Career of the week: Radiology Technician

Radiology Technician Salary

Radiology technicians, also called x-ray technicians, are not only in high demand in most communities, but also highly paid relative to other allied health professionals. Learn more about radiology salaries.

Radiology Technician Salary Range
The lowest 5 percent of radiology technicians earn less than $30,000, according to the American Society of Radiologic Technologists (ASRT), while the highest 5 percent earn more than $90,000. The current median radiographer or radiology technician salary is $58,065, according to ASRT. Salary.com estimates that the current median is $42,397.

Starting Radiology Technician Salaries
The average starting rad tech salary (less than 2 years of experience), nationally, is $36,918, according to ASRT. Chief and senior technicians earn mean salaries of $42,768 and $48,331, respectively, reports ASRT, while program directors earn $64,290 on average.

Certification and Radiology Technician Salaries
Certification or registration with the American Registry of Radiological Technologists and continuing education will increase your radiology technician salary. The current mean salary for radiology technicians with a high-school diploma and certificate is $56,378, estimates the ASRT. The current mean salary for radiology techs with a bachelor degree is $63,028.

Career Description
Radiology technicians (also known as x-ray technicians) use controlled radiation to produce black-and-white images of the body’s anatomy. X-rays are often used to detect bone fractures, uncover foreign objects in the body, and analyze bone and soft tissue. Most radiology technicians work in hospitals, physician offices, and diagnostic imaging centers.

Radiology technicians must have the ability to communicate effectively and compassionately with patients, operate radiological devices and obtain diagnostic images, and provide oral or written summaries of their findings. They also maintain radiologic facilities and supervise and/or collaborate with other medical staff.

Educational Requirements
Most radiology technicians enter the field with a certificate or associate degree from a community or technical college, accredited by The Joint Review Committee on Education in Radiologic Technology (JRCERT), qualifying them for certification by The American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (ARRT) and licensure in their state. Licensure is mandatory for radiologic technologists and technicians in 38 states.

ARRT certification is advisable even states that do not require licensure. Many employers prefer ARRT-certified radiology technicians.

source: techniciansalaries.com

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Detroit 3 Closing Worker Pay Gap with Foreign Competitors

By Phil Alex

Sean McAlinden, an economist working for the Center for Automotive Research, says that due to shifts in UAW retiree / health planning US auto manufacturers may end up with a labor-cost advantage in the next few years. GM is used as the prime example.

Here’s a look at the timeline:

In 2007, per-vehicle labor costs for GM were $1,400 more than Toyota, its largest international competitor. $950 of that was for retiree benefits.

In 2008, Detroit’s Big 3 manufacturers (Ford, GM and Chrysler LLC) were reportedly paying their hourly employees $69,368 per year on average versus $70,185 being earned by employees at foreign-owned plants. Salaried employees at the Detroit automakers were making $122,963 versus $81,506 earned by foreign-based counterparts.

Now, after all the re-negotiations, GM is working towards a new goal: “[hiring] more workers at the lower wage and it [hiring] fewer skilled-trades workers, who make more money than other factory workers”.

With 2,300 new employees working under the revised wage/retirement plans, GM’s employees are only $2 more costly than Toyota’s. McAlinden predicts that over the next 5 years, GM may even undercut Toyota’s pay by up to $10.

source: carscoop.blogspot.com

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Auto industry executives poised for major payout

d1 BY MARK KLEIS

Due to the unique circumstances that placed automakers’ stocks at record lows in 2009, many auto executives are now set to receive substantial net payouts as a result of the drastic increase in stock values. Before the stock increase, many executives were working for substantially below-market wages, making the merit-based payout a welcome change.

The Associated Press recently performed an in-depth analysis of standard and Poor’s 500 index, tracking the compensation for all CEOs representing companies in that list. The APanalysis reviewed CEO compensation from 2008 through 2010, and found that rebounding stock prices have created the possibility for a major payout for top executives which have been relying heavily on stock options for compensation during the recent recession.

One glaring trend spotted during the AP analysis was that many CEO’s pay had been assigned via stock options in early 2009 while stocks were at a 12-year low, providing for substantial growth opportunity in the future. At the time, however, many CEOs were faced with stock options from 2008 that were in fact lower than their original estimates.

Now, by 2010, the markets have largely recovered and in some cases the increase was as large as a ten-fold jump in value. In the auto industry, Alan Mulally’s pay stood as a prime example Ford  granted Mulally 5 million stock options with an estimated value of $5 million in March 2009, as derived from a unique formula. At the time of Mulally’s 2009 stock assignment Ford  stock was trading at $1.96, which has since increased to a value over six times that amount – putting a value of $48 million on those stock options.The AP also pointed out that Mulally’s 2008 options – then valued at $9 million – are now worth over $20 million. In the same year, both Alan Mulally and then-Chrysler CEO Robert Nardelli accepted $1 annual salaries due to the dire circumstances facing their companies. By contrast, the top paid CEO for 2009 was Carol Bartz, of Yahoo, with $47.2 million in total compensation, with 90 percent coming as a result of stock options and awards.

GM’s executives may also potentially cash in on stock options in the future, but since the automaker is not yet publicly traded, the gains will likely not be as high. GM’s CEO, Ed Whitacre was given $1.7 million in salary for 2010, with $5.3 million in stock options beginning in 2012 as well as $2 million in restricted stock.

source: leftlanenews.com

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