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Every once in a while, I see an article describing the lack of good machinists, especially CNC machinists. The radio feature will inevitably feature some audio of a shop owner bemoaning the scarcity of those guys. "I could hire four guys today!"
Well, it must be true. The newspaper and the online job sites have opening for machinists every day. But here's what they don't tell you: The pay that they offer ranges around ten bucks an hour. Ten bucks an hour for being fluent in a programming language, or several programming languages. Ten bucks an hour for if you make a mistake, you're responsible for ruining a $40,000 part.
I've seen MacDonalds offer ten bucks for good crew. And you can make way more than that sweeping school hallways, with no pressure at all.
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