Modern Day Price Check

Saffa said:

plus full personal use of the work vehicle (still some value even though it's a busted *** hunk of junk).

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This is so hilarious.

Generally HR has a way of evaluating the market prior to job posting - there is usually a trend analysis of the surrounding area - in the specific field of expertise. That is the starting point if there are no other employed people at the company working in that same job description.

As others have said - that range really depends on the cost of living around your employer. I am in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) in Ontario and the cost of living is quite high - the average home is $800-1M. I get paid in the high 80-90s, + OT. In the grand scheme of things, it appears great - but really isn't.

Ultimately - your happiness is the biggest factor. If you are unhappy - look for something else. Don't spend your life looking at what others get paid - it can be a wakeup call in most cases, in some cases cause on the job depression.

If you are new into the force - it is more valuable to earn a lower wage with a higher level of learning. Your efforts will be rewarded sometime in the future.

On the contrary - if you are the seasoned plant specialist - and put out of a job due to plant cuts - that is another reality in this climate. Sometimes, you have to do what is necessary to put bread on the table - even if it requires shift work in food packaging.....learn something new.

I'm in Vietnam and salary (for 3-4 years of experience) is about $9k/year at SI company, $12k/year at factories... at least we have the disease totally under control.
Anyone know where can I find some remote job in automation?

As many already has pointed out, cost of living is a big factor that needs to be considered at least when comparing international. Taxes, real estate/Rent, food, daycare, education...

Are there Big regional differences in the US?

swedeleaner said:

As many already has pointed out, cost of living is a big factor that needs to be considered at least when comparing international. Taxes, real estate/Rent, food, daycare, education...

Are there Big regional differences in the US?

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Yes, salaries tend to be much higher in urban areas, particularly on the west coast.

rupej said:

Yes, salaries tend to be much higher in urban areas, particularly on the west coast.

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But as much as the salaries are higher on the west coast, the cost of living is even worse. In a lot of places it doesn't balance out.

Maybe it's off on a tangent of the thread, but wouldn't it be nice if Star Trek transporters were in use?

Live in B****, Idaho and get to work in L.A or NYC in 20 seconds

Cost of living the lowest and paid big city rates.

Of course, the billing for travel time would disappear on service calls

OT, way OT

I_Automation said:

Maybe it's off on a tangent of the thread, but wouldn't it be nice if Star Trek transporters were in use? ...

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When the Deep Impact mission was preparing for launch, there was a fellow who said

• comets were made of anti-matter,
• sending 400kg of copper into comet 9P/Tempel 1 was a dangerous thing to do that would have catastrophic consequences for Earth,
• so we should cancel the mission
• and instead study and develop anti-matter technology to obtain limitless power and "realize the Start Trek dream."

I'm as big a ST fan as the next person, but that sort of soured it for me.


Still, that's a neat thought about commuting via Transporter ("Mr. Scott, there was not deity involved; it was my cross-circuiting to B that recovered them" ).

This is an interesting topic. I have wondered this topic myself and my thoughts are:

- Yes, $ isn't everything. There's always tradeoff.

- This is a niche profession, which means there's a lot of variation in pricing for talent. A good contrast is to the IT/Programming side where there's a lot of information and pricing tend to be within a tigher band..

- Again, this is a very VERY wide area of expertise, so comparing salary difficult. Someone who commands Advanced Process Control can easily command $150k+ in the US, for example.

- We (our profession) in general tend to under-value our work and as a result pulling down our pay.

- You can't compare salary directly from one area of US to another. A 1200sq ft house here is over $500k compared to place in Flordia where it would be around $170k.

Control Engineering magazine does a survey every year:

https://www.controleng.com/articles/control-engineering-career-and-salary-survey-2020/

I think the problem is that a lot of places dont understand what they need to hire for. I got lucky and found a nice paying job for my experience level. A majority of places want to lowball. yet contractors can charge 140/hr any day.

I_Automation said:

Maybe it's off on a tangent of the thread, but wouldn't it be nice if Star Trek transporters were in use?

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It would be a bit bittersweet for offshore workers... less pay as it's no more dangerous than working in some plant somewhere, but get to see the family daily.

However, this is the one technology that is simply unrealistic that it would ever be implemented in our world regardless of being feasible technologically.

Look at how elections are won left, right and centre because of immigration and it's clear it wouldn't be well received and any hint of it being possible would be snuffed out. Also worth pointing it would be a magnificent weapon in its own right.

cardosocea said:

.

However, this is the one technology that is simply unrealistic that it would ever be implemented in our world regardless of being feasible technologically.

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Feasible technology.....
I still cant even get an internet connection where I live! I can see me now calling the Bell Alliant customer service center to see if I'm in a transporter serviced area or not. "No sir, I can see that we still only offer dial up in your area for $70/month."

OysterMan said:

I think the problem is that a lot of places dont understand what they need to hire for.

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I checked the ad for the position I was about to vacate at my previous job. They had no clue. The ad was so bad, even I wouldn't have made it through the first round of the application process.

PLC Pie Guy said:

Feasible technology.....
I still cant even get an internet connection where I live! I can see me now calling the Bell Alliant customer service center to see if I'm in a transporter serviced area or not. "No sir, I can see that we still only offer dial up in your area for $70/month."

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Definitely don't want to get disconnected half way through being beamed up due to your 33kbps analog modem falling over. Pretty sure a few expendable Red Shirts met messy ends when transporter stuff went bad.

Better take the Vodafone Horse and Carriage, for the discerning older gentleman.