On November 24, the American Mold Builders Association (AMBA), Indianapolis, Indiana, announced the release of its annual AMBA Wage and Salary Report.

AMBA’s 2020-21 Wage and Salary Report represents the largest compensation study focused on the United States mold building industry. Now in its tenth year, this report contains comprehensive analyses on over 50 job classifications from mold manufacturing-related firms. These manufacturers serve a variety of end-use markets.

The 2020-2021 report allows mold building executives to benchmark beginning and average wages for individual positions specific to the mold building industry by both company size and United States region. The report also includes a host of operational policies, trends and key demographics that represent the mold manufacturing industry.

Participants in this year’s study included over 95 US mold builders who reported wage and salary information on employees in current positions. When compared to 2019, more than 70 percent of job functions experienced a wage increase in 2020. Across all 50 job functions analyzed in this year’s study, a 7 percent increase in wage and salary is seen. The positions reporting the most significant rises in compensation include inspectors, purchasing agents/buyers, press operators and quality managers. This data is promising as 2021 approaches; however, given that 17 percent of survey respondents indicated that they are currently on a salary freeze due to the current economic environment, this trend may falter in the coming months.

Overall outlook for employment also shows a positive trend. Sixty-seven percent of executives responded that their company was planning to hire new employees during 2020 (a three percent increase over last year), while just over ten percent indicated no intent to hire. The age of workers inside mold building facilities also continues to increase. In 2006, 70 percent of employees were under 50. Today, only 57 percent of workers are under 50 – a new industry low since the commencement of this survey. This data highlights the acute need to continue efforts to attract younger generations in the workforce.

For more information, visit www.AMBA.org.