Mainly for the OG's

congrats on being the worst kind of liberal! You a friend of Pelosi? Biden? Clinton?

Do you think our situations will improve by attacking each other's character? You need to realize that poor people fighting amongst themselves is what the rich people want. And yes, to them you are poor.

No, they are not my friends. They are some of the rich people I'm talking about.

BUT what about the 'rich people' that EARN the riches? Not those that stole it (the 3 I mentioned)

Henry Ford is a great example. He had and now his heirs have lots of money, but Ford went bankrupt TWICE before getting his 'empire' working, and he is responsible for the 40/hr work week, some of the highest pay rates in his time. BUT, like all liberals, you want him to give his money that he worked for to people that don't want to work (Mr. Burger Flipper) or who don't want to learn to earn. Flipping burgers isn't a living wage for a reason, that is the kind of job high school kids get to learn to work in the workplace. Should Mr. Burger Flipper make as much as Le Cordon Bleu chefs? They both cook food, don't they? ONE busted their butt to learn to earn, Mr. Burger Flipper just wants someone to give him (MAXIMUM) money for (MINIMAL) effort. THAT is all that $15/hr minimum wage would do. And, no matter what you want to think, THAT will ruin my buying power that I learned to earn. But, the liberals don't want the actually learn-to-earn workers to see this, their rhetoric is what you are espousing here.

Manufacturing pay is extremely dependent on your location.

If you want to make more money, you have to be willing to job-jump and move.

I moved from South TX to DFW, and my standard of living went up drastically.

Class envy and minimum wage have nothing to do with CMM programming.

Your future is completely in your hands with CMM, and it's a fantastic career (much better than being a chemist or teacher like I was before).
You can literally get an offer on every job you apply for, no matter where it is in the country.

Hating on 'rich people' is the biggest crock. How many 'poor people' have ever given you a job? What is 'rich'? Americans pass through strata of income
over their lives.

"I don't think any of us are getting rich" is sour grapes. There's plenty of guys making six figures doing CMM work - without overtime pay.

It's up to you to make it happen.

Manufacturing pay is extremely dependent on your location.

If you want to make more money, you have to be willing to job-jump and move.

I moved from South TX to DFW, and my standard of living went up drastically.

Class envy and minimum wage have nothing to do with CMM programming.

Your future is completely in your hands with CMM, and it's a fantastic career (much better than being a chemist or teacher like I was before).
You can literally get an offer on every job you apply for, no matter where it is in the country.

"I don't think any of us are getting rich" is sour grapes. There's plenty of guys making six figures doing CMM work - without overtime pay.

It's up to you to make it happen.

amen brother

I'm in Wisconsin. I have a non-PC-DMIS programming background, but I am not a programmer (yet) at my current job.

According to Salary.com, WI average for a CMM Programmer is $60,800 annually.

I 1000% agree that pay scale is dependent on location. As well as the individual company. I know a few people that work at places where the CMM lab is "window dressing" to be able to get and keep certain contracts.

Just a side note, you can actually make a decent living as a "Burger Flipper" if you really want to. I worked at a McDonald's during and a few years after high school. Upon graduation, I was promoted to a shift manager. The store manager tried to talk me into advancing through the management ranks. Assistant store managers, store managers, and district managers apparently make a decent wage. I of course had learned by then that I was not a people person and left to start my career in the glorious world of quality. Now I use my lack of people skills on machinists that swear the CMM is wrong.

Something else to consider about working with CMMs - it is quite a niche line of work. There are just not a lot of experienced CMM programmers out there. It is not covered in many schools and most people learn on the job. Often, when I'm interviewing for a job, I'm one of just a hand full of people applying if not the only person applying. That was even before the current labor shortages in my area.

On the downside, CMMs jobs are a bit rare too. They are limited to the few companies involved with manufacturing that also have a need to measure things with a CMM. Also, the jobs don't seem so common in either really rural or densely urban areas. So it does kind of limit where you live, but I suppose that is true about most jobs.

I cleared 6 figures last year for the first time ever (albeit just barely), but I'm a QE, and I do a lot more than just program the CMM. I also live in San Diego, where there are a lot of manufacturing jobs and the median price of a house is about $850,000. Me and my roommate's rent is $2,700/mo for a pretty basic 2B/2B apartment so you guys still probably have more spending money than I do

me 20 bucks... =(