BOSTON—October 10, 2018—The biennial IHRSA Employee Compensation & Benefits Survey is now available on the IHRSA Research Portal. This study gathers compensation and benefits practices among leading North American health clubs. Base salary and wage data—along with benefits such as health insurance, retirement plans, and vacation—are gathered for nearly 60 job titles. The survey also gathers educational and certification requirements for corporate and club-level positions.
“Payroll is one of the largest expenses among health clubs, as hiring and investing in staff plays a critical role in serving and retaining members,” said Jay Ablondi, IHRSA’s executive vice president of global products. “IHRSA has regularly conducted employee compensation research for nearly 20 years to help club operators analyze and gauge their compensation practices against other club businesses.”
Due to the growth of the health club industry, employment opportunities and demand for fitness professionals have grown over the years as membership soared from 33.7 million in 2001 to 60.9 million in 2017. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) predicts that the number of recreation and fitness workers will grow by 10% between now and 2026. Additional insight and analysis on the employment outlook for fitness professionals is provided in The IHRSA U.S. Fitness Professional Outlook.
According to The 2017 IHRSA Employee Compensation & Benefits Report, most responding clubs indicated providing medical insurance to both salaried and hourly employees as well as dependents. Also, two-thirds of responding club operators indicated providing retirement plans for employees. Roughly 62% of participating clubs match employee contributions to retirement plans.
"The IHRSA Employee Compensation & Benefits Survey gathers compensation data beyond just pay for personal trainers, group exercise instructors, and other fitness professionals," said Melissa Rodriguez, IHRSA's senior research manager. "Compensation and benefits information is measured for salaried corporate and club-level employees, as well as hourly-level support staff, all of which play an important role in the strategic and day-to-day operations of a health club company."
Health club operators can participate in the survey by logging into the IHRSA Research Portal. Participants will receive a free PDF of The 2019 IHRSA Employee Compensation & Benefits Report. The deadline for participating is Monday, October 29.
Club company information will be held in strict confidence by Industry Insights, IHRSA's partner on this project. Only aggregated results will be reported.
The 2017 IHRSA Employee Compensation & Benefits Report is available for $199.95 (IHRSA members) or $399.95 (non-members), and provides compensation information for senior management/corporate health club staff, salaried club-level employees, and hourly club-level employees by geographical region.
About IHRSA
The International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association (IHRSA) is the trade association representing health and fitness facilities, gyms, spas, racquet and sports clubs, and suppliers worldwide. Its mission is to grow, promote and protect the health and fitness industry. As one of the world's leading authorities on the commercial health club industry, IHRSA regularly conducts industry and consumer research, along with club operator studies.
