First CNMI prevailing wage survey results now out

Today marks the first time in CNMI history when employers will have data on prevailing wage rates that reflect the current conditions on the islands and not the U.S. mainland, Hawaii, or Guam, which they could use to, among other things, support applications for their employees’ H1B visa or other Immigration and Nationality Act work visas.

The Saipan Chamber of Commerce, which initiated the project, starts releasing today the results of the “2011 Survey of Wages and Salaries Among Specified Jobs and Organizations in the CNMI.”

A total of 8,675 jobs are represented in the survey results.

Because of the Chamber’s copyright policies, the wages covered in the survey could not be released at this time.

But one of the most popular job titles—accountants/auditors—would show that the lowest salary rate is $5.05 an hour, which is the CNMI’s current minimum wage, while the highest rate is $37.50 an hour. The average rate is $11.35 an hour, and the median wage is $9.62 an hour.

Of the 452 survey forms distributed, 218 or nearly 50 percent were returned.

A number of companies did not participate because they were not going to ever apply for H1B visas or other types of work visas for their employees.

The survey comprised a study of 1) wages and salaries, and 2) common benefits among surveyed organizations.

When asked for comment yesterday, Chamber executive director Richard Pierce said the “benefits section of the summary report will not be released for another one week.”

“We wanted to get the wage summary report as quickly as possible,” he said.

Chamber president Douglas Brennan, in a statement, said that CNMI employers now have an option besides accepting the prevailing wage rates of Guam, Hawaii, and the U.S. mainland for their H-1B visa applications, “where up until [this] week, there would have been no other choice for those submitting those petitions.”

Those who did not participate in the survey can obtain a copy from the Chamber if they pay $500.

Companies and organizations that completed the survey will receive the wage and salary summary report, a list of organizations participating in the wage and salary survey, and a document titled, “Methods and Procedures of the Survey.”

The Chamber, the largest business organization in the CNMI with some 150 members, believes this survey report represents the majority of those employers who would apply for many of their employees fitting into specialized and professional jobs classifications where H-1B work visas will be their best available option under the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service’s authority.

The Chamber contracted the Employers Council to conduct the actual survey, with funds from the U.S. Department of the Interior.