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CNN money does it again! 100k machinist jobs

For what it is worth, some concrete information on this:

MSC is out of stock on Kurt 4" double vises!

That reaches down into the bowels of mfg. It eliminates most of the caterwauling about "lack of work".

Lee (the saw guy).
 
More work, fewer shops...

Where I'm at, we've landed some very good contracts for large Airbus parts. Even Boeing is sending us quotes as well. New building and machines coming. Now, does that mean wages are going to rise? Who knows? Given the backlash against unions and benefits... Workers these days are doing a good job at policing "over paid" workers . Not bad in the short term for the economy but will be hard to get fresh blood in the industry.

--
Bill
 
For what it is worth, some concrete information on this:

MSC is out of stock on Kurt 4" double vises!

That reaches down into the bowels of mfg. It eliminates most of the caterwauling about "lack of work".

Lee (the saw guy).


Last I checked (about 5 years ago though) Kurt only runs 4" vises every now and then so them being out may not be the baseline for whether or not manufacturing is booming. The fact that the 6" vise costs less than the 4" just makes most folks get the 6.
 
So when are they going to get the point That in 5 years you won't be making 50 or even 100k!!


$100K manufacturing jobs

I'm throwing the flag on CNN: :icon_bs: Ain't sure where they get their numbers/info- but I've never even heard of a 1 or 2 year apprenticeship. Beyond that, After 15+ years in this trade, spanning jobs where I was a union toolmaker, or years where I worked 7 days/week for months on end- I've never even gotten close to 100k.
 
yeah i was just gonna post the same article....i dont know where they get those numbers, around here the only way you ll even get close to that number is 70hrs a week, and did you read some of the comments at the bottom of the page, most where dead on...
 
For sure, but maybe it will be enough to bait 'em in. :D

But kind of amazing the quality of workers that are just in it for the bucks! :crazy:

But I agree with the comment in the article if you're good, should be employed for a long time...just unfortunately don't expect to be paid much. :(
 
There will be demand, and perhaps it will be like truck drivers.

Radio ads, TV ads, and 3-4 pages of classified ads in the newspaper.

And for that 70 hour week, truck drivers get $45,000 a year.

And the compensation hasn't kept pace with inflation.
 
Well just a comment on their math. $30/hr is what the article quoted the top machinist as earning. That is only $60K/yr. Sure toss in tons and tons of OT and you can get to $100K, but that doesn't sound like much fun. The real issue for me having gone the engineering route as all the shops were closing up, I would love to be a machinist. If the shops were paying $30/hr or even a bit less starting wage like they do for engineers I would be quite tempted myself. But to ask me now to go down to probably $15-$18/hr just isn't going to happen.

I have to think the laws of supply and demand must start hitting these shop owners in the face sooner or later. In my mind where I live $100K is what a seasoned professional of several years experience should make. $50K is what a junior professional should make.

How a company has a machinist run a $200K machine that he can easily crash and do severe damage, run parts that could be worth in some cases $100K and not want to pay a professional wage I just don't get.

I have to think that it won't take too many more of these shortage of machinist articles before the shop owners start realizing that they do have to start increasing the wages.
 
I will be in your position next year leaving the machinist position and graduating with my mechanical engineering degree. Actually we get a lot of young kids in my work but they all have the "striving for something better attitude" and enrolled in college classes.


Well just a comment on their math. $30/hr is what the article quoted the top machinist as earning. That is only $60K/yr. Sure toss in tons and tons of OT and you can get to $100K, but that doesn't sound like much fun. The real issue for me having gone the engineering route as all the shops were closing up, I would love to be a machinist. If the shops were paying $30/hr or even a bit less starting wage like they do for engineers I would be quite tempted myself. But to ask me now to go down to probably $15-$18/hr just isn't going to happen.

I have to think the laws of supply and demand must start hitting these shop owners in the face sooner or later. In my mind where I live $100K is what a seasoned professional of several years experience should make. $50K is what a junior professional should make.

How a company has a machinist run a $200K machine that he can easily crash and do severe damage, run parts that could be worth in some cases $100K and not want to pay a professional wage I just don't get.

I have to think that it won't take too many more of these shortage of machinist articles before the shop owners start realizing that they do have to start increasing the wages.
 
Well just a comment on their math. $30/hr is what the article quoted the top machinist as earning. That is only $60K/yr. Sure toss in tons and tons of OT and you can get to $100K, but that doesn't sound like much fun. The real issue for me having gone the engineering route as all the shops were closing up, I would love to be a machinist. If the shops were paying $30/hr or even a bit less starting wage like they do for engineers I would be quite tempted myself. But to ask me now to go down to probably $15-$18/hr just isn't going to happen.

I have to think the laws of supply and demand must start hitting these shop owners in the face sooner or later. In my mind where I live $100K is what a seasoned professional of several years experience should make. $50K is what a junior professional should make.

How a company has a machinist run a $200K machine that he can easily crash and do severe damage, run parts that could be worth in some cases $100K and not want to pay a professional wage I just don't get.

I have to think that it won't take too many more of these shortage of machinist articles before the shop owners start realizing that they do have to start increasing the wages.

There is no reason why machine technology should not be a four year degree at this point. It takes just as much talent. A good cnc machinist is a computer programmer along with mechanical engineering mixed in.
 
From the article:
"Sedlak's top worker makes $30 an hour. And annual pay at his company ranges between $70,000 and $80,000 with overtime. In 31 years, only three workers have retired from his factory."

Ok, "top worker" is singular so maybe one guy makes $30 per hour. Only three retired but tell me how many layoffs have they had????

They tell you only what they want you to hear and expect you to fill in the rest with assumptions based upon the tone of the article.

ArkTinkerer
 
From the article:
"Sedlak's top worker makes $30 an hour. And annual pay at his company ranges between $70,000 and $80,000 with overtime. In 31 years, only three workers have retired from his factory."

Ok, "top worker" is singular so maybe one guy makes $30 per hour. Only three retired but tell me how many layoffs have they had????

They tell you only what they want you to hear and expect you to fill in the rest with assumptions based upon the tone of the article.

ArkTinkerer

70 or 80k 'with overtime'....so, to make those numbers, the guy averaged 15 to 20 hours a week extra.....not my idea of 'getting ahead'

my first thoughts on 'only three have retired'
3 of how many total?
how many are still working well past retirement age b/c they never made enough to retire?
how many outright quit over the years?

"They tell you only what they want you to hear and expect you to fill in the rest with assumptions based upon the tone of the article."

I agree 100%
 
There will be demand, and perhaps it will be like truck drivers.

Radio ads, TV ads, and 3-4 pages of classified ads in the newspaper.

And for that 70 hour week, truck drivers get $45,000 a year.

And the compensation hasn't kept pace with inflation.

Interesting comparison. The only difference between trucking and being a machinist though... It takes at least 4 years to become a proficient machinist for most. You don't hear radio adverts or television commercials advertising machinist programs/cnc school, etc like you do with trucking. The general perception of the public is that trucking is a more stable and better career to be in. That last bit is probably true for most. Most parents would steer there youngin in the direction of trucking before the factory. Aside from that, the pay is around the same for each, yet a machinist stands for 10 hours a day, works 6 days a week often times, goes home smelling like a machine shop. Health problems may be more common career ender for machinists as well, although that's just my guess.

For everything a good machinist has to know, he simply is not rewarded for it. And which one is the first to get the pink slip in a down economy? My thinking is that any trucker shortage will correct itself years before any machinist shortage. In order to train a machinist, you have to have enough skilled and experienced machinist around to train. A lot of shops function with a very low skilled/operator ratio anyways. And what kid grows up wanting to be a machinist anyways? Truck driver maybe.
 
70 or 80k 'with overtime'....so, to make those numbers, the guy averaged 15 to 20 hours a week extra.....not my idea of 'getting ahead'

I'll give you my input regarding this... I'm 25, and most friend my age earning decent money are basically required to put in the same kind of hours. I know engineers who have been working 70 hours a week only to get paid the same 40 hours a week salary as well. This complaint you make is not unique to the machinist trade, or the manufacturing sector. It's all in the name of being the most profitable outfit around, and may very well be required just to survive. This is only going to get worse as health insurance becomes a bigger part of the equation. I have no complaint about working the hours I do, because I live on 40 hours a week, and save the rest. If everyone did the same, our economy would be in even bigger trouble though.
 
ive been in the trade for 32 yrs now, personally i dont recommend kids to get in this trade anymore, for $18.00 hr, i program, set up and run 2 slantbeds, fill out inspection reports on every part, skid my own parts, empty my chip hoppers, load and unload trucks when they come in, because they say they cant afford a laborer, but we do have room in the budget to have someone clean the offices..go figure.....
 
/snip/

I have no complaint about working the hours I do, because I live on 40 hours a week, and save the rest. If everyone did the same, our economy would be in even bigger trouble though.

I used to think the same way back when I first got into this trade. I'm betting that 15 or 20 years from now when your pay has doubled (at best) while the cost of living has tripled (or more) in that same time frame; and you're working 60 hour weeks just to scrape by, you might have a different feeling on it.

Back when I was coming of age (high school), I had the intelligence to go far ('accelerated' classes- do they still call them 'Regents'???, college-bound, etc).....instead, I went out of my way to learn welding, based my enlistment choice (Navy) based on the opportunity to learn machining/mechanical repairs, etc etc. I love what I do (as far as the work itself goes), but if my son ever comes to me and tells me he wants to follow in my footsteps and go into manufacturing? I'll beat his ass.
 
I used to think the same way back when I first got into this trade. I'm betting that 15 or 20 years from now when your pay has doubled (at best) while the cost of living has tripled (or more) in that same time frame; and you're working 60 hour weeks just to scrape by, you might have a different feeling on it.

Back when I was coming of age (high school), I had the intelligence to go far ('accelerated' classes- do they still call them 'Regents'???, college-bound, etc).....instead, I went out of my way to learn welding, based my enlistment choice (Navy) based on the opportunity to learn machining/mechanical repairs, etc etc. I love what I do (as far as the work itself goes), but if my son ever comes to me and tells me he wants to follow in my footsteps and go into manufacturing? I'll beat his ass.

I started in this trade 28 years ago. Worked my way through manuals to cnc, then into programming, now into managing. Still ain't making but about $52,000\yr. Part of that is the prevailing idea among employers that the cast of living in a samll town is that much lower in a small town in Texas than it is anywhere else. I've been looking for the bush they're smoking when they come up with that crap, no luck yet. But I'm still here, so who's the crazier one? Thing is, I do love the WORK, just the compensation that hasn't reached expectations. And it does seem to have lagged behind in the last several years. About a 30% lag from what I can tell seems about accurate.
My son is following me in this line of work. He has other options available, and while they're a bit iffy, damned if I don't think that he couldn't be any worse off, long as he at least enjoys his music. He seems to enjoy the shop work, and he's sharp enough at computers and math that he could be real good at machine work, but the forecast looks so dim for so long, I have a hard time convincing MYSELF to talk him into staying with machine work. I think eventually, it has to turn around, but in this area at least, it's just gonna be making somebody else wealthy for a long time.
 








 
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