[freedomben]

I completely agree. My experience was exactly the same.

I also noticed that there were engineers that made a lot more than me because of seniority, but they weren't very good and didn't contribute proportionally. In some cases they were actually a drag on the system because they didn't want to stay current with tech. The transparent pay actually became a disincentive to work hard and a demotivator.

We also had some "class-warfare" type problems, especially with some of the technicians that had no prior experience and were straight out of high school. They were generally paid roughly double minimum wage, whereas engineers would get around triple to quadruple the minimum wage. They resented that, and it created conflict and discomfort in the workplace that otherwise would not have been.

Despite some of the benefits, the downsides were just too high. I like seeing "ranges" so you can get a feel for whether you're getting screwed, but not necessarily individual pay levels.

[walshemj]

well Duh you would expect a Technician to get paid less than an "Engineer".

[AstralStorm]

If they perform the same actual job at similar performance? No, you should not, but the companies exploit reduced job market mobility for the former. (Caused by companies aggressively filtering on education.)

[walshemj]

Which sane company does that why hire engineers to do a technicians job?