1. First, Let’s Address the Heart of the Matter: Is Our Electrician’s “Low Value” Anxiety Justified?
Last week, I was chatting with Lao Zhou, who has been an electrician for 12 years. His salary has only increased from 5000 to 7000, a mere 2000 over ten years; meanwhile, the newly hired “Automation Maintenance Technician” with no experience but knowledge of PLCs starts at 8000. Lao Zhou sighed, “We climb into electrical cabinets and repair motors every day, so why are we less valuable than someone who just presses a keyboard?”
This is not an isolated case — many electricians feel “undervalued” not because factories don’t need electricians, but because the work we do is “too easily replaceable,” failing to demonstrate our irreplaceable value to the boss!
2. Don’t Blame the Industry! The 3 Real Reasons Electricians Are “Undervalued” (All Common Pitfalls)
Let’s not attribute “low value” to the idea that electricians have no future. First, let’s see if we have fallen into these 3 pitfalls, which are key to devaluing our worth:
1. Only Doing “Part Replacement” Work, Not Engaging in “Fault Prevention” (Value Stuck at “Low-End Repairs”)
In the boss’s eyes: “Replacing contactors and connecting wires can be done by anyone with a bit of electrical knowledge, so why should I pay high wages?” Many electricians spend their days just “repairing what’s broken,” without engaging in “preventive maintenance,” and thus are seen as mere “part replacers.”
Case Study: Master Zhang works as an electrician in a toy factory, spending his days either repairing motors or replacing switches. The boss always says, “Electricians are just ‘firefighters.'” Later, the new Master Li, besides fixing faults, uses an infrared thermometer to check motor temperatures daily, creating a “health record” for each piece of equipment. He discovered bearing wear in the air compressor three months in advance, replaced a 200 yuan bearing, and avoided an 80,000 yuan loss from a burned-out motor. The boss immediately raised Master Li’s salary by 2000 — see, “part replacement” is worth 200 yuan, while “fault prevention” is worth 2000 yuan; that’s the gap!
2. Not Understanding “Automation Adaptation,” Marginalized by New Equipment (Old Skills Can’t Keep Up with New Demands)
Now, factories are filled with PLCs, inverters, and servo motors. If we only know how to connect “traditional circuits” and don’t understand how “new equipment integrates with old production lines,” we will be seen as “useless old electricians.”
Case Study: Master Wang has been an electrician for 15 years and is skilled at connecting star-delta circuits, but when the factory introduced CNC punching machines, the external technicians said, “The cooling pump motor needs to be replaced with an inverter motor, costing 8000 yuan.” Master Wang couldn’t interject — it was actually just a matter of adjusting the inverter parameters, and adding an independent fan would suffice without needing to replace the motor. Later, the new young electrician, who could adjust inverter parameters, saved the factory 8000 yuan, and the boss directly assigned him to manage automation equipment, with a salary 3000 yuan higher than Master Wang’s. It’s not that Master Wang lacks skills; he simply hasn’t kept up with the new demands of “automation adaptation,” resulting in lower value compared to others.
3. Not Knowing How to “Calculate Economic Value,” Even Doing “Valuable Work” Goes Unnoticed (Boss Doesn’t See Your Contribution)
We electricians often think, “As long as I do my job well, that’s enough,” but the boss cares about “how much money your work saves or earns me.” If you help the factory avoid downtime but don’t calculate that “1 hour of downtime costs 50,000 yuan”; if you save on electricity but don’t mention “saving 1200 yuan a month, totaling 14,000 yuan a year” — if the boss doesn’t see your “economic value,” he naturally won’t raise your salary.
Case Study: Master Liu replaced the LED lights in the workshop, costing 5000 yuan, saving 800 yuan in electricity each month. He didn’t tell the boss, “I can recoup this in six months, and after that, I’ll save 9600 yuan a year,” so the boss thought, “The electrician is just wasting money.” Later, Master Liu created an “energy-saving ledger,” clearly comparing electricity costs before and after the light replacement and the payback period. Only then did the boss realize he had done something “significant for the factory’s savings,” and at the end of the year, he directly awarded him a 5000 yuan bonus — see, it’s not that the work isn’t valuable; it’s that you didn’t show the boss how “valuable work” translates into savings!
3. Don’t Panic! 3 Practical Methods for Electricians to “Increase Their Value” (Immediate Implementation for Immediate Effect)
We don’t need to envy “automation maintenance technicians”; as long as we do the following 3 things well, we veteran electricians can also “increase our value,” and even surpass them — because we have the “on-site experience” that others can’t take away!
1. Transition from “Repairman” to “Maintenance Consultant”: Engage in “Fault Prevention” Work, Making Yourself Indispensable to the Boss
Don’t wait for equipment to break down before fixing it; proactively engage in “preventive maintenance” with these 3 core steps:
① Create “Equipment Health Records”: For each critical piece of equipment (motor, air compressor, inverter), create a table to record “temperature, current, and unusual noises during each inspection,” for example, “If the motor bearing temperature exceeds 60℃, pay attention; if it reaches 80℃, it must be replaced”;
② Set “Replacement Cycles for Wear Parts”: For instance, “Inverter fans must be replaced every 2 years, motor bearings every 8000 hours,” proactively request procurement from the boss, don’t wait until they break down to rush to buy;
③ Produce “Maintenance Reports”: Provide the boss with a monthly report stating, “This month, I replaced 2 bearings in advance, avoiding 30,000 yuan in motor repair losses” and “The air compressor oil filter needs to be replaced; doing so can save 10% on electricity” — when the boss sees you “helping him save money and reduce downtime,” he will naturally find you valuable.
Effect: An electrician at a factory in Zhejiang implemented this for six months, and the boss raised his salary by 3000 yuan, also assigning him to manage the entire workshop’s equipment maintenance — because the boss knows that without him, equipment failures would double, leading to even greater losses!
2. Learn “Basic Automation Skills”: No Need to Master Everything, Just Being Able to “Adapt On-Site” is Enough
We don’t need to compete with programmers on “writing PLC programs,” but we should know how to “adjust parameters and troubleshoot,” solving the problem of “new equipment not integrating with old production lines” is sufficient:
① First, Learn “Inverter Debugging”: Know how to adjust “acceleration and deceleration times, maximum frequency, and overcurrent protection,” for example, “If the production line is slow, you can adjust the inverter’s maximum frequency; if the motor trips on startup, you can increase the overcurrent protection threshold (but don’t adjust blindly; calculate the motor’s rated current)”;
② Then, Learn “PLC Troubleshooting”: Be able to read “fault codes,” for example, “If a Siemens PLC reports an OB121 fault, it indicates loose I/O wiring; if a Mitsubishi PLC reports an E6 fault, it indicates servo motor overload” — you don’t need to write programs, just being able to quickly identify fault causes is more valuable than electricians who only know how to repair traditional circuits;
③ Use “On-Site Experience” to Fill Gaps: Young electricians understand parameters but may not know “the quirks of old motors,” for example, “Old motors have poor insulation, and the inverter frequency cannot be set too low; a cooling fan must be added” — this is our advantage, combining “new skills” with “old experience” that others simply cannot match!
Case Study: An electrician at a machinery factory in Shandong, who can adjust inverters and troubleshoot PLCs, had his salary raised by 2500 yuan — because external automation engineers do not understand “the quirks of old equipment” and cannot solve the problems, but he resolves them as soon as he arrives on-site!
3. Know How to “Calculate Economic Value”: Convert Your “Contributions” into “Money” for the Boss to Recognize
No matter how valuable our work is, if we don’t “calculate money” for the boss, he won’t see it. The core is two techniques:
① Calculate “Loss Prevention”: If equipment breaks down, it will cause downtime; if you fix it in advance, calculate it as “how much does 1 hour of downtime cost,” for example, “If the production line loses 50,000 yuan for 1 hour of downtime, and I fix it 2 hours in advance, I help the factory prevent a loss of 100,000 yuan”;
② Calculate “Energy Savings”: If you help the factory modify circuits or replace equipment, calculate it as “how much electricity is saved each month and how long it takes to recoup the investment,” for example, “Adding an inverter to the water pump saves 1200 yuan in electricity each month, the inverter costs 3000 yuan, recouped in 2.5 months, and after that saves 14,000 yuan a year” — write these calculations down and show them to the boss, and he will understand how much your work is worth.
Reminder: Don’t feel embarrassed about “calculating money”; the boss cares about the “return on investment”. If you help him clarify this, he will be willing to raise your salary!
4. Don’t Believe the Nonsense that “Electricians Are Undervalued”! Our Core Advantage Cannot Be Taken Away by Others
Many people say that “electricians are in a sunset industry,” but that’s not true — even as factories become more automated, they still need electricians who “understand the site, the equipment, and safety” — skills that young engineers lack:
- They understand parameters but don’t know “how thick the insulation layer of an old motor is and whether it can withstand high-frequency pulses”;
- They understand programming but don’t know “whether the voltage in the workshop is stable and whether it will affect equipment operation”;
- They understand theory but don’t know “whether the unusual noise from equipment is due to bearing failure or gear wear” — this “on-site experience” is our “golden ticket”. As long as we add the ability to “prevent faults,” “adapt to automation,” and “calculate economic value,” electricians will only become more valuable!
5. Mnemonic for Electricians to “Increase Their Value” (If You Can’t Remember the Methods, Look at This)
“Don’t just fix faults; prevent them;
Learn a bit of automation, adapt to old equipment;
Know how to calculate economic value, clearly state your contributions;
With on-site experience, electricians need not fear being inexperienced!”
In conclusion: Electricians are not “undervalued”; many limit their value to just part replacement. As long as we proactively step out of “low-end repairs” and engage in “fault prevention, understanding adaptation, and calculating value,” it’s not about whether the boss will raise your salary, but whether the boss fears losing you — that’s the confidence we electricians should have!