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The differences between shop foremen and lead people can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a shop foreman and a lead person. Additionally, a lead person has an average salary of $105,432, which is higher than the $68,171 average annual salary of a shop foreman.
The top three skills for a shop foreman include customer service, preventative maintenance and CDL. The most important skills for a lead person are safety rules, ISO, and safety regulations.
| Shop Foreman | Lead Person | |
| Yearly salary | $68,171 | $105,432 |
| Hourly rate | $32.77 | $50.69 |
| Growth rate | 5% | - |
| Number of jobs | 16,599 | 87,619 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 37% | High School Diploma, 44% |
| Average age | 46 | 46 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
A shop foreman is responsible for monitoring the daily operations of a shop, ensuring that the staff members perform their duties to address customers' needs. A shop foreman manages staffing schedules, trains new employees, and distributes tasks. They often work in manufacturing, automotive, and warehouse industries, which require knowledge of operating equipment. A shop foreman must have excellent leadership and communication skills, especially on addressing customers' inquiries and complaints and performing clerical tasks as needed.
A lead person or lead worker is an employee who provides leadership and instructions to others in a group to complete tasks quickly and effectively. Lead workers plan and organize meetings with supervisors and the management to discuss a particular project's progress and development. Lead persons would often participate in the training of new employees about their job duties. As the group leader, lead persons must also ensure that employees are following company policies and adhere to all standards and guidelines.
Shop foremen and lead people have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Shop Foreman | Lead Person | |
| Average salary | $68,171 | $105,432 |
| Salary range | Between $47,000 And $97,000 | Between $64,000 And $171,000 |
| Highest paying City | Gillette, WY | Santa Rosa, CA |
| Highest paying state | Wyoming | Hawaii |
| Best paying company | Freightliner Trucks | |
| Best paying industry | Energy | Construction |
There are a few differences between a shop foreman and a lead person in terms of educational background:
| Shop Foreman | Lead Person | |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 37% | High School Diploma, 44% |
| Most common major | Automotive Technology | Business |
| Most common college | SUNY Farmingdale | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between shop foremen' and lead people' demographics:
| Shop Foreman | Lead Person | |
| Average age | 46 | 46 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 97.0% Female, 3.0% | Male, 84.4% Female, 15.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 12.5% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 16.7% Asian, 5.3% White, 60.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | Black or African American, 12.7% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 18.2% Asian, 4.7% White, 59.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |