Skilled Trades in automotive companies get same or more pay compared to engineers. Why the imbalance?

Feb 26 7 Comments

#auto #gm #ford #stellantis #rivian #tesla #toyota #zf #bosch #automotive

I feel sad for engineers like myself. ๐Ÿ˜ท๐Ÿ˜ท๐Ÿคฎ

General Motors Tesla Rivian
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  • GKN Automotive / Eng
    Sby921

    GKN Automotive Eng

     Sby921
    Union negotiated pay rates are part of the story. The other part is hours and overtime. The skilled trades don't pay higher than engineering from a base perspective, but the potential is there to outpace engineering as they are compensated for the extra hours worked. We auto engineers are paid to work 40 hours a week, are expected to work 50 hours a week, and have to put in closer to 60 to make sure our projects aren't falling behind. We might have a $100k salary, but it works out to $35/hr at 60hrs/wk. Those skilled trade workers are probably getting the same $35/hr for their first 40 hours, then $52/hr for anything over 8 hours M-F, $52/hr for any hours on Sat, and $70/hr for Sun and holidays. A friend working as a welder pulled in close to $100k last year, but worked most Saturdays during the year.
    Mar 8 1
  • Engineer is not uncommon...good luck finding someone to fabricate custom interior and seats for the next concept car though.
    Mar 3 0
  • New / Eng
    VzeL64

    New Eng

     VzeL64
    The trades have unions; engineering has H-1B.
    Feb 27 0
  • Argo AI
    whatsaTC

    Go to company page Argo AI

    whatsaTC
    Uhh. What do you call a skilled trade? Depending on exactly what it is, the difficulty could be great.
    Feb 26 1
  • Canoo
    wind0wseat

    Go to company page Canoo

    wind0wseat
    The US government has been subsidizing higher education VERY aggressively for decades now. Thereโ€™s plenty of engineers (especially mechanical). Not so for trades.

    Trades require skills that are accumulated over long periods of time. If you have senior or staff tradesmen they can absolutely earn same as the average engineer.
    Feb 27 0