Equipment Maintenance Technician
Impact: Operational efficiency, Safety, Asset longevity
Maintain and repair machines, mechanical equipment, or building structures by performing routine maintenance, inspecting and testing machinery, adjusting functional parts, and ordering supplies. This role involves skills from multiple craft occupations.
What the day looks like
- People interaction
- Moderate
- Team vs solo
- 60% Team / 40% Solo
- Client facing
- Rarely
- Impact visibility
- High
- Travel
- Minimal
- Schedule flexibility
- Structured
- Remote work
- On-site Only
- Typical work hours
- 40 hours/week
- Stress level
- Moderate
At a glance
- Median salary
- $60,000
- Entry-level
- $45,000 - $55,000
- Senior
- $75,000+
- Growth by 2033
- 4% (as fast as average)
- Demand
- Stable
- Freelance potential
- Low
- Salary growth potential
- Moderate to 40-60% growth from entry to senior
- Typical student debt
- $10,000 - $20,000
Skills you'll use
Hard skills
- Equipment Maintenance
- Troubleshooting
- Repairing
- Mechanical Knowledge
- HVAC
- Welding
- Blueprint Reading
Soft skills
- Critical Thinking
- Active Learning
- Monitoring
- Problem Solving
- Communication
Technical complexity: High
How to get there
- Minimum education
- Post-secondary certificate
- Licensing
- Varies by State
- Years to mid-career
- 3-5 years
- Years to senior
- 7-10 years
- Career switching
- Moderate
Where this career leads
How people arrive here
Where you can go from here
Typical progression
- Maintenance Technician
- Senior Maintenance Technician
- Maintenance Supervisor
- Facilities Manager
Future outlook
- Automation probability
- 15% to low risk due to hands-on problem-solving and diagnostic components
- AI disruption risk
- Low
- Demand trend
- Stable
How people feel about it
- Overall satisfaction
- 3.2/10
- Meaning
- 3/10
- Work-life balance
- 3.5/10
- Prestige
- 5.5/10
- Social perception
- Moderate