Coaster Manufacturer Salaries

[Gavin]

In the many years I've been on here, I don't think I've seen much mentioned in terms of pay for jobs in the coaster design/manufacturing business. There's an old topic from 2009 regarding B&M salaries, but I think that's about it.

I'm sure this is largely down to a lack of information, but I just saw a job advert from The Gravity Group on Facebook which made me realise I'd never really seen it discussed here.

The job (manufacturing/assembly) must be at the lowest end of the company spectrum, and I'm not massively clued up on US pay, but it seemed to be quite low, lower than I'd expected really.

Having said that, I'm not posting this to attack Gravity Group's pay. I'm just genuinely interested in the industry as a whole, but have no real idea of how it works from a staff/employee perspective, and their post made me think about it.

So, without digging into anyone's individual finances, any ideas or examples of what you could expect to be paid at different levels if working for a coaster company?

 

[Howie]

Looking at the advert, I think the main clue is in the first paragraph:
"You can be building roller coaster track, trains and mechanical equipment... as well as packing parts orders and many other tasks... "
In other words: "Packer/dogsbody wanted. Must be able to read and write their own name."
In which case, a thousand bucks a week with overtime doesn't sound too bad. Might even apply...

 

[Gavin]

Yeah, but it seems like packer/dogsbody on top of actual manufacturing since they're asking for experience in carpentry, mechanics etc. I took it to mean "doing any old s**t we tell you if there's no construction scheduled".

Just did a quick Google, and in the US, average factory pay is apparently around $16 an hour while the average for a carpenter is around $24 and slightly more for a mechanic.

So yeah, they're paying "factory" prices, but also asking for skilled workers, with an opening enticement of "Do you want to build rollercoasters?" Seems a bit cheeky to me.

Do you want to work for one of the world's most successful Fortune 500 companies? Go and collect those trolleys and bring them back to the Walmart entrance.

Ugh, I'm overthinking it; I don't really care about what this particular job pays or entails. I'm just a nosey f**ker and want to know what different coaster companies pay for different jobs, and that's the post that started it.

 

[Hutch]

The job description is still a little vague when it comes to the level of the position. If they want people with real, multi-year experience, then the pay isn't great. They're asking you to work significant overtime to reach an equivalent of $20/hr (and we're beginning to see parks pay their ride ops that base rate).

My first co-op during my second year of college had a higher rate than what they're offering here (though not by a whole lot). It was an internship role in a construction management company, and I basically did **** all half of the time. So if this position is geared toward younger people trying to get involved in the theme park industry at an entry-level, then I suppose it's fair. But if they're trying to attract experienced professionals? They gotta step it up.

 

[Gazza]

I thought the bare minimum people seek for a minimum wage job was $15 ("Fight for $15" etc) so $17.50 doesn't seem inspiring.

 

[Indy]

I'm not going to go into specifics, but the salaries are usually on the low end from an engineering perspective. The vendor side can be rough as there are lots of risks involved with the business. Margins can be quite low and can evaporate quickly if a project doesn't go smoothly. Since the companies are usually pretty small, little hiccups in projects can really be burdensome. And while niche, it is perceived as a very cool or glamorous job, which means that there is often a lot of demand for any job openings. Therefore, it's easy to pay lower salaries because people so desperately want to obtain their dream job. Furthermore, for the reasons that have already been mentioned, it is advantageous for companies to run as lean as possible so salaries can often get diluted even further by long hours without overtime pay.

You can certainly make decent money doing it, but a job outside the industry will often pay better.

I thought the bare minimum people seek for a minimum wage job was $15 ("Fight for $15" etc) so $17.50 doesn't seem inspiring.

No. There is certainly a major push throughout the US to increase the minimum wage to $15, but currently only two states have a minimum wage of $15 or higher. For reference, the minimum wage in Ohio is $9.30 and the minimum wage just across the border in Kentucky and Indiana is $7.25. This GG position is one that somebody could theoretically get straight out of high school, so $17.50 is pretty decent.

 

[Christian]

Wonder if GG and others already want trained carpenters/mechanics/welders/etc or they like to train their own people from the ground up? Starting as a packer and ending up being a skilled carpenter in a couple of years.

 

[Indy]

Wonder if GG and others already want trained carpenters/mechanics/welders/etc or they like to train their own people from the ground up? Starting as a packer and ending up being a skilled carpenter in a couple of years.

Trained is always preferable, but untrained is cheaper. This doesn't apply to welders though, who have to be trained and certified.