Salary Benchmarks for Robotics & Automation

Every quarter, a new 'salary survey' comes out. They're usually published by big recruitment firms or HR tech companies, and they're full of neat tables showing the 'average' salary for a VP of Sales or a Head of Engineering. And almost without exception, they are next to useless for robotics and automation hiring.

The problem with these benchmarks is that they rely on broad averages that ignore sector nuance. A 'VP Engineering' in generic tech is not the same as a VP Engineering in warehouse robotics or industrial automation. The talent pool is smaller, the skills are more specialised, and the compensation dynamics are different.

Executive compensation in robotics and automation isn't a commodity; it's a negotiation based on value, track record and scarcity.

When you're hiring at the VP or C-suite level in robotics, automation or supply chain technology, you're paying for a specific profile. The market rate for that person isn't determined by a survey; it's determined by what they're currently earning, what they've been offered elsewhere, and the cost of not hiring them. The only benchmark that matters is real-time intelligence — what candidates and companies are actually saying in the market today.

If you're using a generic salary survey to set compensation for robotics or automation roles, you're either going to overpay for the wrong profile or lose the right one.