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The differences between production support technicians and lead 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 lead technician. Additionally, a lead technician has an average salary of $90,615, which is higher than the $57,726 average annual salary of a production support technician.
The top three skills for a production support technician include troubleshoot, POS and SQL. The most important skills for a lead technician are java, architecture, and digital transformation.
| Production Support Technician | Lead Technician | |
| Yearly salary | $57,726 | $90,615 |
| Hourly rate | $27.75 | $43.56 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 162,450 | 250,590 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 46% | Bachelor's Degree, 50% |
| 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.
Lead technicians are technicians who oversee the technical needs of a specific project or department. They are usually tenured employees, and their familiarity with the company's technical and technological processes, software, and hardware would be a great advantage in succeeding in their role. Lead technicians are responsible for installing, updating, and maintaining various software and hardware components in the office. They often manage a group of technicians, and they ensure that the group they manage is properly trained and well-versed on the processes of the company. Lead technicians are expected to have strong analytical skills and decision-making skills.
Production support technicians and lead technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Production Support Technician | Lead Technician | |
| Average salary | $57,726 | $90,615 |
| Salary range | Between $33,000 And $98,000 | Between $67,000 And $121,000 |
| Highest paying City | Jersey City, NJ | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | New Jersey | California |
| Best paying company | Jefferies | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Manufacturing | Retail |
There are a few differences between a production support technician and a lead technician in terms of educational background:
| Production Support Technician | Lead Technician | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 46% | Bachelor's Degree, 50% |
| Most common major | Business | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between production support technicians' and lead technicians' demographics:
| Production Support Technician | Lead Technician | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 79.2% Female, 20.8% | Male, 83.4% Female, 16.6% |
| 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, 10.4% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.1% Asian, 15.1% White, 53.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |