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The differences between shop foremen and shop 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 shop foreman and a shop technician. Additionally, a shop foreman has an average salary of $68,171, which is higher than the $36,798 average annual salary of a shop technician.
The top three skills for a shop foreman include customer service, preventative maintenance and CDL. The most important skills for a shop technician are preventative maintenance, routine maintenance, and diagnosis.
| Shop Foreman | Shop Technician | |
| Yearly salary | $68,171 | $36,798 |
| Hourly rate | $32.77 | $17.69 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 4% |
| Number of jobs | 16,599 | 150,349 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 37% | High School Diploma, 30% |
| Average age | 46 | 42 |
| 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.
Shop Technicians are skilled workers assigned to a retail store. Their main activities depend on the nature of the business their company is in. Usually, Shop Technicians work with machines in the shop. They conduct repair and maintenance work for machines that have long been in the shop. They are also in charge of installing and building new machines as well. Shop Technicians are assigned to manage records of such machines or s other mechanical items in the store. This is part of the administrative activities they may do for the shop.
Shop foremen and shop technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Shop Foreman | Shop Technician | |
| Average salary | $68,171 | $36,798 |
| Salary range | Between $47,000 And $97,000 | Between $25,000 And $53,000 |
| Highest paying City | Gillette, WY | San Leandro, CA |
| Highest paying state | Wyoming | Alaska |
| Best paying company | Freightliner Trucks | Los Alamos National Laboratory |
| Best paying industry | Energy | Energy |
There are a few differences between a shop foreman and a shop technician in terms of educational background:
| Shop Foreman | Shop Technician | |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 37% | High School Diploma, 30% |
| Most common major | Automotive Technology | Automotive Technology |
| Most common college | SUNY Farmingdale | - |
Here are the differences between shop foremen' and shop technicians' demographics:
| Shop Foreman | Shop Technician | |
| Average age | 46 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 97.0% Female, 3.0% | Male, 91.9% Female, 8.1% |
| 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, 8.0% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 18.2% Asian, 2.4% White, 65.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 2% |