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The differences between production support engineers and technical support engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a production support engineer and a technical support engineer. Additionally, a technical support engineer has an average salary of $85,716, which is higher than the $78,599 average annual salary of a production support engineer.
The top three skills for a production support engineer include java, infrastructure and linux. The most important skills for a technical support engineer are technical support, customer service, and troubleshoot.
| Production Support Engineer | Technical Support Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $78,599 | $85,716 |
| Hourly rate | $37.79 | $41.21 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 194,203 | 184,542 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 74% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| Average age | 43 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
Product support engineers are in charge of managing the technical requests ordered by the customer. Their primary role is to repair and resolve errors, constantly register details for later reports, and update customers with the improvements. They help other engineers by enhancing processes and assisting in product development. Also, they provide recommendations for feature improvements and efficiency enhancement based on the customers' preference. These specialists are critical and analytical thinkers as well as technical experts. They are able to communicate well to customers while doing multiple tasks and pay attention to detail to track errors and record them.
A technical support engineer is responsible for responding to customer issues, providing immediate resolutions to their system issues through remote assistance. Technical support engineers must have strong knowledge of software and hardware applications to diagnose system defects and process troubleshooting. They also assist customers with the installation of programs and updates to improve system performance, escalating high-level concerns to appropriate internal technology teams. A technical support engineer must have strong command with technical systems, as well as excellent communication and time-management skills to understand clients' issues while documenting procedures.
Production support engineers and technical support engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Production Support Engineer | Technical Support Engineer | |
| Average salary | $78,599 | $85,716 |
| Salary range | Between $57,000 And $107,000 | Between $61,000 And $119,000 |
| Highest paying City | Boston, MA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Massachusetts | Washington |
| Best paying company | Salesforce | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Technology |
There are a few differences between a production support engineer and a technical support engineer in terms of educational background:
| Production Support Engineer | Technical Support Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 74% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Electrical Engineering |
| Most common college | California State University - Long Beach | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between production support engineers' and technical support engineers' demographics:
| Production Support Engineer | Technical Support Engineer | |
| Average age | 43 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 85.1% Female, 14.9% | Male, 83.3% Female, 16.7% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 7.9% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 11.7% Asian, 13.8% White, 61.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% | Black or African American, 9.8% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.1% Asian, 15.0% White, 54.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 11% |