between Production and Administrative Employees

Compensation packages can fluctuate in response to a number of factors, including changes in orders received, revenues, manufacturing costs, technology and the labour market. However, compensation for production and administrative workers may not change at the same rate, as establishments within an industry may respond to the dynamics of the marketplace in various ways.

The percentage share of salaries and wages paid to production or administrative workers can be compared to their share of the total workforce. Not surprisingly, the share of salaries and wages for administrative workers is often higher than their share of the total workforce, as a large proportion of administrative employees are managers and professionals.

Comparison of Employment and Compensation: 2007
Production vs Administrative Employees - Share of Total
Petrochemical Manufacturing (NAICS 32511)

Share of Total Employment

Share of Total 
Employment

Share of Total Compensation

Share of Total 
Compensation

Source: Statistics Canada, special tabulation, unpublished data, Annual Survey of Manufactures, 1998 to 2003; Annual Survey of Manufactures and Logging, 2004 to 2007.

For the Petrochemical Manufacturing industry in 2007, the 24.0% of employees that were administrative workers received 22.2% of all the salaries and wages paid out by establishments to their workforce.

In the case of the Manufacturing industry group in 2007, the 25.9% of employees that were administrative workers received 34.8% of all the salaries and wages paid out by establishments to their workforce.

The changing structure of the workforce in a given industry segment can influence these ratios over time. The number of production workers in relation to the total may decrease for a number of reasons, such as technological advances or increased reliance on contract employees. Furthermore, the composition of the administrative employee type may be evolving. These non-production workers include managers, administrators and professionals such as engineers and computer and research scientists. As modern industries become more knowledge-based, this component of the workforce is growing in significance for many manufacturing segments.

Both the workforce numbers and the compensation paid to employees are dependent upon the revenues generated by the industry segment. While adjustments in employment and compensation normally do not occur immediately, over the longer term such adjustments are inevitable. In the shorter term, if manufacturing revenues go down, immediate drops in the wage component of operating costs are seldom seen. Similarly, if manufacturing revenues go up dramatically, an immediate increase in wages would not likely follow.

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Average Annual Compensation

Average annual salaries for both production and administrative workers can be calculated by dividing the total wages paid by the number of employees.

Average Annual Salaries by Type of Employee: 1998-2007*
Petrochemical Manufacturing (NAICS 32511)
Type of Employee
Value in $
CAGR**
1998-2007
% Change
2006-2007
1998
2007

*Prior to 2004, data covers incorporated establishments with employees, primarily engaged in manufacturing and with sales of manufactured goods equal or greater than $30,000.

**Compound Annual Growth Rate

Source: Statistics Canada, special tabulation, unpublished data, Annual Survey of Manufactures, 1998 to 2003; Annual Survey of Manufactures and Logging, 2004 to 2007.

Production
72,540
92,226
2.4%
13.7%
Administrative
65,821
83,652
2.4%
15.8%
 
All Employees
70,730
90,172
2.5%
14.2%

The average annual compensation for employees of the Petrochemical Manufacturing industry rose from $70,730 in 1998 to $90,172 in 2007, or at an average rate of 2.5% per year. There was an increase of 14.2% over the 2006-2007 period.

In comparison, for the Manufacturing industry group, average annual compensation rose from $38,848 to $48,674 between 1998-2007, or at an average annual rate of 2.3%. Over the most recent year, average compensation increased by 1.1%.

Average Annual Salaries By Employment Type: 1998-2007
Petrochemical Manufacturing (NAICS 32511)

Annual Average 
Comensation By Employment Type

Source: Statistics Canada, special tabulation, unpublished data, Annual Survey of Manufactures, 1998 to 2003; Annual Survey of Manufactures and Logging, 2004 to 2007.

The average annual wages for production workers in the Petrochemical Manufacturing industry grew at an average annual rate of 2.4% over the 1998-2007 time period, and increased by 13.7% over the course of the latest year. In the case of administrative employees, the average annual salaries and wages increased by 2.4% per year on average between 1998 and 2007 and increased by 15.8% between 2006 and 2007.

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Important Notes on Salaries and Wages Data

The data in this section come from Statistics Canada's Annual Survey of Manufactures and Logging. Data are available for the years 1998-2007.

Due to methodological changes to the Annual Survey of Manufactures and Logging (summarized in the Data Sources section of this site), caution should be used when interpreting trends in the data presented below.

Salaries and wages paid to employees are gross amounts before deductions for income tax and employee contributions to various benefit plans. Vacation and overtime pay are included, but not expenses associated with contract workers, employment agencies or casual labour. Employer contributions to employee benefit plans are also excluded.

In most cases, production workers are paid according to an hourly wage. For administrative workers, some are paid an hourly wage, and some earn an annual salary. In this section the term compensation will be used interchangeably with salaries and wages to refer to the total labour payments provided to all employees regardless of their status as salaried or wage-earning workers.

A comparison of salaries and wages with other operating costs (i.e. materials, supplies, energy, water and vehicle fuel) is offered in the manufacturing costs section of Canadian Industry Statistics. Information on number of workers employed by type of employee is available in the employment section.