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Shop Foreman Wage and Tasks

nitrousmudbogger

Aluminum
Joined
Feb 12, 2013
Location
Belgrade, MT
Im looking to hire a Foreman. Not the first time, we have transitioned machinists or others into the position but has never worked well as they were usually good at that one thing but not all areas of the shop, usually people management was the not so good.

What are you guys paying for a foreman?

What do you consider his tasks? We are a medium sized family business that manufactures our own products but also does contract work for other companies. So more than one hat would be needed. We run 10hr days, 5 days a week and unattended another 5 hrs/ day usually

Here is my thoughts. We are in a high cost of living area but pretty low wages due to being somewhat remote(comparing to LA or Chicago or something)
$50,000-$75,000/ year with possibly a bonus based on a variety of things, scrap, profits, deadlines, etc.

Thanks
 
Im looking to hire a Foreman. Not the first time, we have transitioned machinists or others into the position but has never worked well as they were usually good at that one thing but not all areas of the shop, usually people management was the not so good.

What are you guys paying for a foreman?

What do you consider his tasks? We are a medium sized family business that manufactures our own products but also does contract work for other companies. So more than one hat would be needed. We run 10hr days, 5 days a week and unattended another 5 hrs/ day usually

Here is my thoughts. We are in a high cost of living area but pretty low wages due to being somewhat remote(comparing to LA or Chicago or something)
$50,000-$75,000/ year with possibly a bonus based on a variety of things, scrap, profits, deadlines, etc.

Thanks

.
CNC operator working a lot of overtime with benefits can make $90,000. or more per year. good luck finding a foreman
 
.
CNC operator working a lot of overtime with benefits can make $90,000. or more per year. good luck finding a foreman

That is not reflective of the wages here, maybe in LA. I know most of the shops around here and $75 is about the best a 20 year programmer will do, with most in the $40k and up bracket
 
Average foreman/supervisor pay in a UAW auto plant is $65,000-$70,000 plus straight pay for overtime.
Before people start quoting internet job board sources I have the recent W-2s to prove it.
Bob
 
.
CNC operator working a lot of overtime with benefits can make $90,000. or more per year. good luck finding a foreman

Naw...Farm it out on an H1-B...get an Indian foreman in with a bullhorn !

Don't take any crap-o-la from those overpaid operators, crack that whip !

Plus, you can get a new one every 6 months.....:crazy:
 
naw...farm it out on an h1-b...get an indian foreman in with a bullhorn !

Don't take any crap-o-la from those overpaid operators, crack that whip !

Plus, you can get a new one every 6 months.....:crazy:

here we go again, i was waiting for old dumb ass digger doug warrior of practical machinist forums to pipe in!
 
You may be in a "remote" area or low cost, but you have to attract the person to your location that has expertise. Wages are part of that. However, if you are up front with hours worked, benefits etc, someone may be looking to relocate family to a more quiet lifestyle. In remote areas, the expertise is the hardest thing to find and new workers(millennials) willing to leave the big glamorous city life when hunting for a new girlfriend. You need to offer minimum $60k+benefits from what I have seen with my own two eyes.
 
You may be in a "remote" area or low cost, but you have to attract the person to your location that has expertise. Wages are part of that. However, if you are up front with hours worked, benefits etc, someone may be looking to relocate family to a more quiet lifestyle. In remote areas, the expertise is the hardest thing to find and new workers(millennials) willing to leave the big glamorous city life when hunting for a new girlfriend. You need to offer minimum $60k+benefits from what I have seen with my own two eyes.

I forgot to mention we offer vacation & insurance now
 
Here is my thoughts. We are in a high cost of living area but pretty low wages due to being somewhat remote(comparing to LA or Chicago or something)
$50,000-$75,000/ year with possibly a bonus based on a variety of things, scrap, profits, deadlines, etc.

Thanks

With those conditions I would assume you will be looking for a local applicant who is established in the area. I cannot imagine a high cost of living/low wage selling well to a highly skilled applicant who is willing to relocate for work.

Regardless make sure your offer is VERY clear when it comes to the bonus structure you are willing to offer. That can be a major incentive to a skilled/motovated applicant. But there is no bigger turn off than vauge promises. It only creates mistrust.

Best of luck. Management can be hard rolls to fill and has a major impact on the company (good or bad)
 
How come your guys have such a narrow focus on what they can actually do? We move guys around all the time, so they are familiar with mulitple machines and understand more why certain things are done that way.
 
How come your guys have such a narrow focus on what they can actually do? We move guys around all the time, so they are familiar with mulitple machines and understand more why certain things are done that way.

We move guys around from mills to lathes etc, but have learned great machinists have a different mind set than management type people. Having a machinist as management never has worked for us. Machinist are usually detail oriented, artistic types, less focus on time management and most definitely not people persons
 
I actually looked at a job a few months ago in Montana.

Cost of living was higher than where I am at (did not know that was possible outside NYC or similar)
Houses cost more than where I am at
Schools were ranked lower than where I am at

Company had a position that was not listed as "lead" or "foreman" but you managed a shop full of machinists, scheduled work, ordered material, planned and scheduled when the machinist worked... sounded like a lead/foreman position to me. Absolutely nothing on their job advertisement about wages or benefits. Called and was told $40k-$60k dependant on experience.

If it was just me, no kids, no wife, I'd relocate for $60k to Montana. Worth it to me not to be in Ohio.

But then the really important details were left out of the add. Climate controlled shop? Clean shop? Organized shop? Well tooled shop? Adequate gauging and inspection equipment? Flexible work hours? Each of those that are checked no... requires an increase in pay.

Last job I had before going self employed, I "managed" 3 machinist, scheduled all the machining work, brow beat engineering, spec'd and worked with purchasing to get needed material, ordered all the tooling, met with reps, maintained and repaired machinery, kept the boss in check, swept the floor, unloaded trucks, all while keeping a vmc running.

If you were vying to get me to come out to MT to manage a shop, I'd expect $30/hr minimum. According to your 50hr/wk, that would put me right about $89,000 a year, including a minimum of 2 weeks paid vacation and great health insurance, you have a 401k match too right?
 
This thread got me interested in why Montana has a higher cost of living along with lower wages. This page gives a basic review of the relative costs:

Cost of Living in Montana: How Does It Stack up against the Average Salary? - Movoto

I can understand the landscape being one of the big attractions, but I would miss being near places like Boston and Cambridge. Huge ranges of restaurants, arts, museums, etc. are something I'd miss.
 
Not in Idaho,,,LOCATION,location,location

After looking at Glassdoor and Indeed there are no operators making 90k a year anywhere. We are paying on the higher end of the scale here from what I saw. Across the country Operators were $10-20/ hr, Machinist were up to $29, very little foreman info. Thats just what I saw in my searches yesterday. Yeah some make more, some less. Im more interested in what Foreman make and what CURRENT foreman tasks are
 
How come your guys have such a narrow focus on what they can actually do? We move guys around all the time, so they are familiar with mulitple machines and understand more why certain things are done that way.

Also good to job hop, that is what I did working for the man. Back in the day it was the best way to quickly increase your pay if you were good, and get exposure to more equipment and ways of doing things.
 
$50,000-$75,000 seems fair..about/around top pay in the shop..
If the guy has skills so may direct the work.

40 hour shop $20 x 2000= $40,000 is not big money.

A nice guy who can who can write down a problem so it may be directed through proper channels need not make top pay and is still valuable to the shop.

QT: [Operators were $10-20/ hr, Machinist were up to $29,]
$10 dollar operators tend to walk.. I think 15 to $18 for the reliable operator you want to keep.

Actually a machine that bids $70/90 per and only pays $18 seems low...but is often normal.

So IMHO the foreman should get about $10 more or less than the workers.

If the foreman's day is not full and he has time to just walk about and talk to workers then I think there is nothing wrong with a working foreman.
 








 
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