Are Electricians Being De-Valued?

[skirby]

Thanks Guys. I'm trying to get the full picture and something is developing here. But how do you feel compared to other trades?

 

[bugsy]

one word ---YES

The question is why are we being undervalued / skills we hold not taken into relevance

 

[sedgy34]

Its becoming more apparent all the books and the re training keeping upto date on things, insurances and accreditations all these things are called overheads and you get screwed down to the penny to earn a living. this is because people do work for nothing and the part p allowed kitchen fitters /plumbers/chippies to mess with electrics not forgetting the sparkys not registered who coin it in and leave a job having not certified it. WHAT CHANCE DO YOU HAVE

 

[Des 56]

Its probably much harder for us older electricians to come to terms with what has happened and what will be a continuous journey into the unknown
It has been a journey from high rewards and community respect to overburdened also rans in the present societies eyes

A shame really,but I suspect, its a fallen trade that cant be rebuildmcertainly not with the respect it once had

 

[Adam W]

I definitely feel under-appreciated in my current job - everyone gets paid the same including people with no formal qualifications who spend all day cutting wires to prescribed lengths and taping them together, or clipping wagos into adaptable boxes. Well in fact they get paid more than me because I work via an agency.
In the past people with no electrical qualifications have come from other trades and had a go at pulling wires which for some reason seems to be perfectly acceptable whereas there is no way I could suddenly decide I'm a chippy, deck fitter or laminator. Presumably for this reason putting a bit of flex on a fluorescent batten to make a work light has to be done by 'maintenance' even though they probably have less qualifications than the rest of us. If I tried isolating a circuit and extending a ring I'd probably get fired.

As for a 'licensing system' I think that is a bit pie in the sky - people's problem with the JIB skills card seems to be that they have worked as an electrician for years but only have the technical certificate and college based qualifications to get a trainee card. Remember the problem with 5WWs seems to be that they are going out and working on their own without any previous experience, just 5 weeks learning the theory and practical on mock installations in a workshop in a training centre; if there were some alternative card which calls someone an 'electrician' who hasn't completed the NVQ3 and therefore has proven to a certain extent that they are competent to work in the field there will be no way of distinguishing someone who is competent at what they are doing and has a proven track record from someone who had a desk job up until 6 weeks ago, then did a 5 week 'intensive' course.

 

[benji]

it started going down hill when the JIB started ( i have never known a spark to say they voted for it )

 

[alarm man]

it started going down hill when the JIB started ( i have never known a spark to say they voted for it )

sparks were the cream of the industry when the jib started,everyone wanted or pretended to be a spark,the benefits were way ahead of any other trade

 

[robsparky1975]

I think that the introduction of the part p has helped devalue the industry,yes its domestic but all those quick courses have pumped out 1000s of "sparks" or mates the agencies have no idea that these short courses dont give people knowledge of anything other than domestic,so there is just to much supply, in turn just pay some crap £12 an hour,it seems that scaffolders are valued more.my dad is semi retired sparks and he keeps bringing up stories of the good old days,alas no way they will return,sure your post has pretty much put forward what most of us feel.

 

[Dave 85]

To the OP....
I know what you are getting at, its all a bit of a p*** take the constant regs updates and what not but I dont let it get to me. I'm the type of person that if I dont agree with something, Im not gonna go out of my way to pay too much attention to it. That said I take a lot of pride in my work and always ensure everything I install is as safe as it can possibly be.
Im young and have only ever known the post part P days but personally I dont have a problem with the way things are. I've been self employed since I was 22 and always done Ok out of it. Most of the electricians I know still make significantly more money than other trades.

I understand this does not represent the industry as a whole and that there are self employed experienced qual'd sparkies out there working for next to nothing but thats life....
Heres the way I see it....
The western world is f**ked...
Its not a reccession thats magically gonna dissapear one day and we'll all be rich again....
Its just f**ked.
Noone can get a job in the UK anymore, every tom dick and harry has a degree which isn't worth the paper its printed on. Then they hear these rumours that electricians make good money...Funnily enough its always the response I get when I tell somoeone my job "oooh good money..." in a rather patronizing way, I can't see them saying that to stockbrokers but hey ho....
So now everybody wants to be a spark and these training centres are cropping up and noone realises that training alone doesn't magically make you a competent spark so the countries now flooded with highly qualified but inexperienced sparks....
So yeah the moneys no good anymore for site/agency work...
But all trades are suffering its not just ours...

Personally I am glad I became a spark and would never do anything else. I like the work, the responsibility, the money..... hell I even like part P.

 

[Smudge]

reading through all these comments has just shown me both how lucky i am, and the sort of bubble i must be living in. I've not been in the game that long in comparrison to most (<15years), and i haven't done any qualifiacations outside my apprenticeship, approved and 17th. I wouldn't even know where to go to find out what quals i am meant to have before i were to do certain jobs. I live and work in Scotland, and frankly, the talk of Part P bewilders me.
I originally started as a spark in the army, and had to re-do a proper apprenticeship when i came out as my qualifications (basically nothing) didn't cross over. I worked domestic through my time, and now work industrial 'maintenance'.
I am the electrical supervisor at a factory, and for example, for a comparrison, one guy is 25 years old and another is 58years old. The younger of the 2 is always asking to be sent on courses and if i get granted the funding from the directors, i send him. The older guy, i basically had to force him to go sit his 17th edition exam. His attitude was that he served his time nearly 40 years ago and that is enough. Regs etc don't come into it with his attitude. And dare i say it, even with all this guys experience, how can that be proved without documentation? He could of done his trade 40years ago and worked as a baker for 30years before he came here for all i know.

This is where i agree with the point that a lisence, or a register should be properly introduced with annual/biannual or whatever assessments. Then, everyone would know where they stand, what they need to do to achieve this.

Back to the OP, this is where i feel lucky...it's a great point and very thought provoking, but i seem to have side-stepped the comotion (for now) of the building trade by working in the relative safety of industrial maintenance.