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The differences between production support technicians and desktop support technicians 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 technician and a desktop support technician. Additionally, a production support technician has an average salary of $57,726, which is higher than the $41,792 average annual salary of a desktop support technician.
The top three skills for a production support technician include troubleshoot, POS and SQL. The most important skills for a desktop support technician are customer service, desktop support, and troubleshoot.
| Production Support Technician | Desktop Support Technician | |
| Yearly salary | $57,726 | $41,792 |
| Hourly rate | $27.75 | $20.09 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 162,450 | 108,944 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 1 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 46% | Bachelor's Degree, 46% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
Production Support Technicians ensure the availability of the materials needed for production. Besides putting preventative maintenance techniques into practice and ensuring that the factory remains safe for each worker, production support technicians also identify faults and troubleshoot where possible. They inspect machinery and update the workers and management about the faults. Also, production support technicians analyze products and performance and then make the right recommendations. Moreover, they ensure that the staff members remain updated about the safety and health regulations.
A desktop support technician is responsible for troubleshooting defective computer systems, affecting its performance and efficiency. Desktop support technicians must be highly familiar with the technology systems and programming codes to navigate system applications and locate the discrepancy of the system. They keep documentation of the ticket issue and the resolution for reference and quality improvement. A desktop support technician also configures and updates computer systems and networks for better optimization, as well as conducting regular inspections and monitoring the efficiency of installed programs and patches.
Production support technicians and desktop support technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Production Support Technician | Desktop Support Technician | |
| Average salary | $57,726 | $41,792 |
| Salary range | Between $33,000 And $98,000 | Between $32,000 And $54,000 |
| Highest paying City | Jersey City, NJ | Philadelphia, PA |
| Highest paying state | New Jersey | Pennsylvania |
| Best paying company | Jefferies | NTT Data International L.L.C. |
| Best paying industry | Manufacturing | Finance |
There are a few differences between a production support technician and a desktop support technician in terms of educational background:
| Production Support Technician | Desktop Support Technician | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 46% | Bachelor's Degree, 46% |
| Most common major | Business | Computer Information Systems |
| Most common college | Stanford University | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between production support technicians' and desktop support technicians' demographics:
| Production Support Technician | Desktop Support Technician | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 79.2% Female, 20.8% | Male, 89.8% Female, 10.2% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.9% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.6% Asian, 12.8% White, 53.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | Black or African American, 11.6% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.4% Asian, 11.7% White, 54.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |