Talented Techs Cost a Company Money

I need to tell you what happens to all that great talent in the supermarket field in Southern California. The large chain supermarkets in Southern California, for the most part, have contracts with service companies. What that means is they pay one price to cover all refrigeration repairs including refrigerant. They do an online bid, and the lowest bidder wins the contract.

If a contractor shows up to a store for a repair, the service company loses money. The goal is to keep the techs out of the markets. The service company needs a balance of lower-end guys and a few experienced techs. Too many experienced techs means lost dollars on those contracts. The supermarkets dictate what they will pay.

I left a few years back to work on precision cooling equipment. When work got slow, I decided to head back to the markets only to be told that we cannot afford you. Here I was with all this experience to be told this.

I know a lot of great service techs that companies will not hire because they come at a high price. I always thought the more talented you were the more money you were paid.

I am not sure where this industry is headed, but it does not look great for talented techs.

Dave Whelan
Technical Support Supervisor
Kysor/Warren

Publication date: 12/26/2011