Market data & hiring guidance updated June 2026
Connect with skilled automation technician professionals for your industrial automation project. Review experience and work history, then send a direct work request for an hourly contract or direct job.
Browse Automation Technician ProfessionalsPost Work →Quick Answer
How do I hire a Automation Technician?
They install, maintain, and troubleshoot automated production equipment — PLCs, sensors, drives, motors, robots, and the mechanical systems around them. When a line stops, the automation technician diagnoses whether it's electrical, mechanical, or controls and gets it running safely.
A technician keeps existing equipment running and does hands-on maintenance and troubleshooting. A controls engineer designs and programs the control systems. For upkeep and fast fault-finding on the floor, hire a technician; for new design or PLC programming, hire an engineer.
ISA's Certified Control Systems Technician (CCST) is the recognized controls-side credential; a mechatronics certificate (PMMI, NIMS) signals the combined electrical-mechanical skill. Most valuable is hands-on history on the specific PLCs, robots, and equipment you run.
Rates vary with skill breadth, robotics experience, and region. As a benchmark, the electro-mechanical technician category runs a median near $66,530 a year. Each profile shows the rate openly, so you compare before reaching out.
Automation technicians keep automated production running, and demand is climbing as more plants add robots, PLCs, and smart equipment than there are technicians to service them. The role is hands-on mechatronics — electrical, mechanical, and controls skill combined — and it is one of the most reliable ways into a well-paid industrial career without a four-year degree. Reshoring and Industry 4.0 upgrades are widening the gap between the automation being installed and the workforce that can maintain it.
Programs and credentials that build automation technician skills — useful whether you're hiring one or becoming one.
What's moving the automation technician market — workforce shifts, pay, and demand. We rotate these as new reporting lands.
Browse all professionals to find automation technician expertise for your project.
Browse All ProfessionalsPost your project and get quotes from qualified automation technician professionals.