You made me curious. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (bls.gov):
- Metal and Plastic Machine Workers make $17.35 per hour or $36,080 per year
- Machinists and Tool and Die Makers make $21.61 per hour or $44,950 per year
- Software Developers make $50.77 per hour or $105,590 per year
Employees at a top notch company like Kern Microtechnik probably make more than the machine worker average aboves, but then software developers at FAANG make more than the developer average as well.
It's sometimes astonishing that there isn't more correlation between skill and craftsmanship and how much you get paid.
As a machinist of 35 years I can say your pay scale is WAY off. Just look jobs on Indeed.Com.
Trust Me, A Tool and Die Maker makes much much more than you quoted.
Problem is everybody wants to learn whizbang instead of getting a foundation of conventional machinery.
What cracks me up is I see CNC programmer jobs paying less than Tool and Die makers when programming requires computer knowledge.
The real problem with the trade is Vo-Tech is dead and kids can't even swing wrenches these days, let alone the strong mental math skill required.
I know a tool-and-die maker that works on high volume plastic injection molds that makes a comfortable multiple of my salary. This is very precious knowledge and having it can save a company many millions of dollars in re-tooling and discarded product.
The imbalance is not just in take-home salaries but in the barrier of entry as well.
You can't just get into the field by being a self-taught mechanical or electrical engineer without investing the time and $ in attending a proper university but you can call yourself a software "engineer" after a boot camp and start making $.
The only advantage of these fields though is that you can (still) find work in your 60's as a gray beard while if you're in web dev, hopefully, you have moved far enough up the ladder or made fuck you money until your 60's because I don't expect to see many graybeards doing React in the future.
In Germany (home of Kern microtechnik) the gap isn't that huge. Yearly avg. salary of a software developer is around 70k while a skilled machinist can make around 50k.
I'm surprised the field is advancing at all seeing app kiddies can walk home with more $.