Career and salary report for packaging industry

For the second consecutive year, the Australian Institute of Packaging (AIP) has released the key findings its 2022 Career & Salary Survey report for the food and beverage industries.

According to AIP Executive Director Nerida Kelton MAIP, the report was developed in partnership with the IoPP to provide a more detailed breakdown of the people who make up the industry including their roles, education, experience, career satisfaction, concerns and salaries. The survey covers Australia and New Zealand and also all roles within the industries. The Australia and New Zealand report aligns with the same offering developed by the IoPP for the rest of the world.

“The 2022 Career & Salary report has some interesting findings and certainly highlights one of the key challenges that the industry has right now, which is upskilling industry professionals in the science and technical side of all materials and pack formats,” Kelton said.

AIP Education Director, Prof. Pierre Pienaar FAIP, CPP added that the report provides a summary of salary levels for packaging, but also gives a general indication of the qualifications of the current packaging industry workers. The data shows that although well qualified, ie, postgraduate degrees, the workers aren’t qualified in science, engineering and/or technology in packaging.

“We need to see more of those working in the packaging industry, undertaking courses such as the Certificate in Packaging Technology, Diploma in Packaging Technology, the Fundamentals of Packaging Technology and the Master of Food & Packaging Innovation degree. Attaining these qualifications will go a long way in improving the overall knowledge and skillset in the industry, and to ensure that a technical knowledge void is filled with suitably qualified people. We need more packaging knowledge professionals and education helps us get exposure to new ideas and concepts that we can use to appreciate and improve the world around us, and the world within us,” Pienaar said.

Key findings

Some of the key findings from the report include:

Industry/products

• 46% of the total respondents work in the food industry, followed by 13% in the beverage industry.
• 11% indicated that they work in packaging materials.

Job function

• 30% of the total respondents indicated that they work in packaging technology/design. This was followed by marketing/sales at 15.90% and 11.20% in research and development.

Education

• 46% of the total respondents have a graduate degree and 23% have an undergraduate degree.
• 21% of the respondents have a Diploma in Packaging Technology, 10% have completed the Master of Food & Packaging Innovation, 9% have a Certificate in Packaging and 2% the Fundamentals of Packaging Technology.

Experience

• 58% of the total respondents have more than 20 years’ experience in the packaging industry.

The complete 2022 AIP Career & Salary Survey report is available to AIP Members and respondents of the survey.