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The differences between production engineers and devops engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a production engineer and a devops engineer. Additionally, a devops engineer has an average salary of $104,019, which is higher than the $89,727 average annual salary of a production engineer.
The top three skills for a production engineer include java, continuous improvement and lean manufacturing. The most important skills for a devops engineer are python, docker, and java.
| Production Engineer | Devops Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $89,727 | $104,019 |
| Hourly rate | $43.14 | $50.01 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 21% |
| Number of jobs | 94,789 | 257,025 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 76% | Bachelor's Degree, 75% |
| Average age | 42 | 39 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
A production engineer is responsible for monitoring the production operations, ensuring everyone's adherence to safety protocols, and evaluating the staff's performance, strategizing on maximizing productivity to deliver efficient results that would drive revenues and increase profitability. Production engineers inspect the reliability of production equipment and machinery, conducting preventive maintenance, and repair inconsistencies to prevent production delays. They also identify areas of improvement with the manufacturing processes and escalate best practices for improvement. A production engineer must be knowledgeable about technological advancements and incorporate ideas to minimize costs without sacrificing the quality of services.
DevOps engineers are practitioners of DevOps, a software development strategy that aims to bridge the gap between computer software development and information technology (IT) operations. They work closely with computer software developers and other IT staff to manage code deployments and releases. Their duties include overseeing the IT infrastructure supporting software code in different environments, choosing a suitable deployment model, and directing testing protocol needed to validate releases. Other tasks they may likely perform include preparing test data, analyzing results, and troubleshooting issues and problems.
Production engineers and devops engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Production Engineer | Devops Engineer | |
| Average salary | $89,727 | $104,019 |
| Salary range | Between $64,000 And $125,000 | Between $80,000 And $135,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Cheniere Energy | The Citadel |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Start-up |
There are a few differences between a production engineer and a devops engineer in terms of educational background:
| Production Engineer | Devops Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 76% | Bachelor's Degree, 75% |
| Most common major | Mechanical Engineering | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between production engineers' and devops engineers' demographics:
| Production Engineer | Devops Engineer | |
| Average age | 42 | 39 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 86.7% Female, 13.3% | Male, 86.2% Female, 13.8% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 4.3% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 10.5% Asian, 15.4% White, 65.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 4.6% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 8.4% Asian, 29.8% White, 52.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 4% | 8% |