[junkcollector]

To touch on this a bit. To be a good controls guy that does PLC programming you need to have some mechanical background to understand the equipment you are controlling, you need to know enough electrical to do the wiring and parse what your sensors are telling you and you need to be a fair shake at programming/comm protocols/logic. Oh, and most control loop implementations are actually sets of differential equations with DSP inputs so having a knowledge in that stuff helps a lot when you get into the precision stuff.

If you go look at the current postings for these roles you'll find that the average salary is between $15-$25/hr, you'll be on call 24/7, and you have to work physically demanding jobs in relatively harsh environments. I've seen a few outfits that don't even offer to pay their employees for commuting time between sites, only for when they are actually sitting down and working on the boards.