A pioneer of continuous inkjet printing and other industrial marking technologies, Videojet has a long history of making high-quality machines and printing consumables. Today, Videojet is one of the largest and most respected industrial printing companies in the world.
According to the company’s latest statements, its global distribution network spreads across 135 countries and involves 400 distributors and OEMs. To keep this far-reaching network efficient and functional, Videojet employs more than 4,000 employees in its 30 direct operations throughout the world. Its service department is perhaps one of the most important in the company, and the “boots on the ground” position of Field Service Technician serves as the eyes and ears at a customer site.
Field Service Technicians are not only tasked with ensuring that Videojet’s machines are operating correctly and are serving client needs, but they’re also in charge of tracking customer issues, documenting these issues and making sure they’re promptly resolved. As the position title suggests, this often involves performing field visits to perform on-site maintenance. Videojet prides itself on maintaining “the largest field technical service team” in the market, and the company uses this claim as a major selling point to its clients. This technical team currently consists of more than 200 professionals and more than 40 experts who are reachable by phone 24/7.
Recently, we profiled the general work culture at Videojet. Here, we specifically focus on what it’s like working as a Field Service Technician for Videojet, taking into account salary, benefits, and daily activities.
Before jumping into specifics about daily duties and reporting structures, we begin our Videojet technician analysis by detailing salary and benefits.
Salaries range from $62,000-$78,000 per year, with previous industry experience and Videojet tenure taken into account. The average hire with no industry experience makes $62,000, while more experienced new hires may make closer to $70,000. In 2021, Videojet also started offering sign-on bonuses ranging from $5,000-$8,000.
Benefits are industry standard, though there are modest perks for continuing education. Benefits include:
Beyond benefits like insurance, there’s also the advantage of possible upward mobility and promotions, with opportunities to evolve with the company over time. Possible promotion paths include:
However, many Videojet Field Service Technicians find it difficult to move up in this structure. We spoke with a former Field Service Technician about upward mobility, and here’s what he had to say:
“Videojet is great as a resume builder, but they hold workers back. It becomes a numbers game to get a promotion, and they’re never satisfied with your performance.
Videojet is a mega-company, and a mid-size company will give you more opportunities to shine.
Videojet helped my resume tremendously but once you get to a certain point with them, there’s no more room for growth!”
Field Service Technicians are responsible for resolving customer equipment issues within a certain spatial radius. These service areas are within six hours of driving time for each technician. Every technician is part of a local team that is headed by a Field Service Team Leader. This Team Leader reports to a Service Manager who is responsible for the region, and the Service Manager reports to the Director of Service about how well the teams in their regions are performing.
On an average day, Field Service Technicians will be sent to client facilities to perform regular maintenance and fix emergency issues. In many cases, it is unclear how long a day’s tasks may take to complete. This often leads to extra hours in the workday without any forewarning.
To accommodate this regular occurrence, Videojet does provide Field Service Technicians with overtime pay in addition to their salaries. However, unpredictably long workweeks inconvenience many technicians to the point of interfering with their personal lives. Further, company vehicles are outfitted with GPS trackers, and Field Service Technicians are frequently scrutinized over every movement they make when they submit overtime cards.
Many Field Service Technicians also find that Videojet’s reporting structure is built in such a way that their daily achievements go unnoticed. Team Leaders are rewarded when the team does well, and Customer Service Engineers are rewarded when they sell equipment and contracts, but Field Service Technicians are expected to perform their jobs without issue. This can lead to feelings of alienation from management.
While Videojet may have the name recognition to attract workers, the flaws in its reporting system often make working as a Field Service Technician more difficult than it has to be. Mega-companies like Videojet have a reputation for putting profits above their workers, and this especially rings true for employees on the bottom of the totem pole. Upward mobility is limited when working as a Field Service Technician for Videojet, and those above you are more likely to advance due to your hard work and are liable to blame you when things go wrong.
If you are considering a Field Service Technician position at Videojet, we encourage you to perform research on sites like Glassdoor to fully understand what you’re signing up for.
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