CNC programmer salary? and my Work life story

[cruzila]

46 minutes ago, JParis said:

We should talk Mike 

I Might know a guy hiring 

Seems like most everyone is short of qualified "machinists". I was researching this some time ago and found that the "government" description likely sets the wage lower than it should be for such a prestigious trade. 

[JParis]

18 minutes ago, cruzila said:

Seems like most everyone is short of qualified "machinists". I was researching this some time ago and found that the "government" description likely sets the wage lower than it should be for such a prestigious trade. 

Right off, I don't want to say that people are being greedy, lord knows I will take what the market will bear, that said, I think there are some people that aren't looking a little bit down the road....

All signs right now point to  slow down, I have been doing this long enough to KNOW that when it happens, many of those people eeking out every last cent they can are going to be many of the first people looking elsewhere when that time comes...

Some of it is some people rightly climbing to where they really should be, I am referrring to the others that are squeezing every last penny that they can....that is going to come back and bite them, likely in the not too distant future.

[CNC CHRIS]

i started at $12 as a CNC waterjet operator/programmer. Worked my way up to conventional machinist. then worked as a tool a die for a couple years. After that became a set up for CNC machines, then to CNC programmer. Been with this company for 10 years. Now im the lead programmer/machinist, i program 5 axis parts, design tooling for parts that need welding on the sheet metal side. Some tooling designing for punch presses. and now learning an EDM. and now currently at $42 an hour

[cncappsjames]

I'm not really big on posting salaries in a public forum personally, but to each their own. I always say; "don't like what you make, negotiate better!" Just kidding... mostly.

I was privy to listen in on a discussion probably 4 years ago involving another AE that worked for a competitor about his salary.

What I deduced from the conversation; he's a clock puncher; 8 to 5 M-F and that's it, he had no 5-Axis experience (running OR programming), he had no automation integration experience, he had no meaningful CAD/CAM experience, he had very little to no in-process probing experience, he had no CAV experience, very little under the hood CNC Control experience, etc., etc., etc., If I had to guess, I'd say he's probably within a year or so for retirement today, though with current economic (read 401k losses) conditions, perhaps not. Anyway, he did all his programming manually and used MACRO programming for everything. Cool skillset back in the 80's, 90's and maybe even EARLY EARLY 2000's, but, that just isn't going to come anywhere near close to cutting it these days. He's like decades behind his customers. Honestly, if you're not at least keeping pace with what your customers are doing, that's a BAD place to be because before you know it it's 2022 and you're still programming with notepad feeling relevant and everyone else in the room is looking at you like "...WTF dude, you can't even read CAD data...".  

Moral of the story; Keep your skills relevant. Keep your software skills up to date. If you're more than one version behind you're too far behind. Keep your function skills up to date and relevant. Always be moving forward. Be a voracious learner. Find a company that values tenacity. And be tenacious. Or don't and just try to compete against the guys that are, and let us know how that's working out for you so at the bare minimum you can be a cautionary tale for the rest of us.

[cncappsjames]

9 hours ago, JParis said:

Right off, I don't want to say that people are being greedy, lord knows I will take what the market will bear, that said, I think there are some people that aren't looking a little bit down the road....

All signs right now point to  slow down, I have been doing this long enough to KNOW that when it happens, many of those people eeking out every last cent they can are going to be many of the first people looking elsewhere when that time comes...

Some of it is some people rightly climbing to where they really should be, I am referrring to the others that are squeezing every last penny that they can....that is going to come back and bite them, likely in the not too distant future.

^^^^^^^^^^^^ This... this right here! Nicely put @JParis.

[JParis]

10 hours ago, cncappsjames said:

Moral of the story; Keep your skills relevant. Keep your software skills up to date. If you're more than one version behind you're too far behind. Keep your function skills up to date and relevant. Always be moving forward. Be a voracious learner. Find a company that values tenacity. And be tenacious. Or don't and just try to compete against the guys that are, and let us know how that's working out for you so at the bare minimum you can be a cautionary tale for the rest of us.

The guy I interviewed earlier this week, really seemed like a nice guy, unfortunately, his skill set just wasn't where I need it to be....using X4, all 2D and a bit of 3D programming, No multi-axis, no HMC, no lathe, no probing, no macros,,,,I am not opposed to enhancing a person's skill set but I would need him or whomever, to take the basic lions share of HMC programming. I just don't have the time to wait for someone to have some of the basic skill I need. I'll teach the rest.

With me taking on the Additive Manufacturing portion on top of my management duties, my time is currently very thin....I need a person but it has to make sense for all parties.

[cncappsjames]

I forgot to add... that AE... He was making $79k. Not sure where his salary is at today. That is/was a pittance for a good AE, but probably within $5-$10k for what he's worth in the AE world IMHO.

[Zoffen]

Wait....you all get paid...?!?!?

I thought this was all just for the fun of it...

[cncappsjames]

3 hours ago, Zoffen said:

Wait....you all get paid...?!?!?

I thought this was all just for the fun of it...

We only get paid for our day jobs. This? We do for the love of it.

[Matthew Hajicek - Singularity]

On 11/5/2022 at 12:17 PM, Zoffen said:

Wait....you all get paid...?!?!?

I thought this was all just for the fun of it...

We get a scoop of Borax every week, a few crusts of bread now and then...

[Aaron Eberhard]

On 11/3/2022 at 9:11 PM, cncappsjames said:

There's exceptions to every rule.

#StillMovinOnUp

Correct.  It's statistical analysis across the entire population.   Glad to hear that you're still getting proportional raises, though, not just cost of living increases!

[cncappsjames]

17 hours ago, Matthew Hajicek - Singularity said:

We get a scoop of Borax every week, a few crusts of bread now and then...

WAIT... You don't get gruel?

[JoshC]

i also think location makes this question tough because you can have 2x the salary and still have half the buying power depending on your area, 100k a year in CA probably doesn't leave you as much money to work with as making 50K in Ohio, just like you can buy a house for 4x less and all other commodities for less depending on area. Crazy how much changes from one part of the country to the next... but politics and the people that run these states dont always make the best choices... Hope you all get out and Vote!