Steve Gregory said:

>Well, with my new job as was supposed to be a SMT Process Engineer, I got
>tasked with taking over our wave solder operations (and being the supervisor
>to boot! Hey, whatcha' gonna do? With relocating and everything?) Nuff'
>said...

snip (I thought he said enough)

>What I'm asking, is there a web page someplace that will give me some
>ammunition to justify a certain hourly pay-scale for someone that I'm looking
>for? Something that I can go to management with and let them know that they
>can expect to hire someone for a certain figure and expect a competent
>person. Just to let you know, they think they I can hire someone for between
>$6.50-7.50 an hour out here...I don't think so myself...that's if I can find
>someone that knows anything about wave soldering...hehehe

snip more

>I've always been an engineer, and not usually involved in the hiring of
>operators... especially here in Oklahoma. I know pretty much what production
>positions get in "Silicon Valley" but not here in Oklahoma.
>
>Boy, this sucks...I just need a web page, something...anything

Hmmm. You left Silicon Valley for WHERE??? You must really hate traffic,
Stephen. Maybe you just love tumbleweeds and country music, though.

Keep in mind, as a manager, you are always in a position of hiring the best
people you can for the least possible money. Practice being like Scrooge,
it may preserve your career.

The BLS makes some wage survey info public via the net:

check out:

http://www.bls.gov/ro6news.htm

March 99 region 6 employment cost survey

http://www.bls.gov/special.requests/dallas/ro6ecec.htm

Amarillo, TX 1997 wage survey:

ftp://ftp.bls.gov/pub/special.requests/dallas/wage.amarillo.txt

Dallas, TX 1998 wage survey (yes, Dallas is the BIG city, comparatively)

My opinion: a good solder machine operator is worth a lot, but you won't
find many trained operators, even here. If you do, pay them 12 or 15 or
whatever as it will be worth if if they are competent, careful, and can
learn.

When I have had to replace a solder machine operator, starting with a
person who has board assembly and/or hand soldering experience was my
preference. If they know workmanship, component recognition, etc. it helps
a lot.

If you are in a small town far from OKC, and Tulsa you will be 20-30% below
the city wage level, and in general much more of an employer's job market,
so you might find a person happy to make $6-7 per hour. In suburban Dallas,
you can make more than that at a 7-11.


regards,

Jerry Cupples
Interphase Corporation
Dallas, TX USA
http://www.iphase.com

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