The most common locations for a millwright to install, maintain, and repair machinery are factories, power plants, and building sites. They are in charge of repairing, setting up and taking down, leveling, and aligning machines.
This article will look at what a Millwright salary looks like and how to get started in this career.
Read: Crane Operator Salary: What Does It Look Like?
Millwright: What is it?
A millwright works in manufacturing facilities, power plants, and construction sites installing, disassembling, repairing, and moving machinery. Minor injuries including cuts, bruises, and strains are frequent because they work in manufacturing plants and construction sites.
Millwrights frequently work under a contract and may only stay a few days or weeks at one location. Because of this, employees frequently have unpredictable schedules and could have downtime in between employment.
Duties of the job
The following duties are frequently carried out by millwrights while at work:
- Make necessary adjustments to the machinery to ensure it is performing as efficiently as possible by conducting periodic testing.
- Make accurate adjustments, routinely align and test your equipment.
- Repair and replace damaged parts; disassemble machinery completely when necessary; install new machinery or replace damaged portions of machinery as necessary.
- Use powerful rigging tools to relocate or replace machinery
Set bearings, gears, and shafts into precise alignment, mount motors and attach couplings and belts.
The role of a millwright has changed through time as the work has become more specialized and has also required a more diverse range of talents.
On one day, machinery needs to be moved or totally disassembled, and on another, it only needs a small adjustment or a single defective part replaced. With such a wide range of daily tasks, proficiency with tools and equipment is required, from straightforward hammers and sledgehammers to intricate (and potentially deadly) sauntering irons, welding tools, and precision instruments like lasers. Forklifts, winches, trucks, and cranes are frequently used for projects, especially ones that are particularly large.
Millwrights will need to meticulously organize all of this, use their problem-solving abilities, operate a range of equipment with high degrees of accuracy, and work in physically demanding environments, such as high-rise construction sites.
Would you be a Good Millwright?
They tend to be realistic people, which implies they are self-sufficient, dependable, tenacious, sincere, pragmatic, and frugal. Due to the nature of the work, it is a physically demanding career, thus safety measures are essential, including the usage of protective equipment such as safety glasses, hearing protection, and hard hats. Despite the long hours and physically taxing nature of the labor, job satisfaction is highly rated.
What’s it like to work as a Millwright?
The majority of millwrights work on construction projects, power plants, or manufacturers. Many people are union members. Workers in a construction environment need to be cautious around big machinery. Additionally, they can be required to operate in awkward positions, such as on top of ladders, or in close quarters next to large gear, all of which increase their risk of injury. Millwrights working in production facilities may sustain typical workplace injuries such as cuts, bruises, and strains.
Workers must take safety precautions and use protective gear, such as hard hats, safety glasses, steel-toed shoes, and earplugs, to prevent injury.
A Millwright’s Wage
In the United States, a millwright can expect to make about $60,330 per year. A millwright’s yearly pay is about $60,330. Typically, salaries range from $37,860 to $81,190.
How do Millwright Salary rates compare to other professions?
According to the most recent data on employment across the country, millwrights can earn an average yearly pay of $52,650, or $25 per hour. It is therefore a salary above average. When just starting out or depending on the state you live in, they may make as little as $40,540, or $19 per hour.
The United States Millwright Labor Market
In the United States, there are currently thought to be 39,500 millwrights. Between 2016 and 2026, the job market for millwrights is anticipated to expand by 9.9%.
How has the increase of jobs for Millwrights compared to other jobs?
For a total of 47,100 people employed in the career nationwide by 2024, 6,200 employment will change. The career’s national growth rate for the next 10 years will change by 15.2%, which is below average.
How easily are Millwrights Hired?
A C employability grade from CareerExplorer indicates that there might be some moderate employment prospects for millwrights in the near future. It is anticipated that the US will require 9,600 millwrights over the next ten years. This figure is based on the retirement of 5,700 existing millwrights and the hiring of 3,900 new ones.
Getting Started as a Millwright
The bare minimum educational need to become a millwright is a high school diploma. Another absolutely necessary requirement is the capacity for manual labor. The majority of millwrights complete an apprenticeship that includes classroom teaching or on-the-job training. These normally last four years and are funded by sponsorships from the sector, though different employers have different requirements for apprenticeships.
Less popular but valuable certification programs cover a variety of industry-related topics and necessary tasks, including but not limited to hydraulics, welding, industrial mathematics, and mill maintenance. The typical criteria for advancement are on-the-job experience and extra training obtained through certification programs.
