For plant engineers, job satisfaction is not always about the money. Amara Rozgus discusses the 2026 Plant Engineering Salary Survey, which provides insights about talent, technology and the future of manufacturing.
Manufacturing may be stabilizing after a period of economic uncertainty, but beneath the surface, the industry faces a defining challenge: How do you sustain a highly experienced, highly satisfied workforce while preparing for a future shaped by talent shortages and artificial intelligence?
That question is at the heart of the 2026 Plant Engineering Salary Survey, discussed on episode 11 of the Ctrl+Alt+Mfg Podcast. Guest Amara Rozgus, editor-in-chief of Plant Engineering, outlined a workforce that is, on one hand, well compensated and deeply committed, but on the other, aging rapidly with too few young engineers stepping in behind them.
“The overarching story is that plant engineers are making a lot of money,” Rozgus said. “But the manufacturing industry remains fragile.”
A well-paid but aging plant workforce
The survey paints a picture of a loyal, seasoned workforce that is content in their jobs. According to Rozgus, 72% of respondents are over age 50. Nearly half fall into what she described as a “retirement danger zone,” with 31% between 60 and 69 years old and another 14% age 70 or older.
Compensation throughout the industry reflects that senior-level experience. Those with 40 or more years of tenure earned an average salary of $142,000 in 2025. Salaries for employees 70 and older jumped 14% to more than $125,000, increases that may be aimed at delaying retirement and preserving institutional knowledge. The Bureau of Labor Statistics considers workers 40 and older “old” for reporting purposes, Rozgus noted wryly, but in manufacturing, longevity is often the norm.
“Engineers, people who are experts in their particular field, they’re not retiring,” she said. “They might be working part time, they might be working full time, but they’re working well into their 70s.”
While that continuity provides stability, it also underscores a looming vulnerability. What happens when they do retire?
“If 11% of the workforce retires soon and there are not enough junior team members to receive that institutional wisdom, the industry really faces a huge loss of operational continuity,” Rozgus warned.
Satisfaction runs deep but it’s not about the money
Despite concerns about succession, the survey reveals a workforce that is largely content. Half of respondents said they love going to work every day, and 76% view manufacturing as a secure career. Interestingly, compensation is not the primary driver of that satisfaction.
“Financial compensation ranks only fourth, at 8% on the list of factors that impact job satisfaction,” Rozgus said. Instead, engineers are motivated by relationships, culture and technical challenges. “Engineers are motivated by their environment. Who do they work with? What’s their relationships like? Or technical challenges. And those two things drive them far more than their paycheck.”
The top driver of job satisfaction, cited by 16% of respondents, was a feeling of accomplishment.
“In manufacturing, work is tangible,” Rozgus explained. “Engineers can point to a physical product or a system — maybe it runs better because of their efforts.” That ability to see direct results, she said, delivers a psychological reward that more abstract roles often cannot match. “The fact that this ranks double the percentage of financial compensation confirms that these professionals view themselves as technical experts and problem solvers first and foremost and employees second.”
Manufacturing’s broken talent pipeline
If the current workforce is stable and satisfied, the pipeline behind it is far less certain. The No. 1 business challenge identified in the survey, cited by 34% of respondents, was a lack of junior team members.
“We all know industry leaders are struggling to recruit,” Rozgus said.
But the data suggests declining pay for entry-level roles is a possible contributing factor. The base salary for employees with fewer than five years of experience dropped by 14%, to about $98,000.
“If the industry can’t offer competitive starting salaries while simultaneously complaining about this lack of junior team members, the pipeline is going to remain broken,” Rozgus said. “Both of those things have to be resolved.”
Beyond pay, perception also plays a role. Manufacturing has long battled outdated stereotypes, with careers often labeled as dull, dirty and dangerous. Rozgus believes the sector is “primed for having a perception change,” especially as advanced automation, digital tools and AI reshape plant operations.
Is AI a co-pilot or usurper?
Artificial intelligence looms large in discussions about manufacturing’s future and in the survey results. Replacing human decision-making with AI ranked as a major concern, with 36% identifying it as a significant business threat.
“AI is viewed with a lot of apprehension,” Rozgus said. “[Engineers] see it less as a helpful co-pilot and more as a potential usurper of the technical challenges and decision-making that they value very highly.”
That skepticism reflects a broader fear of losing the human judgment that has long defined plant engineering. Still, Rozgus sees opportunity in using AI strategically, especially to address the knowledge gap created by retirements. She suggested companies could feed documents or details into AI and ask it to generate training materials for junior staff. They could also record expert insights and use AI tools to transcribe and organize that information into searchable resource libraries.
The key, she emphasized, is positioning AI as an aid rather than a replacement.
“Future security depends on two things,” Rozgus said. “Normalizing compensation for early career engineers to fix that recruiting pipeline and successfully integrating those AI tools that aid rather than replace the human decision-making.”
The path forward for plant engineers
Ultimately, the survey suggests that manufacturing is at an inflection point.
“The industry really has to pivot from retaining the old to enticing the new,” Rozgus said. Relying on salary increases to keep veteran engineers in place “is just not sustainable anymore.”
The path forward will require a balanced strategy that includes competitive pay for newcomers, intentional mentorship and knowledge transfer, and thoughtful adoption of AI. Equally important, leaders must preserve the cultural and technical elements that make plant engineering so satisfying in the first place.
Manufacturing may not always be described as glamorous, but for those who work in it, the appeal is real. It’s rooted in problem-solving, tangible impact and community. Whether the next generation sees that same appeal may determine the industry’s trajectory over the next decade.
The Ctrl+Alt+Mfg Podcast
Make sure to check out other episodes of the Ctrl+Alt+Mfg podcast, where hosts Gary Cohen and Stephanie Neil discuss a range of digital transformation insights. The last five episodes are listed below:
Ep. 6: Digital Transformation – Hype, Reality & What’s Next With Mike Ouellette, Engineering.com
Ep. 8: Inside the 2026 State of Automation Report, with Mark Hoske, Control Engineering
Ep. 9: When cyberattacks go physical, with Ian Bramson of Black & Veatch
Ep. 10: Modernization vs. digital transformation, with Dan Furrow and Luis Atencio of Wesco
