12500 new electricians required. Does this mean even lower wages

[Deleted member 26818]

Personally I've never had it so good.

If you feel under threat from some young wet behind the ears 5 week wonder then maybe you need to take a look at yourself.

It’s not so much 5 week wonders, as no week wonders who are taking work away from us.
Their not actually taking it, they’re being given it by companies that don’t want to pay for qualified Electricians.

I’ve lost track of the number of sites where I’ve turned up and been tasked with sorting out the mess that’s been left by others.
I know on one site (a School in Walthamstow), other than myself, the most qualified person there was an Apprentice borrowed from another company.
On another site (Data Centre in Harlow), the main containment had been done by a company that on the previous building had been doing the carpentry work.

 

[SteveG]

I once had a customer that was knocking a wall down for a roller shutter door. Unfortunately there were about 30 SWA cables running across that wall and they had to jointed and re-routed.
I couldn't get my normal sparks so phoned an agency. I told them I wanted a fully qualified experienced electrician.
They charged me more per hour than I was charging the customer.

Up turns Billy Bob next morning (late cos his bus was late???)
I show him the job and he tells me he hasn't done armoureds before.
(These weren't big SWA's - biggest 4mm 4 core)
The clock was ticking on this job - and I didn't have time to give him a lesson on SWA glanding.
I decide he can pull cables across where the door will be.
He opens his tool box.... a claw hammer (wooden handle) Rusty Pliers with no insulation. Various spanners - none metric and odd useless screwdrivers.

I asked him where he had done his time.
He said he'd never been to prison.

That sealed it - he was off back down the road.