2009 Salary Survey Results: Prolonged economic crisis takes toll on IRB jobs, salaries
2009 Salary Survey Results
Prolonged economic crisis takes toll on IRB jobs, salaries
Staffing levels decrease, wages stagnant
On the positive side, IRB professionals appear to be better insulated from the country's current economic troubles than people in many other industries.
While there are some industries, including automotive and print media, where thousands of jobs were shed and wages and benefits were slashed across the board, IRBs have been largely protected from any draconian changes.
The 62 respondents to the IRB Advisor's 2009 Salary Survey report only modest changes in their salaries.
Overall, about one-third of the respondents reported salaries of $70,000 or greater — the same proportion who reported salaries in this range in the 2008 survey.
But there was a small change in how respondents reported salary changes in the past year: In the 2008 survey, 44% reported a 1% to 3% salary increase; in this year's survey, 47.5% reported that size of an increase.
Also, 27.8% of respondents said their salary stayed the same, a jump from the 20% who reported a frozen salary in 2008. And about 5% of respondents said their salary had actually decreased.
Respondents to the 2009 Salary Survey mainly came from academic institutions and hospitals (35% and 53.3%, respectively), with a few from agencies, clinics, consulting firms, and private practices.
IRBs at large academic institutions and medical centers have been impacted by institutional salary freezes and benefits cuts.
For example, the IRB office at Utah State University in Logan, UT, has experienced a salary freeze for a couple of years, says True Fox, IRB administrator.
Plus, the small office needs additional hours for its two part-time employees, and this is a challenge in the current economy, Fox says.
"It's hard to keep morale up," Fox says. "All we can do is show appreciation for the work employees do."
Also, Harvard-affiliated medical centers, including Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, MA, have frozen all salaries for this year and possibly next year, says Ramesh Gunawardena, MBA, director of clinical trial operations at the medical center.
"What they've done is there's a hiring freeze across the board," Gunawardena says. "What you have to do is get a requisition to hire someone by going through a physician control committee."
IRB Advisor's salary survey found that 15% of respondents in 2009 reported that their IRB offices had lost staff, while only 11.6% had gained staff. In 2008, respondents reported that 20% had gained staff, and in 2007, the increase in staff was reported by 26% of respondents.
The Florida Hospital IRB in Orlando, FL, has had four fulltime employees, a staffing level that is unchanged in the past year, says Laura Orem, CIP, CIM, program manager.
"Our secretary left, and we hired in another secretary who came in as we were going electronic," Orem says.
The IRB's integration of more electronic data collection could impact staffing through changes in the skills needed, but Orem says she doesn't anticipate the IRB needing fewer or more fulltime staff.
"Right now our electronic database is basically homegrown, and researchers submit electronically with their information coming in through email," Orem says. "We hope to switch over to a Web-based electronic submission."
These changes have prompted Orem to cross-train staff and to encourage employees to obtain their certification credentials.
"We'd like everyone to learn how to do everything," she says. "We want to employ IRB professionals, and if they don't have their certification then our goal is that they at least have some IRB experience and are eligible to either sit for certification or to plan to sit for certification as soon as they are eligible."
A better-trained and qualified staff also will be a better-paid staff, Orem notes.
"When they get certified my expectation is we'll have enough fluctuation within their salary range to be able to increase their salary within their range," Orem says. "At the annual review, they'll get the same raise the hospital gives to all employees, but as soon as they're certified, I'll request they receive a raise."
Also, Orem's goal is to give new employees who have earned their certification a higher salary, Orem adds.
Salary Survey respondents reported a wide variety of certifications, including CRA, RN, CIH, CIP, CID, CIM, CCRC, CCRN, ACLS, CAN, CPCS, and others.
The 2009 Salary Survey found that responding IRB directors tend to be well-educated with nearly 56% reporting graduate degrees, and less than 10% having earned less than a bachelor's degree.
One of the challenges for smaller IRB offices is finding experienced employees who are willing to work part-time, Fox says.
"I think it's really difficult to find someone particularly for the level of skills we need," she says. "Finding someone with experience and a research background has to be a special fit, and you don't find that person easily."
Fortunately, when Fox's office was given the okay to hire a new IRB coordinator at 30% salary, Fox was able to find someone who worked in another department that would continue to retain her at 70% while sharing her part-time with the IRB office.
"I'm still hoping for a fulltime position," Fox says. "We're struggling to keep up with everything we have to do."
Another finding of the 2009 Salary Survey was that IRB offices reviewed fairly even amounts of protocols for full reviews, expedited reviews, and continuing reviews. Respondents reported a range of numbers of protocols reviewed from a handful to more than 500.
Experience among respondents also varied: Most (about 70.5%) reported having fewer than 10 years experience in their present field. But there also were respondents with more than 25 years of experience.
Respondents to the survey reported a wide variety of personnel issues from the past year. Among these are the following:
- lack of support from hospital administration;
- having 40-hour IRB job stretched to include 50-60 hours of work, including additional responsibilities of risk management;
- no money for pay increases, too few staff, low salaries, and limited office space;
- too heavy of workload, lack of back-up staff, and unpaid overtime hours;
- keeping up staff morale and team-building despite economic downturn;
- consistency in work performance and lack of dedication to the IRB;
- convincing administration that IRB software is needed;
- too few protocols to review;
- not enough resources to fulfill compliance task requirements;
- budget cuts, frozen wages for two years, inadequate staffing, and staff retention problems due to low salaries;
- inadequate time available to conduct in-depth protocol review;
- training and communication problems.
Also, respondents to the 2009 Salary Survey reported a striking decline in staffing levels. In the 2008 survey, about 36% of respondents reported having one-person offices, compared with nearly 47% with one-person offices in 2009.
While about 17% said they had a two-person office in 2008, this percentage climbed to more than 26% in 2009.
Likewise, nearly one-quarter of respondents in 2008 said they had offices employing six or more people; in 2009, only 13.33% of respondents said the same.
Although staffing levels are lower, the workload is not.
The 2009 Salary Survey found that 67.7% of respondents reported an increased workload in the last year, while only 8% reported a decreased workload, and 24 had stable workload.
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