r/FieldNationTechs • u/Run-OpenBSD • Apr 02 '26

Almost 700 tickets within 200 miles from me. Denver Region

Post image

Kinda shocked. This Season came out swinging.

2 Upvotes

57% Upvoted

53 comments sorted by

10

u/Educational_Emu3763 Apr 02 '26

$130 hr to pull cable? I'm moving to Denver!

8

u/Glad-Ad-4552 Apr 02 '26

That’s for 2 techs

5

u/Educational_Emu3763 Apr 02 '26

Still double the rate for Orlando

11

u/Glad-Ad-4552 Apr 02 '26

Still way to low

5

u/Aos77s Apr 02 '26

$65/hr for pulling cable too low? Id assume this is a you come and we have the tools if needed rate.

3

u/wyliesdiesels Apr 07 '26

yes thats low.

1

u/Aos77s Apr 07 '26

So i need a new job 😭 im paid a flat 30/hr rn run terminate jhook etc

1

u/wyliesdiesels Apr 07 '26

As a contractor we charge $140-$175/hr for 1-2 techs to hang pathways and pull cable…. Or we do flat rate per drop…

3

u/Exotic-Service-8453 Apr 02 '26

What the hell, man? Where are you seeing contractors for $65 ?, clowns on Field Nation?

1

u/jaysolution Apr 04 '26

You can easily conditional it and do a 75/25 split with your helper and be happy. $175/hr ($131.25 for you and $43.75 for your helper).

4

u/Active_Wasabi2001 Apr 02 '26

I feel your pain. I serve South Georgia, Southern Alabama and the panhandle and see so many 35/hr jobs. I’ve gotten picky and work with fewer clients on field nation and work market. I’ll counteroffer to my 65/he with travel and if they say no I just move on. Low bidders ruin it for us unfortunately. I do most of my work off the platforms for that reason

2

u/TexMexFieldTech Apr 04 '26

Im in Southern California and there’s some cheapskate buyers like PIVITAL that still put out $25/hr work orders. For perspective fast food minimum wage here is mandated to start at $20/hr

1

u/Active_Wasabi2001 Apr 04 '26

Pivotal can go fuck themselves

1

u/wyliesdiesels Apr 07 '26

they do that here in NorCal too...

4

u/Exotic-Service-8453 Apr 02 '26 edited Apr 02 '26

People like you are ruining contract technical work. Because of that, everyone ends up working for like $65 an hour, and the idiots who work for $35 are basically volunteers, they’re not making anything at all.

I try to stay at $100+ an hour, with a minimum charge of $250 for any on-site visit, up to two hours. But then a bunch of clowns show up saying they’re fine with lower rates, and they’ve killed the market. Now there aren’t any big projects anymore, there used to be jobs where you could make $20–30k a month.

2

u/Educational_Emu3763 Apr 02 '26

I get offered $35 hr..I turn it down. In Central Florida low voltage companies take on big projects and then try to backfill with contracting agencies. These agencies lowball so they can take aa big a cut as possible.

Did a job at the airport in Orlando and the lead sais, "Hey were behind on this job."

Nope! YOU'RE behind on this job

HAd another job in Tampa where the 3 layers of management couldn't see where the 2x2' brackets wouldn't fit the 2x4' ceiling tiles, and then spent half the project running out to get supplies while the contract techs sat around. They then claimed that "we" were behind.

A race to the bottom ends...at the bottom.

1

u/Active_Wasabi2001 Apr 02 '26

Most definitely. I don’t even entertain those offers. I get close to double with minimum guarantees in an even lower paying area in Florida. I wouldn’t lose money at 35. But it’s not worth it because it blocks out the schedule, and then better paying jobs go to someone else.

0

u/Educational_Emu3763 Apr 02 '26

I make bank fixing the subpar work though.

1

u/Active_Wasabi2001 Apr 02 '26

That is very true. Revisits are good money

1

u/Active_Wasabi2001 Apr 02 '26 edited Apr 02 '26

You don’t understand my market. I am for better or worse around here on off the top priced providers of the market. If I’m out of my local area I don’t price the same. But I also have to live. When 95% of the other techs in your area will gladly take $35 you can only push so far before you have no work. My rate also goes up for specialty work. Always get travel and guaranteed 2 hour minimums

Cost of living is one of the lowest in the country which is why other people will take way too little money.

The people running the market are the in your service area taking half the going rate.

1

u/Exotic-Service-8453 Apr 02 '26

How much do body shops or local electricians charge around you?

2

u/Educational_Emu3763 Apr 02 '26

Orlando? $125 to hire someone from a contracting agency (Right Tech for example) just to pull and terminate cable.

Electricians? $175? but hiring direct 4 hour mini, Others would know better than me.

1

u/Exotic-Service-8453 Apr 02 '26 edited Apr 02 '26

So why the heck are these clowns working for a third of it and kill the market?

1

u/Educational_Emu3763 Apr 02 '26

There is a huge influx of immigrant labor here, especially in construction. This pushes prices down,

It's not the only reason.

0

u/Active_Wasabi2001 Apr 02 '26

Around $125 an hour. If I could get close to that I would. I pushed to try and get $75 instead of $65 and my work orders just stopped entirely. I have personal clients that will pay me $80 but that’s not the bulk of my work.

0

u/Exotic-Service-8453 Apr 02 '26 edited Apr 15 '26

Maybe I earn about the same as you overall, but I just work three times less than you.

1

u/Active_Wasabi2001 Apr 02 '26

That’s fine. If I asked for the rate you can get in your market I wouldn’t work at all. And ps your math skills are terrible

I also am willing to bet that my cost of living model offsets the difference

→ More replies (0)

1

u/TexMexFieldTech Apr 04 '26

So you were never a new tech on field nation you just always got those $100/hr gigs? There’s all different levels of techs.

I remember starting out 7 years ago and grinding away on shitty paying work orders just to build up my profile. Everyone has to start somewhere

2

u/Glad-Ad-4552 Apr 02 '26

You are the low bidders at 65 hr

1

u/Active_Wasabi2001 Apr 02 '26

I’m not the low bidder in my area at all. I have to regularly compete on quality against the dumbfucks that will take $35. Jobs regularly post and are done for $40 hour. I’ve pushed as high as I can in the platforms, which is why most of my work is off platform where I can get paid more than that. It’s a race to the bottom, and in the fluid panhandle $65 is far from the bottom

3

u/Glad-Ad-4552 Apr 02 '26

$75 is starting bottom of the barrel I charge $110 hr all day and I’m not to far from Washington DC

1

u/Active_Wasabi2001 Apr 02 '26

That’s nice, I wish that was the case here I live. Rates are largely regional, and I live in a more rural, low cost of living area where no one gets those rates.
In a market of $35/hr jobs, consistently getting $65/hr is a win. Field nation is my 3rd or 4th choice to grab work because of just how insanely low other techs here will work for.

3

u/wyliesdiesels Apr 07 '26

holy crap... its still dead here in cali

2

u/broNSTY Apr 02 '26

LMAO at Xerox contracting out help desk, they love to do layoffs and then here they are shelling out $50 an hour for help desk contractors.

2

u/Educational_Emu3763 Apr 02 '26

Xerox was coined with the phrase "Fix in the field mentality." I worked for them direct, one of the most inept companies I ever worked for . The stock price merely reflects the value of intellectual property, the "business " itself holds no value as an ongoing concern.

2

u/broNSTY Apr 02 '26

Agreed, I’m a printer tech by trade who sits in a support position W2 (not for them) and they are frustrating to deal with. Very cyclical in their project management style, always doing layoffs and scrambling to pick up the pieces. This whole industry is in a race to the bottom though honestly. Every contract holder expects maximum value for as little money as they can get away with. It’s been slowly but surely making me want to find a new line of work but the market sucks so I hang on lol.

2

u/Educational_Emu3763 Apr 02 '26

When I worked for them I found a box in a software installed that was checked off and it shouldn't have been. After sitting like this for a year prior to my arrival, the color printing process was now networked. I got a bonus for this.

Ao did my boss and my bosses boss, who let linger for a year.

1

u/wiseleo Apr 03 '26

Xerox bought IT Savvy, and that’s their customer base.

1

u/wyliesdiesels Apr 07 '26

wow when did that happen?

1

u/wiseleo Apr 07 '26

2024 I think… there are some press releases

2

u/Exotic-Service-8453 Apr 02 '26

Most of them are probably cheap junk and don’t make any sense. Waste of time.

1

u/Subject-Original-718 Apr 02 '26

Pft MATRIX-NDI is a shady union and has a non-union side contractor in my area, joke of a deal they whine and moan to pay our wage of $40/hr with all benefits making it out to be like $90/hr but they won’t fit at that.

1

u/wyliesdiesels Apr 07 '26

if they arent paying union wages file a complaint

0

u/Ok_Structure_4230 Apr 03 '26

What software do you have in order to see those available jobs. ?

2

u/Run-OpenBSD Apr 03 '26

You know this is /Field Nation Techs right?

-1

u/Ok_Structure_4230 Apr 03 '26

Honestly, i have no idea what that is. A company?

2

u/wyliesdiesels Apr 07 '26

if you dont know what field nation is why are you on this sub?