The $2.3 Million Automation Engineer Bench Cost: What Your Engineers Really Cost When They’re Not Billing
Understanding automation engineer bench cost is the difference between profit and loss for service companies. Every Monday morning, automation integrators face the same reality: engineers sitting idle, phones not ringing, and overhead expenses mounting. Meanwhile, you’re generating exactly zero revenue from 40% of your workforce while paying full salaries, benefits, and operational costs.
However, this isn’t merely a staffing problem—it’s fundamentally a business model problem. Moreover, it’s costing the automation industry $2.3 million per year for every 15-person engineering team that follows the traditional employment model.
The math is brutal, yet the solution is straightforward. Nevertheless, most companies continue making the same mistake because they’ve never actually calculated what automation engineer bench cost truly represents. Therefore, let me show you the numbers first, then explain why Automate America exists to solve this industry-wide challenge.
The Real Cost of an Automation Engineer: Beyond the Salary
Your controls engineer earns $120,000 annually—a competitive salary for quality work. However, that’s not their actual cost to your business.
First, add employer taxes at 7.65%. Next, include health insurance at $18,000 per year. Additionally, factor in 401k match at 4%. Furthermore, add workers comp, liability insurance, training, software licenses, and equipment costs. Finally, include fully loaded office overhead, HR cost allocation, and recruitment expenses.
Consequently, your $120,000 engineer actually costs you $165,000 all-in. This is where automation engineer bench cost calculations become critical.
Now let’s examine utilization rates. The industry standard for billable utilization in automation service companies ranges from 60 to 70%. For this analysis, let’s use 65% as our baseline. Therefore, your engineer bills 1,690 hours per year out of 2,080 possible hours.
Here’s the reality: you’re paying for 2,080 hours while billing only 1,690 hours. The difference—390 hours of bench time—represents pure loss. At a fully loaded cost of $79 per hour, that’s $30,810 in annual automation engineer bench cost per person.
Multiply this by 15 engineers, and your total automation engineer bench cost reaches $462,150 annually. However, we’re not finished with the calculation yet.
The Hidden Opportunity Cost Within Automation Engineer Bench Cost
Bench time isn’t merely unproductive—it’s actively anti-productive. This is the aspect of automation engineer bench cost that most executives overlook.
Consider this scenario: your PLC programmer sits idle while a customer calls requesting a robot integration project. Subsequently, you face three choices. First, send the PLC programmer and hope they can figure out robotics. Second, decline the customer and redirect them to a competitor. Third, scramble to hire a robot programmer, which typically takes 90 days and costs $25,000 in recruiting fees.
Clearly, every skill mismatch represents opportunity cost. Similarly, every declined project means revenue walking away. Furthermore, sending someone who is 70% qualified instead of 100% qualified risks quality issues, timeline delays, and customer dissatisfaction.
The hidden cost of traditional employment models isn’t just automation engineer bench cost—it’s also the revenue you never capture because your available people lack the skills your available projects need.
In contrast, Automate America customers don’t face this problem. They have 40,000 automation professionals available on demand. For instance, when a customer needs a Fanuc robot programmer in Kentucky for 90 days, we have 15 qualified candidates who can start Monday. Similarly, when they need a Siemens TIA Portal expert in Ohio for six months, we have them readily available. Likewise, when they need a packaging line troubleshooting specialist in California for two weeks, we provide immediate solutions.
The right skill, the right location, the right timeline—every time, without carrying automation engineer bench cost.
Learn more and post your next contract here
The Service Company Paradox: Competing With Your Own Business Model
Here’s the uncomfortable truth about automation service companies and their automation engineer bench cost reality.
You’re profitable when busy, yet unprofitable when slow. However, you can’t eliminate people during slow periods because you’ll need them when business accelerates. Therefore, you maintain everyone on payroll and hope the phone rings before cash runs out.
Frankly, this isn’t a business model—it’s a hostage situation driven by unmanaged automation engineer bench cost.
Traditional integrators and service companies remain trapped in this cycle: hire people for projects, retain people during slow periods, hope cash doesn’t run out before the next project arrives. Then repeat this cycle until bankruptcy or acquisition becomes inevitable.
Fortunately, smart companies have discovered the escape hatch from excessive automation engineer bench cost.
When they’re busy, they staff projects with their own team and capture full margin. Conversely, when they’re slow, they place their team on Automate America contracts, keeping them billable while maintaining their skills and generating revenue that covers overhead. Thus, they’ve converted fixed cost into variable revenue and transformed automation engineer bench cost into billable time.
Additionally, when Automate America has a contract matching their capabilities, they bid on it. Conversely, when they’re at capacity, they let other contractors take it. This strategy has enabled them to convert fixed cost into variable revenue while eliminating automation engineer bench cost entirely.
One service company partner analyzed their numbers last year. They employed 12 engineers with historical utilization at 63%, carrying $340,000 in annual automation engineer bench cost—a staggering drain on profitability.
After they started using Automate America to fill slow periods, their utilization jumped to 87%. Consequently, their automation engineer bench cost dropped to $120,000. They saved $220,000 in year one alone.
Importantly, they didn’t lay anyone off or cut benefits. Instead, they simply stopped paying people to sit idle, thereby eliminating their automation engineer bench cost problem.
The Manufacturer’s Perspective: Emergency Support Budgets and Hidden Costs
Let’s flip the equation to examine automation engineer bench cost from the manufacturer’s viewpoint.
Imagine you’re a plant manager at a mid-sized automotive supplier. You have some automation capability and electrical expertise in-house. However, when a robot fails, a PLC needs reprogramming, or a vision system starts rejecting good parts, you call for help.
Typically, you have an annual “emergency automation support” budget line item of $85,000—essentially your version of paying for others’ automation engineer bench cost through premium emergency rates.
Last year you used the entire budget. Specifically, you called local integrators 11 times: three times for PLC troubleshooting, four times for robot issues, two times for HMI updates, one time for servo drive replacement, and one time for a complete line debugging project lasting two weeks.
However, every call brought a different vendor. Similarly, every vendor charged premium emergency rates. Moreover, every vendor had to learn your equipment from scratch. Consequently, every fix was temporary because vendors left before documenting anything or training your team.
You spent $85,000 yet still have the same problems. This is the manufacturer’s version of automation engineer bench cost—paying premium rates for reactive support instead of proactive solutions.
Here’s the alternative approach that eliminates this hidden automation engineer bench cost burden.
Instead, engage a contract automation engineer from Automate America for 90 days, renewable quarterly. The contractor becomes your dedicated automation resource without the long-term commitment or automation engineer bench cost burden. They learn your equipment thoroughly, document everything systematically, and train your maintenance team properly. Furthermore, they handle all small issues before they become emergencies, optimize equipment during downtime, build your spare parts list, and create runbooks for common problems.
The cost matches hiring a full-time engineer. However, you’re not locked into permanent headcount increases. Additionally, you’re not stuck with the wrong skill set when your needs change. Moreover, you’re not paying benefits and overhead. Finally, you can scale up or down based on your project pipeline without worrying about automation engineer bench cost.
After 90 days, your emergency budget typically goes to zero. After six months, your uptime generally increases by 8%. After a year, you’ve saved $200,000 in prevented downtime and eliminated your emergency support budget entirely—effectively eliminating your exposure to others’ automation engineer bench cost.
This isn’t theory. Rather, this is exactly how three of our manufacturing customers eliminated emergency support costs in 2024.
The Complexity Problem: Why Specialists Beat Generalists
Automation has become impossibly complex, which exacerbates the automation engineer bench cost problem for companies trying to maintain in-house generalists.
Twenty years ago, a good controls engineer could handle 90% of plant needs. Learn ladder logic, understand electrical principles, know some mechanics, and you were valuable. Consequently, maintaining staff made sense despite occasional automation engineer bench cost.
Today, however, we have Rockwell, Siemens, Omron, Mitsubishi, Beckhoff, and a dozen other PLC platforms. Additionally, we have ABB, Fanuc, KUKA, Yaskawa, Universal Robots, and others in robotics. Furthermore, we have Cognex, Keyence, Banner, and Sick in vision systems. Moreover, we have Ethernet/IP, Profinet, EtherCAT, and Modbus in networking. Finally, we have SCADA, MES, IoT, edge computing, and cloud integration.
Simply put, nobody knows all of this. Nobody can. Therefore, maintaining generalists on staff guarantees automation engineer bench cost when specialized skills are needed.
The plant that hires a full-time automation engineer gets one person with one skill set—and pays automation engineer bench cost when different expertise is required. Conversely, the plant that uses contract professionals gets exactly the specialist they need for each project without any automation engineer bench cost burden.
Need a Fanuc robot programmer for a new cell? Get a Fanuc specialist. Need a Wonderware SCADA system upgraded? Get a Wonderware expert. Need a packaging line debugged? Get someone who has commissioned 50 packaging lines. Each specialist eliminates the automation engineer bench cost associated with keeping generalists on staff.
The generalist knows enough to be dangerous. In contrast, the specialist knows enough to be effective. This distinction directly impacts your automation engineer bench cost calculations.
Automate America’s network includes specialists in every platform, every industry, and every application. Therefore, when you post a contract, you’re not hoping someone on your staff can figure it out while carrying automation engineer bench cost. Instead, you’re getting someone who has already completed exactly this project 30 times before.
Why 90-Day Contracts Eliminate Automation Engineer Bench Cost
We fill contracts of all lengths: one day service calls, two week commissioning projects, six month plant expansions, and multi-year system integrations. However, the 90-day contract is where companies truly eliminate automation engineer bench cost while maintaining flexibility.
It’s long enough to complete meaningful work, yet short enough to stay flexible. Additionally, it’s long enough to build relationships and transfer knowledge, yet short enough to avoid the commitment anxiety that kills long-term hiring decisions and creates future automation engineer bench cost exposure.
The 90-day contract renewable quarterly has become the standard model for smart manufacturers and integrators who understand automation engineer bench cost management. It’s long enough that contractors invest in learning your systems. Conversely, it’s short enough that you can change direction without severance costs or reorganization pain.
Here’s the secret that nobody discusses about managing automation engineer bench cost: most 90-day contracts turn into six-month contracts. Similarly, most six-month contracts turn into multi-year relationships. The contractor becomes part of your team, understands your culture, knows your equipment, and delivers results—all without creating automation engineer bench cost during slower periods.
Several of our contractors have worked with the same customer for three years through 90-day renewable contracts. The customer gets flexibility without automation engineer bench cost. Meanwhile, the contractor gets stability. Everyone wins.
The Professional’s Perspective: Why Contracting Beats Full-Time Employment
If you’re an automation professional reading this, I’m going to share something your employer doesn’t want you to know about automation engineer bench cost and your career.
Working one job for 20 years doesn’t make you an expert—it makes you specialized in one company’s problems while potentially exposing you to layoffs during high automation engineer bench cost periods.
In contrast, working 20 different jobs over 20 years makes you an expert and makes you valuable to everyone.
The automation engineer who has spent five years in automotive knows automotive. However, the contractor who has spent 90 days each in automotive, pharmaceutical, food and beverage, packaging, oil and gas, and consumer products? That contractor has seen six different ways to solve the same problem. They can cross-pollinate solutions effectively. Furthermore, they bring packaging industry efficiency to automotive. Similarly, they bring pharmaceutical quality standards to food processing. Additionally, they bring oil and gas safety culture to chemical plants.
This isn’t job hopping—this is accelerated mastery. Moreover, contractors are immune to automation engineer bench cost pressures that cause layoffs.
Every 90-day contract is essentially a graduate-level course in a new application. Subsequently, every industry teaches you something your last industry didn’t know. Furthermore, every plant has one engineer who is brilliant at something nobody else does. You learn from them, then take that knowledge to the next project.
Consequently, five years of contracting gives you more real-world experience than 20 years at one plant. You see more equipment, solve more problems, and build a network across industries. Therefore, you become the person everyone calls when they have a problem nobody else can solve.
Additionally, you get paid better. Contractors typically make 20 to 40% more than full-time employees because they deliver specialized expertise without the long-term commitment. They take on travel and uncertainty in exchange for premium rates and accelerated learning. Best of all, they’re never affected by automation engineer bench cost reduction efforts.
The best automation engineers in the world are contractors. They didn’t start that way. Rather, they became that way because contracting forced them to improve faster.
Building Your Skills: Essential Training Resources
Whether you’re a contractor looking to expand your capabilities or a manufacturer investing in your team’s development, continuous learning is non-negotiable in automation. Moreover, better skills mean less vulnerability to automation engineer bench cost pressures.
For PLC programming and controls training, AutomationDirect offers comprehensive free training resources covering everything from basic ladder logic to advanced motion control. These foundational skills help you avoid becoming a victim of automation engineer bench cost reductions.
Similarly, for industrial networking and communication protocols, Real Time Automation provides excellent technical resources and training on Ethernet/IP, Profinet, Modbus, and protocol conversion.
These skills are the foundation of every automation project. Consequently, staying current with training separates good engineers from great ones and protects you from automation engineer bench cost vulnerabilities.
The Contract-to-Hire Path: Lower Risk, Better Results
Many manufacturers are nervous about contractors because they think contractors leave. They’re right—contractors do leave. However, they leave after the project is done, not in the middle of it. Moreover, if you want them to stay, you have a 90-day audition period to make an offer without carrying automation engineer bench cost during the evaluation.
Contract-to-hire has become the smartest hiring strategy in automation, effectively eliminating the risk of expensive hiring mistakes that contribute to automation engineer bench cost pressures. Instead of spending six months interviewing, checking references, and hoping the resume matches reality, you hire someone on a 90-day contract. Subsequently, you see their work, their attitude, and how they fit your culture—all without paying automation engineer bench cost for poor hiring decisions.
After 90 days, if they’re great, you make an offer. Conversely, if they’re not, the contract ends and you move on. There’s no severance, no unemployment claims, no performance improvement plans, and no HR nightmare. Most importantly, there’s no automation engineer bench cost associated with a bad hire sitting idle.
The contractor wins too. They get to evaluate your company for 90 days, seeing if they like the work, the team, the location, and the culture. If it’s a good fit, they accept your offer. If not, they move to the next contract without being trapped in a position where they might become automation engineer bench cost liability.
Contract-to-hire reduces risk for everyone. It replaces hope with evidence and converts the hiring process from a gamble into a rational evaluation. Several Automate America contractors accepted full-time positions with customers they met through 90-day contracts. Several others were offered full-time positions and chose to stay contractors because they preferred the flexibility and variety.
Both outcomes are success stories. The point is that you had 90 days to decide based on performance, not a resume and three interviews—all while avoiding automation engineer bench cost during the evaluation period.
The Philosophy of Optionality: The Future of Workforce Strategy
The industrial revolution taught us to optimize machines—we made them faster, more precise, and more reliable. Subsequently, the information revolution taught us to optimize processes—we made them leaner, more efficient, and more scalable.
Now, the gig revolution is teaching us to optimize for optionality, which directly addresses the automation engineer bench cost challenge.
Optionality means having choices. Furthermore, it means responding to change without catastrophic restructuring. Moreover, it means saying yes to opportunities instead of no because you’re locked into fixed commitments and worried about automation engineer bench cost.
The manufacturer with 50 full-time engineers has no optionality and maximum automation engineer bench cost exposure. When demand drops, they’re paying for idle capacity. Conversely, when demand spikes, they can’t scale fast enough. Additionally, when technology shifts, they’re stuck with the wrong skill sets. Finally, when a project requires expertise they don’t have, they decline the work or send someone under-qualified.
In contrast, the manufacturer who uses contract professionals has infinite optionality and zero automation engineer bench cost. Need to scale up? Hire three contractors Monday. Need to scale down? Contracts expire naturally. Need a new skill set? Find a specialist. Need to enter a new market? Get someone who has already worked in that industry.
Fixed costs are rigid and create automation engineer bench cost. Variable costs are flexible and eliminate it. Therefore, optionality is the competitive advantage of the 21st century.
The same philosophy applies to professionals. The full-time employee has no optionality and faces automation engineer bench cost vulnerability. They take the projects their employer assigns, learn the systems their employer uses, work the location their employer requires, and accept the salary their employer offers.
Conversely, the contractor has infinite optionality and immunity from automation engineer bench cost pressures. Don’t like the project? Finish the contract and take a different one. Want to learn a new skill? Take a contract that requires it. Want to work remotely? Find a remote contract. Want to make more money? Bid on higher-paying work.
Optionality isn’t instability—it’s freedom. Freedom is the foundation of both business success and professional fulfillment, and it’s the ultimate solution to automation engineer bench cost challenges.
The future of work isn’t full-time employment. Rather, the future of work is optionality at scale. Automate America is building that future, one contract at a time, helping companies eliminate automation engineer bench cost while helping professionals build better careers.
Final Thoughts
Thank you for reading this comprehensive analysis. I know your time is valuable, and I hope you found actionable insights about automation engineer bench cost that apply to your business or career.
The numbers I shared aren’t hypothetical. The automation engineer bench cost calculation is real, the opportunity cost is real, the emergency support budget waste is real, and the solution is real.
If you’re a manufacturer or integrator, I hope this helps you think differently about how you staff automation projects and manage automation engineer bench cost. If you’re an automation professional, I hope this helps you see contracting as a strategic career path, not a fallback plan—one that protects you from automation engineer bench cost vulnerabilities.
The American manufacturing industry is the most capable, most innovative, and most resilient industrial base in the world. We build things that matter, solve problems that others think are impossible, and employ millions of people in good-paying careers.
However, we’re doing it with an employment model designed in 1950. The world has changed, and our workforce model must change with it. Specifically, we must address the automation engineer bench cost problem that’s draining profitability from service companies and driving up costs for manufacturers.
Automate America exists to make that change possible. We’re building the professional gig economy for industrial America, one contract at a time, helping companies eliminate automation engineer bench cost while building better careers for professionals.
Ready to post your next contract or find your next project?
Register as a professional or post work here
I’m always available if you want to discuss how contract professionals can solve your staffing challenges, eliminate your automation engineer bench cost, or accelerate your career. No sales pitch—just straight talk from someone who has been in the automation trenches since 2001.
Tony Wallace
Co-Founder, Automate America
586-770-8083
info@automateamerica.com
