Chamber’s wage survey results out on Monday

Results of the Saipan Chamber of Commerce’s prevailing wage survey will be distributed starting Monday to many of the 218 participating employers representing 8,675 jobs, executive director Richard Pierce said yesterday.

Companies and organizations that did not take part in the Chamber survey are not entitled to the copyrighted summary report but they can still obtain a copy for their own purposes from the Chamber for $500.

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

In an e-mail interview, Pierce said many firms did not participate because they were not going to ever apply for H1B visas for their employees.

The Chamber contracted the Guam Employers Council to conduct the “2011 Survey of Wages, Salaries and Benefits” among specified jobs and organizations in the CNMI.

In a separate statement yesterday, the Chamber said that hard copies will be printed and available at the Chamber office in Garapan starting Monday.

Those companies and organizations that completed their surveys 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.”

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

“Those copyright restrictions would apply, also, to any company or organization not participating, but would allow the company to use the Summary Report for applications for H-1B worker visas in the future, as well as utilizing the surveys for other purposes,” the Chamber said.

Nearly 50 percent of those given survey forms responded completely.

The survey responses represented over 8,675 employees in over 408 different job classifications in the private and public sector.

Job classifications were listed under the Standard Occupational Classifications as recommended by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Foreign Labor Certification.

Chamber president Douglas Brennan, in a statement, said the Chamber “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 now under the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service’s authority.”

The largest business organization with some 150 members said 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 next week, there would have been no other choice for those submitting those petitions.”

Brennan thanked all those organizations that participated, especially the CNMI government “for its cooperative effort at getting their agencies and departments in the Executive Branch to participate.”

The CNMI government will receive their copies of the report in a requested ceremony on Oct. 6 at the Governor’s Office on Capital Hill.