For years, training as an automotive mechatronics technician has been one of the most popular in Germany. But many of the car specialists are dissatisfied with the salary.
What do automotive mechatronics technicians earn in detail?
Fault diagnosis, disassembly, repair and assembly of vehicle parts:
These are the tasks of an automotive mechatronics technician. For years, training as an automotive specialist has been the most popular among young men in almost all German states, as an annual evaluation by the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) shows.
Automotive mechatronics technicians often rate their job as “varied” and “exciting,” but also critical. This is the result of an evaluation by Lohnspiegel.de, a website of the Hans Böckler Foundation’s Institute of Economic and Social Research.
This is mainly due to the extreme physical strain that the job entails – and the salary. According to the study, around 86 percent of automotive mechatronics technicians in Germany are dissatisfied with their wages.
There are regional differences in pay in particular.
So where do automotive mechatronics technicians earn the most in Germany? And what ways are there to increase their salary? An overview.
Automotive mechatronics salary: How much does an automotive mechatronics technician earn during training?
Training as an automotive mechatronics technician usually takes three and a half years. According to the job portal Stepstone, the gross monthly salary in the:
First year of training is between 706 and 979 euros. In the second year, trainees can expect to earn between 745 and 1041 euros, in the third an average of 990 euros and in the fourth an average of 1046 euros.
During their training, future automotive mechatronics technicians choose one of five specializations:
Passenger car technologyBodywork
TechnologyMotorcycle
TechnologyCommercial vehicle
TechnologySystems and high-voltage technology
However, the focus selected does not affect the training salary.
In larger companies, trainee salaries are often regulated by collective agreements.
An overview by IG Metall, the labour unity of Metall jobs, shows that trainees with a collective agreement earn the most in Baden-Württemberg, a county in the southern part of germany where a big part of automobile industry settled down (Mercedes, Porsche). BMW is placed in Bavaria and VW produce the most of there cars Wolfsburg, Niedersachsen:
In the first year of training, the salary is 979 euros gross, in the fourth 1202 euros gross per month. The lowest collectively agreed training salary is in the Palatinate region.
Here, future automotive mechatronics technicians earn 766 euros gross in the first year of training and 950 euros gross in the fourth year.
What is the monthly salary as an automotive mechatronics technician?
The monthly salary of a qualified automotive mechatronics technician is between 2290 and 3066 euros gross per month.
Calculated over the year, that’s between 27,500 euros and 36,800 euros. According to the German Federal Employment Agency, the German average is 3134 euros gross per month.
In the first five years in the job, the salary increases by about eleven percent, according to Lohnspiegel.de.
After six to ten years in the job, the average monthly salary is already 3030 euros gross, according to Stepstone, after eleven to 25 years at 3196 euros and after 25 years at 3241 euros.
Automotive mechatronics technicians specializing in motorcycle technology earn the least according to the pay atlas of the German Federal Employment Agency:
The average monthly salary is 2405 euros gross. For all other specializations, the average income is 3134 euros gross.
Where do automotive mechatronics technicians earn the most in Germany?
The salary for automotive mechatronics technicians varies from state to state. According to Stepstone, Baden-Württemberg is also ahead here with a salary of 3213 euros gross per month.
The salary is lowest in Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt. Here, automotive mechatronics technicians earn an average of 2672 euros gross.
North Rhine-Westphalia is exactly in between – here the motor vehicle mechatronics technician salary averages 2970 euros gross.
This shows that even within Germany very different salaries are paid for the same work. In Germany, there is a north-south divide in salaries, regardless of the industry and the size of the company. However, the cost of living (real estate, food, leisure) also differs in the same way.
In addition to the region, the size of the company also plays a role in the salary. According to Stepstone, the average salary in small companies with up to ten employees is around 2663 euros gross per month.
In larger companies with 10,000 employees or more, the salary for automotive mechatronics engineers is already an average of 3072 euros per month – about 15 percent more. This is because car specialists at large companies more often benefit from collective agreements.
Collective agreements generally offer better salaries than employment contracts in small companies. In addition, automotive mechatronics technicians with collective bargaining agreements are more likely to receive special payments such as Christmas and vacation bonuses.
You can read about the current IG Metall collective agreement salaries for automotive mechatronics technicians for the individual German states here.
How can automotive mechatronics technicians increase their salary?
The best opportunities for higher salaries are offered by further and advanced training.
If, after training as a mechatronics technician, you decide to take a one-year further training course to become a master mechanic, you have the option of setting up your own workshop or taking on management responsibilities in a company.
Stepstone indicates a salary range of 35,000 to 47,200 euros for automotive foremen. The average annual salary is therefore 39,900 euros gross.
Further training to become a state-certified technician is also possible – although this requires several years of professional experience as an automotive mechatronics technician.
Depending on the field of specialization, the salary after further training is then between 3153 and 4085 euros gross, according to Lohnspiegel.de.
Automotive mechatronics technicians can also negotiate a higher salary with an additional degree, for example in automotive engineering or mechatronics.