My brother went to school for residential and commercial electrician stuff. He quit after a few years because of low pay, long hours, traveling, and unexpected layoffs.
I almost forgot the craziest part. The Christmas bonus at his company was funded by all the copper they were able to take from jobs and sell
My brother was an electrician for a few years. He quit because of long hours, lots of travel, and low pay. Maybe things are better now that there's a shortage? This was 10 years ago
I know an electrician up the street from me who makes six figures in a small town where the median income is less than $50k. Is your brother in law just doing it wrong?
Coincidentally, I also have a brother in law who is an electrician, and he is not doing well. But then again he's a self proclaimed communist and has zero work ethic.
He does not have paid vacation, good sick leave policies, or good health insurance through his employer. He has witnessed a bunch of on-the-job injuries and one near-fatality, largely caused by his employer pushing hard for the team to complete jobs as fast as possible. He is paid alright, but less than the norm for the people I know with college degrees even after we exclude everybody in software. His job is also physically demanding and may cause problems later in life.
Not exactly a "hey, pick this job and you'll have a great career" story.
Huh. My neighbor growing up was an electrician. By his 40's he struck out on his own with his own company. Made way more money than my family that was doing white collar office jobs.
Why electrician? My father is a licensed (but not union) electrician and I used to work as his assistant when I was a teenager. The job was pretty boring, mostly driving to job sites, running cables, wiring them up, etc. It never struck me as an intellectually stimulating job. He had a book with a bunch of formulas in it (called Ugly's, iirc) that I would read while driving to sites sometimes, but it was plug-and-chug algebra.
Going through electrician’s certification right now. In Germany. It’s cheaper for me to do certification than pay another company to install new compartment for electricity meters in my old house. Apparently there are 55000 electricians in Germany and yet one must wait 2 months to get stupid fuses replaced. The politics are all in in heat pumps with electric vehicles as well as smart grinds. Looks like that I will not be afraid of layoffs in the future, self employed electrician has not much different lifestyle than salaried engineer.
Had a buddy who became a certified electrician. It helped him during the tough times. Also know a couple of people who do some carpentry (furniture, mostly).
Your friend is a massive outlier in the pay distribution of electricians. He's either gaming the overtime system somehow, or has a unique set of specialized skills (or some regulatory arbitrage combo of both).
Friend skipped college and joined the electricians union during the 2007-8 crash. Started his own business three years ago and is already charging essentially whatever he wants as most electricians are old and retiring. He barely knows any electricians our age.
Unfortunately most openings for electricians aren't good unionized career positions anymore, they are independent contractor scams with low pay, no benefits, and bad working conditions.
"We need more tradespeople" seems to be an evergreen news article.
My brother in law is an electrician. He is paid alright, enough to live on. But there are HUGE downsides. He does not receive health insurance. He does not get paid vacation. In order to match decent white-collar pay, he needs to work overtime. His company pushes hard to get jobs finished fast, causing people to cut safety corners. Many of his coworkers have been badly (in one case, nearly fatally) injured on the job. There are no meaningful raises.
It isn't a bad career, but there are major reasons why it would be unattractive.
I apprenticed as an electrician in California briefly as my father was in construction. I decided quickly that I did not like crawling in hot attics, getting bit by black widows, and (worse of all) dealing with customers who think this is a minimum wage job.
Makes sense. Electrician is a skilled job which requires a lot of training. It's not the kind of thing you just fall into as a temporary stopgap when you can't get real work with your B.A. in Medieval Basket-weaving.
The grass is always greener. I grew up in a working class neighborhood where the majority of my friends parents and high school friends later became involved in trades. My high school had a trades program for mechanics, HVAC, electricians, plumbing, and a beauty school.
The vast majority are NOT making six figures. The work is hard, has long hours, and is physically exhausting. My grandpa was a welder/machine shop owner my uncle is a electrician. They would trade anything for a cushy desk job with great pay, great benefits and easy workload. I've never worked past 4pm and have ample paid vacation time. They will never be able to say that. Google says that here in Austin TX, the average master plumber makes $25 an hr. HVAC is the highest at $44 an hour on average. And we are going through a construction boom, also don't forget that you have to factor working in 100 degree heat and 50% humidity 5 months out of the year.
Sure you can start a business and eventually have 5 workers and 3 trucks like my grandpa but then you become a entrepreneur and have to deal with the whole billing, scheduling, selling, headaches of running a small business.
I find a lot of tech people idolize the blue collar fields. It's damn hard work.
I knew an electrician who had a bucket of scrap next to the couch, and he'd strip wire or unravel windings while watching TV. Didn't pay as much as his day job, but it did pay (never asked if he was reporting the income or not).
I almost forgot the craziest part. The Christmas bonus at his company was funded by all the copper they were able to take from jobs and sell
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