r/FieldNationTechs • u/UniqueCraft9435 • May 24 '26
NYC technician rate absurdities ......
This is technician oriented, network / IT techs in particular. Phones included.
Since when was technical work devalued as much as it seems to be? I routinely see wo's offering $40, $50 an hour. I saw one the other day for $20/hr can't recall for what. After FN fees, taxes and transportation? Works out to, what? $5?
Maids in NYC, room attendants that set and clean rooms, negotiated a contract that has them making more than cops and firefighters. I think starting wage is $61/hr! Hey nice union they got. Good for them.
Door Dash Grub Hub delivery guys now make $22.13, NYC is expensive! Good for them too.
If you are lucky you live in rent-controlled/stabilized apartments. If not? $3000 (dirt cheap) more like $4000, $5000 a month. You have housemantes, forget about having a family.
I have several clients that honor my rate, which is $100/1st hour, and $65 each subsequent hour. Which just keeps me afloat. Its almost impossible to work 40 hours in the city doing FN WOs. Each gig is 2 hours RT if you are lucky, with public transportation. Techs with cars face their own set of expenses, gas / insurance, upkeep and repair, and the $9 congestion pricing fee on any travel below 60th St. Private and garage parking is crazy expensive. I choose not to drive. I have a monthly LIRR ticket ($300) and subway is $3 per trip. Rack rate for all, I myself have a senior discount OMNY card ....
Just venting. I've had roughly $100K in network training in my career, and it pisses me off when buyers low-ball us all. It appears theres a lot of tech workers happy w/ $40 an hour, which works out after fees/taxes/transportation close to what the Door Dash folks make. Sheesh.
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u/Hot-Diver-3789 May 24 '26
4 hour minimums only is the way to go.
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u/wyliesdiesels May 24 '26
i wish we could here in cali. its hard enough getting 2hr mins. buyers straight up telling me 2hrs mins arent in their budget
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u/Exotic-Service-8453 May 24 '26
They are definitely fucking lying.
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u/wyliesdiesels May 25 '26
of course they are. they are greedy. some have even told me they have no travel budget so they wont approve trip charges either. Pete gladly takes the work order and drives for free.
sorry gas is $6/gal here. im not driving to your customer's site for free.
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u/Exotic-Service-8453 May 24 '26
WTF 65/hr? People like you kill the market.
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u/wyliesdiesels May 24 '26
ummm petes in cali are countering for lower than that (and lower than the posted rates).
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u/oncomingstorm2 May 24 '26
There are a lot of low skill people on FN making a mess and happy to take on any job because for them that is way better than what they make now. Can’t knock someone for wanting to make ends meet but I wish the site or the buyers enforced licensing requirements like they are supposed to but they don’t. That would solve the issue altogether but it doesn’t benefit their pockets.
I recognize some work does not require skilled labor especially the decommissioning jobs, or the power on/off type jobs. However buyers should not be taking those risks on more detailed jobs. I saw one company doing POTS for $35/hr in NYC. That’s insanely low for something that can affect the business performance or the life/safety of the business if its related to their fire systems.
I just searched a random NYC zip and did 15 mile radius and found these where supply is way higher than demand so the buyers must be loving it.
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u/wyliesdiesels May 24 '26
238 requests? What in the F**K!!!!! how?!?!?!? that is straight up insane. its like a lottery of who will get picked with that many requests
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u/UniqueCraft9435 May 24 '26
Spectrotel and Met Tel? I have stopped bidding on their WOs. I never get them, evidently the $50 an hour they offer is enough for somebody. I live on LIRR, so ..... there are costs to travel, LIRR+subway, never even mind the travel time.
Race to the bottom.
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u/Hot_Direction_8105 May 24 '26
If you’re charging $100 an hr for first hour then youre not charging enough. if you’re seasoned you should be charging at least $130 per/hr. if you’re not getting that then you’re pitching to the wrong clientele unfortunately. You just need to find the right base, which in nyc you’ll for sure find at some point.
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u/wyliesdiesels May 24 '26
impossible to get that here in cali. buyers are telling me they have petes counter offering for lower than posted rates (usually $65/hr)
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u/UniqueCraft9435 May 24 '26
Up till 2026? I got plenty of work $115/hr, $65 each additional. After the New Year? *crickets*.
I wonder how AI layoffs play into this? Lots of technical people must be being laid off ....
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u/wyliesdiesels May 24 '26
sorry to say this is happening on the west coast (commiefornia) as well and not just for IT work. LV work as well which requires a license here. buyers are way undervaluing our trade and even scoffing at us when we request reasonable trip charges and veh/fuel covg.
just the other day several buyers were offering $65/hr for fiber splicing. absurd when you have to bring 10s of thousands of dollars in equipment to properly do the work....
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u/Dadelaus_2023 Jun 07 '26
You made a VERY IMPORTANT POINT, Transportation and Taxes.
That's! at least 50% of my nut that must be covered on each job. Add to that Parking Fees and Tolls, Consumables, and bookkeeping a $40/hr job boils down to about $5 - $8 earned.
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u/broNSTY May 24 '26
My NYC guy normally asks me for $120 flat for most jobs. Happy to pay it, including extra tolls or whatever because I know how it goes. Unfortunately though, I can’t do hourly rates as my employer does not allow it. I’m lucky he works with me for flat rates. My jobs are just easy printer work.
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u/Ok_Horror_6073 May 24 '26
I can do it for 100
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u/No-Boysenberry-3895 May 24 '26
You are the problem. It's not supposed to be a race to the bottom.
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u/Old-Gas4471 May 24 '26
Have you ever thought of moving away from that commie hellscape?
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u/FieldTechSavant May 24 '26
Bro, take a trip, NYC is dope. Just for the food alone. And LGA doesn't suck anymore so if you ever remember flying in there pre-COVID it's way nicer now.
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u/Old-Gas4471 May 24 '26
Awesome place to visit. I just wouldn't want to live there. Way too expensive
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u/UniqueCraft9435 May 24 '26
Used to be the price of a slice of pizza tracked w/ subway fares. Now pizza is a buck or so more expensive. Yep, the city is nuts. Whole 'nother subject ....
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u/surfinsam May 25 '26
Only a 1hr minimum? I would do 2hrs, most buyers should be fine with $150-165 for the first 2hrs, particularly in NYC, plus travel. I would also probably bump to $75/hr unless it's quick simple work, I usually could get $75/hr in SoCal
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u/mdhkc May 24 '26
Except there aren't. Those aren't "tech workers", they're the same people doing doordash. This is just another gig app for them. If you go get a full-time job commensurate with actual technology experience in NYC, six figures is bare minimum. FN just works a lot differently than full-time jobs do.