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The differences between production support technicians and support leads 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 support lead. Additionally, a support lead has an average salary of $86,816, 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 support lead are customer service, cash management, and POS.
| Production Support Technician | Support Lead | |
| Yearly salary | $57,726 | $86,816 |
| Hourly rate | $27.75 | $41.74 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 162,450 | 98,872 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 46% | Bachelor's Degree, 58% |
| 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 support lead is typically in charge of overseeing the performance of a technical support team, ensuring efficiency and customer satisfaction. Their responsibilities revolve around assessing the performance of the workforce, resolving complex issues, identifying customer needs and sales opportunities, and training new team members. They may also perform calls and correspondence, respond to inquiries, and resolve issues promptly. Furthermore, as a support lead, it is essential to perform clerical tasks such as preparing progress reports, managing schedules, and maintaining records of transactions.
Production support technicians and support leads have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Production Support Technician | Support Lead | |
| Average salary | $57,726 | $86,816 |
| Salary range | Between $33,000 And $98,000 | Between $63,000 And $118,000 |
| Highest paying City | Jersey City, NJ | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | New Jersey | California |
| Best paying company | Jefferies | Apple |
| Best paying industry | Manufacturing | - |
There are a few differences between a production support technician and a support lead in terms of educational background:
| Production Support Technician | Support Lead | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 46% | Bachelor's Degree, 58% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between production support technicians' and support leads' demographics:
| Production Support Technician | Support Lead | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 79.2% Female, 20.8% | Male, 52.3% Female, 47.7% |
| 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, 10.5% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.1% Asian, 14.6% White, 54.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |