Compensation benchmarking for Irrigation Equipment Makers: extruder, mould and field staff pay across seasons
Irrigation demand swings between extra shifts and idle weeks. Benchmarking compares pay for extrusion, moulding, mould setting and field roles so seasonal work does not lead to unfair pay or lost skill.
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Share your requirementsWhy compensation benchmarking matters in irrigation equipment makers
Extrusion and injection operators earn well in peak months with extra shifts and much less in idle weeks, so take-home pay swings and skilled people look for steadier work. Mould and die setters are few, and pay for them is set one person at a time. Field service and agronomy staff are paid like office staff although they travel, teach farmers and often sell. Bench assembly pay is close to the market floor, so turnover is high.
Good looks like a grade table with a stable base for each role, extra pay for peak shifts that people understand, and recognition for the scarce skills of extruder start-up and mould setting. Field staff pay reflects travel and teaching. You know what nearby plastics plants pay and where you want to sit, and workers can see how pay grows with skill.
How to set it up
1. List each role with pay across a year
Use pay slips from a peak and an idle month for extrusion, injection, setters, assembly, testers, maintenance, field staff and supervisors. Note how much comes from overtime.
2. Collect market figures for the same roles
Ask nearby plastics and pipe plants, recruiters and recent candidates about pay for operators, setters and field staff. Record the skill behind each figure.
3. Check pay stability
See whether a skilled operator's base pay is enough in an idle month and whether peak extras are fair. A steadier base keeps skilled staff through the slow weeks.
4. Set a position and grade steps
Decide where you want to sit for each group and write the steps. Our compensation benchmarking service can help cost the changes.
5. Review yearly after the season
Check who left during the peak or idle weeks, what they were offered and whether the table needs to change.
Check these first
Before changing anything, find out what is true today. These take an afternoon and use your own records.
- Compare take-home pay of an extruder operator in the busiest and the quietest month last year.
- List pay for mould and die setters beside senior operators.
- Check whether field staff pay reflects travel and teaching duties.
- Ask recent leavers where they went and what they were offered.
GullyHR can do this with you. Read how we approach compensation benchmarking in general, or share your requirements and we will tell you where to start.
Questions owners ask
Set a base that keeps skilled people, and use idle weeks for training and maintenance. Extra pay for peak shifts should be a clear, known rule.
They need their own grade. Travel, farmer-facing work and sometimes selling set them apart, and the market for them differs from the market for operators.
Once a year after the season, plus when a key setter or start-up operator resigns. Keep the notes so you can see how things have changed.