Here's another example:
http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/1247016

 

In Romania it is the same thing,technicians in electronics get paid poorly because no one wants to pay someone who fixes their device.A lot of these workers are trying to choose another job because the customers are assholes who want to pay you cheaper so that they can keep the money for themselves.I do believe there are other jobs that pay way better than this but I just don't understand why a technician is looked down by engineers.

 

This one reason that back in the 60's the likes of Siemens realized that there was no one between the maintenance guy on the shop floor and the Engineer, most of which did not want to get their hands dirty, so they implemented Technician schools to train the missing links for Electrical/Electronic technicians.
Also the training programs in some countries leave a lot to be desired, particularly the apprenticeship programs.
And then employers wonder why they cannot find the right people.
They have a responsibility that they shirk because of economic reasons, among others.
Max.

 

The best technicians are the ones with skills that are not common among engineers or the general population. They are self-motivated people who develop their skills, have a wide range of interests, seldom complain about their lot in life and are generally pleasant to be around. It is not hard to like and respect a person like that. It is easy to marginalize and ignore the opposite of that.

One other thing about the best technicians -- they are very adept at building their own tools. They do whatever it takes; it is uncommon and extremely valuable.

 

Maybe this will help. One of my friends was an electronics student in Poland while they were under control of the Soviet Union. He did not get as good of an education as he wanted and eventually escaped to the United States. He found a job as a technician with a very prestigious tests equipment company an continued to educate himself. When we last worked together he was an engineer with the Operations part of our multinational company. His job was to make sure that the overall quality of our products was good enough so we could make a profit. He eventually retired from that job and is now very happy with his life.

A jon in electronics does not mean that you need to be the designer of circuits or systems, it means that you need to understand the technology and be able to benefit somebody (supplier or customer) with your understanding.

From this thread, it seems that leaving Romania would be good for you.

 

In Dominican Republic, many companies sometimes prefer technician rather than engineers for economical reasons. They usually pay way less to technicians. But there's a point: some electronics technicians develop practical skills that engineers don't.

About my personal experience: I graduated from technical school. It was a four-years program in industrial electronics. (non engineering). Then, I quickly found a job with really low salary, which was okay to be my first job. Then, I stopped working for 3 years and started my electronics engineering degree. During my 4th year, I found a job which I currently keep. Now I'm doing my 5th and last year of college and working at the same time. I do component level repair, but not too many people are doing this anymore. But I still get paid poorly. If I were engineer, my salary would be a little be higher just for the title of being "engineer". And it's kind of tricky as I said previously because even if you're not graduated from collegue, but you have some useful practical skills, then it's easier for you to find a job than an engineer who just graduated without work experience.

Doing level component repair has given me many practical skills and understanding about electronics. And love it. But in my country, it's not good for a living regrettably. Well, in general, it's hard to find a well-paid job in Dominican Republic for electronics because of the poor development of the country in that field. That's why I'm always interested in what's going on in other countries. I did a semester in Canada. I took courses from the Electrical and Computer Engineering program but didn't have the chance to explore the job field.

Now I'm embarking on electronics design. It's because I love everything with regards to electronics and I do no want to get stuck at technical repair forever.