Thousands of electricians are leaving the UK to work abroad because they think they can earn more money elsewhere, so we decided to do some research and find out if electricians really are the worst-paid tradespeople. In this video, we take a deep dive into how much each trade gets paid and answer the questions once and for all as to whether Electricians are the worst-paid trades.
Thanks to @NBundyElectrical @RDavisElectrical @kimmythesparks @dsesuk @residualcurrent @homeimprovements and all the other special guests that are featured in this video! Make sure you subscribe to their channels to show your support for tradespeople around the world!
Together we can make an impact on how much tradespeople earn by making sure we don't join the race to the bottom, quote based on a quality installation and don't just try to beat the cheapest price. Together we can raise the bar and help trades everywhere to get better pay and keep standards of work high for customers. Don't forget to share this video if you enjoyed it!
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⏱️Timestamps
00:00 - Introduction
00:40 - My opinion
01:46 - What do familiar faces say are the worst-paid trades?
03:25 - What do people say is the average salary for a UK electrician?
04:02 - Do electricians get paid enough? What does Nick have to say?
04:38 - Looking at the results from our viewers, it was SHOCKING!
05:13 - So how much on average do electricians get paid?
06:21 - The other expensive costs of a tradesman…
07:41 - Interview with Robin Clevett about Carpenters pay
09:30 - So what is the worst and best-paid trade?
12:15 - Interview with an electrician who went abroad
15:08 - BUT there are so many other factors to consider…
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Thank you to everyone who helped with the creation of this video. Comment below if any of the results shocked you and what figures surprised you the most. 👀
Thanks for this.🤪🤪🤪 I now know I can pay trades people so much less than I thought I had to 🤪🤪🤪. All I know is that Artisan prices must be out of this world because 😅when I've asked Artisan for a quote all I get told is too piss off because you don't cover Oxfordshire...
Use your connections with the KZhead electrician community to create a union where a minimum price per job can be agreed and we'll ALL benefit.
It's so weird that Jordan became a tradesman cos everything about him just screams middle class office worker
That average wage in the UK is what I am on as a 2nd year apprentice here in Australia (all be it I am a mature ageapprentice which does pay better)
😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😊
As a previous builder, I used to do it all, no matter the weather, conditions or job. I would charge £250 a day. Started at £150. But had to buy shit loads of good tools regularly, fund materials, pay young lad every day. Loved it, then had a stroke, fell off can roof, pulled out shoulder and now 6 years on shit for luck degenerative disc disease, sends pains all over my body. Looking back I'd jump at building again. But if you read to bottom I could have died having a stroke, so think myself lucky.
Christ mate. Sorry to hear that.
16:10 - Forget Scaffolder, I'm thinking of becoming a train driver! LOL
The hours a shit mate. No social life nothing. You will have 3 am starts always bound to living near a train station most likely driving an hour a day to work to get to the stations. Sleep is fucked. If you can handle that then go for it competition is insane for it just for the money
The biggest issue is 10years ago £33k was a really good wage, but now with inflation and everything going up minimum wage is catching up it makes £33k feel like £25k 10 years ago
The problem is social media and those basically driving a race to the bottom. I see people all the time posting about how they can rewire a 3bed house for £3.5k. They’re either smashing it in with very little care and Screwfix LAP cheap materials. Or they’re working for peanuts. I’m doing a rewire at the moment and some people thought I was massively expensive. Yet plumber comes in and charged £4800 to change a boiler (granted it’s an oil boiler as I work in Shropshire) but they were in and out in a day! I got quotes for a log burner. Cheapest I had was £4100+VAT which didn’t include the burner or the slate hearth. I had to provide those on top. That was 3 days work at most and they reckoned they could probably have it done in 2. I don’t mind paying for quality work. But it irritates me when customers will think nothing about paying £2k for a fancy cooker. But baulk at £800 for a new consumer unit. NAPIT, NICEIC etc need to start driving education across the public and also driving change in the industry. Electrician needs to be a protected status like gas engineer/plumber. Then they need to ban the sale of all electrical tools, test equipment and accessories unless you prove you’re a qualified electrician. You’ll never stop DIY Dave from the dog and duck. But NAPIT, NICEIC can do more to reduce it. Also if electricians refused to do, for example, EICRs for less than £250 then you would quickly drive down the no. of these £85 drive by EICRs. A big problem is also the amount of bitching at each other rather than helping. The electrician trade is its own worst enemy at times. I could go on all day 😂
The UK is rubbish at protecting professional jobs. Engineer is a protected designation in Germany, anyone can call themselves an engineer in the UK. It's absolute bullshit they say it can't be done because engineer is a ubiquitous word these days. Bring in a law and start kicking the balls of people who abuse it.
Although you're kind of right, these things are only a race to the bottom if one is prepared to take part in it. Those relying on builders for work, or the landlord rental EICR market, are always going to be fighting for scraps. The bottom line is most tradesmen aren't businessmen, that's the difference. They like the freedom in being their own boss, which is great on one hand. But you can't be working and quoting and procuring materials at the same time. Then come the challenges of upscaling and employing or otherwise engaging additional labour, that's when things start going wrong, especially with today's poor training standards and general lack of pride. It seems to me that the "successful" sparks are those who achieved a second revenue stream, from things like property rental. They don't have to compete in the drive by testing market! Buildings are now seriously electrically dominated, whether it be PV/EV, BMS control, HVAC the list goes on. So any spark willing to put themselves to the test, can quite easily become Facility Management, project engineers, or even teachers! Electricians really are in the box seat. Its a steady enough gig, not too taxing on the body, lots of routes to get off the tools, with good earning potential, and about as much job security as one can hope for. All that depends on if one wants to house bash all their life, or leave it to those who want to fight over 3 grand rewires. I do agree the industry needs to be governed under Law. NICEIC and NAPIT have had long enough now, without achieving much, and yes electricians are nothing but a set of moaning piss flaps!!!!
If the 'other' electricians are so cheap. why did they pick you? Ask yourself, if their complaining now, what will happen when its time to pay up? Hope you 've got a contract. If not, cut your losses and walk away now.
@@johnchristmas7522 The ones who complained I was too expensive didn’t accept my quote. I was just highlighting the disparity between a full rip out & rewire quote vs a plumber who’s in/out in the same day or 2 at most for a boiler change. The current rewire I’m on I couldn’t ask for a better customer. Job has been ongoing since Nov as it’s a bespoke rip out and refurb of a 200yr old cottage. I submit an invoice each month and they pay it within 48hrs. Job spec has changed 3 times as well. But as it’s been at first fix stage then it’s not been too much hassle. Apart from changing the location of the island which I’d chased a 10mm cable into the floor for some fancy induction hob. So had to move that. But again no real issue. The builder just re-screeded the floor once I’d moved it. All my quotes have a set of T&Cs. One of which is payment within 7 days of completion. It’s also noted that failure to pay will result in the debt accruing interest and late payment charges in line with small business legislation. So if they accept the quote they also accept the T&Cs. Won’t stop the ones who aren’t going to pay anyway. But at least I’ve got some watertight legal recourse when they don’t.
Sums up my thoughts exactly. I've built up a good customer base that respects quality work but that's taken years of dealing with endless time wasters wanting something for nothing or for you to cut corners so they can save a few quid. If NIC made the public and even businesses aware when you should receive certification for electrical work, it would help educate and cut out chancers.
In the Republic of Ireland.Electricians are the highest paid trade on hourly unionised industrial jobs.
As someone who has lived and worked in the United States - that 30% increase in pay is soon swallowed up by the difference in the cost of living in the USA. Of course, it depends where in the US you live and work but I know where I lived, in Connecticut, I'd have to be earning close to 60% more than what I did in the UK to have the same standard of living. (CT is a relatively expensive place to live)
(just watched the end of the video where you noted the cost of living difference!)
@@joeg7537 especially with the cost of healthcare on top of other expenses...
All building trades earn morn than the motortrade. I'm a high voltage trained vehicle technician. Working on 400v dc batteries. That's live working too. Vehicles have changed so much in my 27 year career. We have to buy our own tools. Constantly train for less. Most of our salary is based on target earnings that are unachievable.
My dad used to say carpenters have been doing the same thing for hundreds of years not much changes with what you do with wood. With electrics it’s changing all the time and there is a lot to remember! We need more money for sure!
Another thing, electricals are dangerous if an amateur doesn't know what he's doing. Nailing a plank to a bit of wood on the other hand... You'd expect electricians and gas heating engineers to be the highest paid because they are required by law to be trained. You can start your own joinery business without being a joiner. Sure, people will catch on if you're useless but it's not against the law.
What about bricklayers, they’ve been putting one brick on top of another for thousands of years. Nothing’s changed. A bucket full of tools and a level and that’s it.
@@dmarriott9701Although the process is the same, Bricklaying has become more supply/demand, why the rates are good. They drove kids into IT, thinking we could de skill construction and not need bricklayers, by using other systems, and its not worked out.
@@dmarriott9701 Brick layers work in all conditions, It's hard physical work needing strength and stamina, and experienced ones are quick. They deal with all sorts of block masonry issues, and they are basically responsible for creating the main foundation of a building. And good brickies are sort after and often hard to come by, House building corporations want large estates built quick with experienced and tooled up man power to get their assets up... And are willing to pay those wages.
Forgot chippies were fitting Howdens kitchens in the 1800s lol I think our Job is far easier now that what it would of been 😂 we are very lucky
How many solar installations could you do without the scaffolders putting the scaffolding up to start with?
How much scaffolding could you put up with out power to charge your drills?
Scaffolding literally the lowest skill ceiling out of every trade nearly unless you’re doing specialised stuff all you need is an impact and a boat level
@@henrydavies2760 lower skill higher wear and tear
Not only is the pay lower than it should be but you add onto that the amount of downtime that can happen when other trades are delayed or just those times where work slows down.
I made a simple income calculation. When your income (sole trader/limited) is under £85k you stuck, and you can play with the numbers and cash in hand etc. However, if you are over £85k you need to generate min. £110-120k/year to be just equivalent if you're under £85k. The one man band is a survivor, but not much. If you have a VAT registered business then you need to get £180-250k/yr for 2/3 people max. But you need tons of work. It's a catch 22 😢 The other problem is the hourly rate. If you raise it you can lose out jobs, if you're under you work for survival.
Paramedics in the UK, after having to do a 3 year degree, get £14.53 per hour for the first 2 years with the nhs… everyone in the UK is underpaid.
NHS is a shambles. There are some good staff who actually care for people and put there all in. They should be paid more. But majority of them are just people who go to work and get paid. Clock out and forget about there patience on ward and just read the notes the next day.
True but they have clear job progression, can get up to higher bands on very competitive salaries, overtime pay, OOH pay increase.. job security and an unmatched pension.. it's not bad lol.
There are some other routes - my nephew is going into the forces to train as a medic and as part of that he could specialise as a paramedic, and he'd have a straight shot into the ambulance service when he leaves, should he want to. Of course, the caveat is you have to be willing to join the forces, but you get paid (even if not especially well) to learn, rather than the hideous cost of gaining a degree.
@@stevepettifer4896 I agree degrees are expensive but the debt you accrue is not really comparable to traditional debt.
@stevepettifer4896 as a CMT you have to do further training after leaving the forces in order to work as a paramedic. But at least u don't have to go and do a degree
How much do you pay your guys.....at Artisan????
It must depend on where you live in the UK. . I live in the south west of England and the pay of most professional treads are are less than in the south east of England
It is very interesting to see how different the pay is, not just in other countries but in the Uk itself as well.
Electricians can work well into retirement age. Scaffolders cannot. I know a former scaffolder who is now in telesales earning a lot less because the job wore their body out. The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long.
Crawling about in attics is a young mans game
Agreed. A age timeline should be applied. And consider management level options, if any
@@barukkazhad8998 but there are so many avenues in the electrical trades IE. Testing . I don't think you have options in scaffolding
I'd love to see Jordan stand up a 21ft steel pole
It's how you look after the being , you eat sh○t & smoke you die younger Just be responsible & respect the volt - age 😂
Woooooooo was waiting for another member only video!!!
Thanks for your patience! More dropping this weekend for you. Enjoy!
@@artisanelectrics Hypedddd🚨
I have been an electrician 38 years, wages have always gone up and down with the economy. In the early 1990`s there was just no electrical work around and wages were low. . Then Part P arrived and more regulation which really in the initial stages improved earnings. The late 1990`s up to about 2018 were really good. The last 2 - 4 years have got really difficult, costs to run the business have sky rocketed. tools, regulation, vehicle cost and insurance. There does seem a race to the bottom at the moment. Just to note I am only a sole trader and work from home but some prices I see people charge are just so low. I just don`t know how they do it. I can only suspect they use part qualified staff and a senior engineer signs it off.
How much do you pay your staff Artisan? Let's see if you're paying on the lower side or higher 😁
Hourly rates here in Australia vary depending on where and which industry you work in, for example I have previously worked in oil & gas in remote Western Australia and was paid as much as $76 AUD per/h plus allowances, here in my hometown of Melbourne I can earn similar in industrial petrochem etc. but there’s not as many roles available, most sparkies on city union jobs are on $58 AUD plus allowances and at the other end some domestic employees are as low as $32 AUD p/h. I now run my own business and am on track this financial year to earn over $100,000 AUD after tax and other expenses but it’s taken a couple of years developing the business to get to this point. I would say most successful self employed contractors turnover between $250,000 and $300,000 per annum and once you take away taxes and expenses might end up with $150,000 to $200,000 take home pay, can take many years to build up to that point but with some hard work is possible.
ETU rates in Melbourne are now nearly $70/h, without any allowances. I think if you are working for a small company, its still an insult to be paid less than $40 in this climate, $50 being more realistic.
The Electricians Union rate here in Ireland is 27euro ph 4 years out of your time not including subsidence of 170 euro week. The Self imployed hourly rate is 50 to 65 euro per hour privately or 40 to 45 euro per hour sub contract.
Where do you get them statistics from? They are not true I know people in each of them trades and the numbers are way off
It’s average across the whole uk
Well in Australia they work to live , in the UK YOU LIVE TO WORK ,SLAVE LABOUR . That is the system . All ways has been and all ways will be . Started work in 1964 Apprentice £2-9 shillings a week ,1969 Sparks £20 for 40 hours ,15 hours a week over time @ time and a half . 2.4 kids a mortgage a car , the wife had to have a part time job and you were making head way . 1994 working on price work a gang of 3 of us , on steel tube work , tray , trunking , wiring and second fix , £1,250 a week each . That set the price for the next 10 years until another direction took over ready for retirement . I once read an article in an investment magazine on building costs ,around 1992 , an one owner of a large London electrical company , stated , is it not a shame that electricians have to have all the knowledge and we only pay them peanuts and basically it is a licence to print money for the company . So heads down lads arse up , as long as the shit is below your arm pits ? the mouth is clear to eat more doughnuts .Great fun along the way . Best of luck . 🤔😉👍👍
I have no clue where you get those numbers. on my knowledge and experience of UK building sites, these were 10 years ago. plasterers not coming on site unless 350/500 a day. plumbers 460-600 days, tiles 350-500a day. block pavers 400 days, electrician 500 days
nice troll
@@coachingconfidant2785 they won't be doing much work then! Certainly not the rates paid here for long term work
@@sebastianohalloran9093 these are like self employed rates for cowboys
This, and recent others, feels like one big advert. It's a shame :(
Great video Jordan. Feels like you’ve really upped the quality here and it tells.
I appreciate that!
Depends if you work for yourself or work as employee
I didn't realise you guys are from Cambridge (Just down the Busway from me). Don't know why your videos turned up in my feel but I've watched a load now and been enjoying them.
Cost of living is much higher in Aus though. Same with US, all the various health insurance you have to buy etc.
Interesting about the guy who is working in Australia, that rate is pretty low. If you work for an Union signed company, the rate in Victoria is pretty much $70/hr as an EMPLOYEE, on top of that you end up with daily allowances of $40 day and other benefits are paid such as income protection, long service leave etc. wand possibly site allowance of $5-10 and hour in large projects. Easy for a decent electrician on decent projects to earn $150k and $200k plus with a bit of overtime. But hey, house prices are massively high, like $800,000-$1,000,000 for something average. Yet, prices of things like cars are much cheaper than Europe, fuel is getting up there, but cheaper than Europe. Food costs are now high, but can be contained if you don't spend your life eating out. Trade jobs in Australia are not looked down upon either. It's a great paying job, in fact, as an electrician, its not THAT hard either. Don't let people tell you otherwise, Australia is STILL the lucky country, its not perfect and things are perhaps harder and more expensive than they used to be but I really can't think of somewhere else where an average person lives a better life.
The disparity in pay between the UK and other nations can be traced back to the overall stagnation in wages in the UK vs most of the rest of the G20. Since 2008, wages in the UK have effectively remained the same, whereas cost of living / inflation have significantly changed. This has not been the case globally. The wage disparity is not unique to trades, however it does reflect how badly the UK economy has performed since the 2008 crash. Effectively it has not recovered.
So, once someone told me. When client has spent his money? They first go to ground! And as soon as build progress there is less in pot. I know builders takes 300 home a day. And they cover everything (comes with price) then you see quality (questionable) but they can do all. London area
Some of those trades are skills that not everyone is good at, like plastering, so I'd expect to find quite a wide range of earnings in that trade. I know a very well paid plasterer and he is very very good at it. But what about the earnings of non construction industry jobs, like the Tescos worker, and what hours do they do. Incidentally if you look at what those train drivers need to learn and do, it's up there with the highest skills, they most definitely earn their money.
Trouble with plastering and other wet trades is they're trying to phase it out on new builds. Takes too long to dry before decoration, and if its poor quality theres real headache sorting it out. Dry wall systems and things like kitchens and bathrooms coming as pods on a truck takes away the need for tiling trade. Spray coat render and monocouche systems does away with much of traditional external render.
I'm an apprentice/ improver, I've been doing the job around 5 years plus 2 years at college with work experience. I've been put up to 100 pound per day with all my own tools and van and I'm paying for my own qualifications which has taken ages to save for... uk at the moment is crap so I'm getting my qualification this year and hopefully moving to Canada as its a great county and the money is slightly better then over here
Also don't forget trades have to move from job to job , prices are highly competitive and weather often influences wether work can continue. Other professionals are often rooted to one area and weather, competition is not as difficult.
That list/graph of the highest paid trades is subject to wide variations though I think.. I remember two brummie brickies working here in the UK midlands (they were very good brickies), back in 1998 who were earning £200 a day back then. And some sparkles earning £15/hour back in early 2000’s..
The fact is that the vast majority of tradesmen aren't on a salary. Nearly all of us are self employed whether we like it or not.
I hope my boss dont see this video. Bloody hell iv got kids to feed and 2 cats 30k 😂😂😂 how. It dont make sense.
Is it worth to come from another country to work in uk as electric technician?
Depends which country you’re coming from
@@artisanelectricsAsia. Pakistan/India/Bangladesh
In my area, I would guess spray foam people make the most. $8,000 worth of spray foam over two days and charge $16,000. Maybe it was the electrical that charged $34,000 plus beer to wire a garage I would have done for $3,000 ten years ago. But it was not wired to code.
What salary do you pay to your Artisan electricians ?
Pretty sure it’s £48k which is good for outside London
@@lewis94ukThat’s about normal for outside London. Before I went self-employed I was on £46k a year working for a company in Bedfordshire
Since they find all the work and pay all the costs/insurance/vehicles/power tools and all you do is provide labour- then £50,000 is not bad.
When i started my apprenticeship in 1973 the electrical trade was the highest paid i think it should go back to that situation again the building trade is hard but there are more risks and danger in i would say in the gas and electrical trades.
An interesting video Jordan but I do question how accurate the numbers are. This subject comes up a lot in FB groups and an important consideration is location. I live in Surrey so my experience is way different from your figures. Let me give some examples... a fully qualified spark here who subbies on an ECS site will get no more than £240 a day, and often more like £200 - £220, with an improver or mate around £170 tops. CIS takes 20% at source. My window cleaner charges £20 and takes about 10 minutes and the only outlay, apart from a vehicle which all do, is a hose and brush/ squeegie. No subs to a CPS scheme, no expensive tools or test equipment. The same for plasterers. I had a "mates rates" job at home and, bearing in mind it was 3 years ago, it cost me £250 a day and their expense is a bucket, a mixer, a few trowels and a brush. When I had a kitchen extension done 6 years ago the builder was employing Albanian labourers, not skilled tradesmen, and the rate he was paying them was between £120 and £150 for a 6 hour working day and the boss bought their lunches at the local pub. My gas boiler gets serviced every year also at "mate's rates" but it is still £80 for 20 minutes work and signing off the warranty booklet. My dog walker charges £15 for an hour walk and charges the owners of the other 5 dog the same time, that is £90. My mechanic charges £80 an hour to drop the oil and put some filters on a car...... sparks have got to be worth more than £30 an hour max and in a lot of cases a lot less? Your points are true about the heavy burden of responsibility a spark has, but also the vast array or hand tools, power tools and MFT/ test equipment not to mention the qualifications and yearly subs to trade bodies. We should be paid a lot more than what we are and all the others, at least on par with gas engineers
Enjoyed you video but to quote salaries between different countries is ok, but what about the cost of living.
Thought you were going back to basic in your videos?
As someone who sits behind a desk on excel all day and gets paid way more than a sparky I have to say that the one who's paying your salary ultimately decides your salary If you expect homeowners or renters who earn 30 odd grand to be paying for your services, how can you expect to get paid 60/70k a year assuming a 40 hour work week?
Just as well you don't live in the USA. Imagine you needed a brain donor to donate you his brain, then you insisted the brain surgeon was out of order for earning a 700,000 bucks a year. Professional jobs cost money and it's not just the guys time, it's the entire toolkit he's had to build up to do the job. Electricians require a few thousand quids worth of tools and a van to transport them in. They'll require insurance. All that has to be paid for by you and the homeowners on 30k a year otherwise, no van, no tools, no electricians. That lorry driver who delivered something for you, you're not just paying for his time, you're paying for the loan he took out to buy his lorry, for the fuel, for the insurance, for all the taxes and for the depreciation so when that lorry is fucked he can replace it. Fed up of people thinking it's just about one blokes hourly rate when there's so much more cost involved running a business.
@@captainwin6333 looks like you answered your own question, the surgeon is paid by the insurance company, it's why they can get paid like that I actually got my house rewired recently for 7k and I didn't challenge it, but if that's more than a 1/3 of your take home pay for the year, how do you expect the average Joe to pay for it? I'd rather you answer that than tell me about the costs involved of running a business
You can't. The key is to not have average to low earners as your entire customer base. Yes, as part of the mix and for consistency of work. Area dependant to an extent, but there are a lot of people who are quite well off for whatever reason and looking for quality people to carry out work in their homes and businesses, prepared to pay more than these cheap and dirty rates we're reading about here. When you happen upon these customers, treat them very well with A1 service and they'll look after you too. It's worked for me.
@@mattbrundle8100 that was a mistake the electrician I used made, reckon he's dealt with shitty customers in the past He forgot to include bonding in the quote and wanted £100 for it, was 20cm from the board and for that I won't be using him again for future works
@@mattbrundle8100 that's the mistake my electrician made, he forgot to include gas bonding in the quote and wanted £100 extra for it, it was 20cm from the board Granted he's probably used to shitty customers but that has cost him thousands in future work I wanted done
In the first year after we complete our apprenticeship in switzerland we get a minimum of 4800 CHF (4264£) per month and after a year the minimum ist like 500 CHF more. And it's all regulated in the GAV(collective labour agreement ) of the of the electrical trades. Those numbers in the video seem crazy to me.
The rates of individual traders are regulated by agreements? If only that was the case here. Switzerland does also have a much higher cost of living than other European neighbours.
In my experience the smaller businesses charge too much but the ones on PAYE get paid just right . There are no paupers in sparkies .Artisan think they are extra special when they price jobs . They would get no work up north
Only way it’ll change is when they stop selling electrical items to the public and solicitors are more stringent with electrical work when processing the sale of houses
Just for a bit of further information, averages are obviously inclusive of labourer and trainee salaries however, a fully qualified scaffolder earns closer to £60k. Scaffolding is probably a lot more physically demanding than most other trades and I think the pay reflects that. Considering construction is an major driver of the UK economy (second biggest industry in UK if I'm not mistaken) it annoys me that tradesmen are paid so little. Keep working hard men and hopefully things improve!
I feel like salaries across the board in the UK are just too low, pretty much any skilled job (trades or otherwise) pays much more in places like the US and AUS; even once factoring in the cost-of-living differences. Everyone deserves more in the UK :(
Just had a certificate from an electrician. Took him just over a day to complete the work. Cost me £740 I didn't feel like his pay was low 😅
Approx 42 600£ for an onshore electrician in Norway, without overtime or other benefits, plus minimum 2% pension savings per year
I work in the southeast UK and we earn through agencies, about £23-26 an hour
That why, the AGENCIES are living off you!
As you said , when you start to quote for your good quality job , sometimes its really hard to beat that dave from the pub changing a fuse board for 350£ including materials 😂
I suspect pay in the UK is so low across all jobs is a combination of government austerity, race the the bottom for wages in some sectors where they are close to minimum wage, and high property prices. Sorting those 3 things out will provide more disposable income so that people can pay more.
I’m a strong believer in why we have fallen so far behind regarding wages was the amount of courses that was available to complete within a short time period ( boil in the bag sparks) has flooded the market and I remember seeing adds in the national papers mostly the sun has shot us in the foot. Sparks should easily be on £300 day in london but it’s no where near that figure.
Theres lots of things contributed, mainly thinking the industry could be deskilled by plug and play systems, with electricians mates doing the bulk of first fix installation. Its not worked out and things are changing. Sparks are on the upward curve now, its just about learning across the range and not being a one trick pony.
Genuine question and excuse my ignorance, but why are bricklayers on so much money? What skills is required apart from being physically abled person and what hazard or risk do their jobs pose? Just a bit shock is all and im genuinely curious
Paid by the brick essentially, the more experienced and skilled you get the more bricks you can lay in a day. While it's not as nuanced and regulated as electrician work there's still a lot of skill and knowledge required to do it well, all trades can seem pretty basic if you boil them down to their component parts (brickies just stick bricks together, carpenters just hack up wood and screw it together, electricians just join wires together, plumbers just glue pipes together etc.). It's bloody hard graft though, absolutely wrecks your body and you can't do it forever. Risks are the same as builders really, heights, falls, exhaustion, injury, getting mangled by machinery, getting your head caved in or generally crushed and concrete is awful for the skin and lungs long term, all the usual fun of the building site.
@@DjDolHaus86 there are some 70 year old bricklayers, SO it can be done without breaking your body
@@coachingconfidant2785 You try it and tell me how you feel about the prospect of doing it day in, day out for 50 years
i am a cabinet maker and paid £13.50 an hr and no over time rate and 50hr week, my mate works in your trade and makes 3 x i do and he is a man band.
Who noticed this was shot mostly in France
I’m an HVAC/plumber installer in the U.S. and I earn what the equivalent of £80,000 a year. We work with high voltage, high pressure refrigerants, hot water, etc. so electricians are not the only ones who work with dangerous systems, and we have to take schooling as well but experience earns your pay at the end of the day.
I’m a free market kind of person but I do think technical trades need to be regulated with a tiered licensing system to represent technical competencies, experience and ongoing cpd. We also need to get away from the ‘failed at school so get a trade’ mentality. We need to attract genuinely smart people to the trades and lift the standard.
I worked in the Life Insurance business many years ago. Scaffolding and Farming were the highest risk trades, and had the highest premiums. Risk of death may account for better hourly rates.
Insurance is always a good indication on how things are rolling, they collate a serious amount of information. Thing with scaffolders, with all respect, is they're not the most intelligent of folk. They're more inclined to take risks, in an already highly dangerous industry. Its also a body breaker, so you got to earn well whilst you're young. There's no 50 year scaffolding career!
I specialise in fire and security. Admittedly I'm self employed but i wouldn't get ouf of bed for even a scaffolders day Rate... I charge more than that for my apprentice
I live in South Australia last week I paid $180 for a ceiling fan to be installed, job took 1hr cash. We have iron ore near trades work 12hrs 7 day shift week off 7 days night shift, followed by 7 days off. Plus 5 weeks holidays plus 7 sick days a year, My grandson Fabweleder gets about before tax a year &130000 working less than 6 months a year. The electrician who installed my fan also works out at the mine, so on his off week he works for himself around the place.
That's like £100 tops? You'd pay that in london for a fitting swap.
Considering every 5 years Gas Engineers are required to retrain and soon Electricians will be going back every 3-5 years. Both should definitely be at the top especially considering the costs incurred to be able to do the job.
Pay differences between countries is no mark of how well paid they are its dependent on cost of living
Thinking about the bigger picture. Really great video
You never see a scaffolder older than 40 though!
😂😂😂
Ever lifted a 30FT scaffold pole?
@johnchristmas7522 that's why you can't do it forever! It breaks you but the money is good while you can do it.
@@user-wj2du7uf5hI assumed that it would be similar for brickies - it's a physically demanding job so the wear and tear on the tradie is pretty high and could be time-limiting, and that is why they're one of the highest paid (on average).
@@stevepettifer4896 I think bricklayer is less physically demanding than scaffolding
I'm just under 44k as the QS of the company i work for, our sparks are on anywhere between 33 and 38k.
I wouldn’t even look at a job if it was less than £50k employed, ridiculous
With scaffolds the customer can see that they are paying for - with electricians and plumbers most of the time the customer can’t see or understand what we’ve done so it seems to be worth less to them. One job I was on the customer asked a plumber to move a radiator he said £750 and they said ok that’s fine - then she asked me to swap the consumer unit I said about £800 and she said wow you’re joking aren’t you they are only £50 in Screwfix 😂
Nurses and junior doctors are the worst paid trade in the UK. If you look at the hours worked for nothing and responsibility sorry respect for the knowledge you have
yeh fair enough but that ain't a trade government pay them not outher pepole and nurses and doctors will allways have jobs
You would have to look at the average pay across all jobs abroad and dont forget you have more expenses and have to have health insurance and no state pension etc
I would imagine scaffolders and bricklayers are the highest paid because of the toll it takes on your body not many bricklayers are particularly good at walking by the age of 60 being an electrician is pretty cushty provided your safe ofc
Hey I don’t think this applies to London, most jobs here are earning £20ph with more experience you would get to £30ph, as a self employed you get more but also to rent a shitty flat here is certainly very expensive too
Always thought that carpet fitters were the king of the trades? “Hurry up with the painting, I’ve booked the carpet fitters for Thursday”! Or “The lights better be working as the carpet fitters will be here tomorrow “😂
And apart from that, most painters I know (not to say all) start at £150/day
Where's John?
He got made redundant by Artisan and became self-employed.
Hi Jordan in Ireland at the moment we are crying out for trades persons. I'm a sparks working for a company and I'm earning €26.50 an hour which is worth more in pounds sterling. 25 years ago I worked in London and money then was much better than in Ireland. How times change. But our union in Ireland fought for better pay. Love your vlogs
£250 to £400 per day min employed 300 to 400 sole trade 600 if limited company should be 30 pound hr or more
This is more like it 💯💯
But £30 per hour is only 240 per day..?
@justinaszvirblis6950 31.25 times 8hrs =250 for simplicity I said £30+ all trades should be starting as least £20+ per hr but the sad reality as highlighted the above video most don't get the compensation they deserve.
@@justinaszvirblis6950this bloke is full of shite and can't even get his figures right
We all have to compete with guys that are prepared to do driver by test and inspection, and fit two DBs in a day. Those of us that trie to do the best possible job just can't compete with people prepared to leave Horrors behind without taking a big hit on the money
The Australia rates at 50 dollars an hour will be FIFI rates , fly in fly out , you work in a mine 12 hour days and you live in a prision camp with shit food , it’s not as good as they make it out to be , the US. Rates will have no health care , holidays or sick pay ect , so it’s not all apples for apples , have you made the move to sparky abroad ? My guess is by most of the backgrounds used that’s mostly filmed in France ?
Mechanic average in UK is £37k. Get covered in oil and dirt everyday. Rush around for waiting customers. Have to buy all our tools and toolboxes. Dealing with 600v electric/hybrid vehicles as well as internal combustion engines. Electrician sound like I good move for me.
You should retrain, its worth it.
Average UK earnings in 2024 £32,604 (from UK national statistics). It's not surprising that the trades earn about that.
We are a small business (me and my son). We have huge overheads and after watching this and your other videos I now realise why I am in huge debt. Simple- £50.00 per hour is nowhere near enough.
We get treated like crap, the employers and union are in each others pockets, sparkies don’t stick together so nothing will change..
Especially when channels like this are basically giving customers ammunition to push back against your quotes, they might do nice work but artisan is a stain on the industry
Why is he in a different country?
Any decent window cleaner earns minimum £40 per hour and more than that in london 😐
dear JODAN FARLY me and my famly love your company videos so much .keep the good work up. and i do think that electricians do not get paid enough
Although you mention the higher earnings in USA and Australia you should mention the cost of living in the country that reflects the increase - USA you definitely need medical insurance for example Better to consider working offshore in oil and gas or marine industry where the earnings are tax free
Also they the tax they pay... state and federal!
Sparks FTW 🙌
Electrical work set your Standard Personal Rate , but maybe we overlook Landscapers as a Trade that's a Top Earner 😮
Very surprising results
Thanks for your guest appearance 😁👌
To be fair most electricians I've met aren't fully qualified and most don't bother to learn more than basic site work or domestic install. So the rate will be low
Gas engineer doing boiler swaps etc most highly paid can charge 1000 for one day
£980
970
@@j.j8114 £999.99 I charge 🤣
Was an electrician upto 9 year's ago quit to train as a train driver now on 60k basic for 4 days a week and get 500 quid to work days off
Thanks for commenting and being honest to back up my narrative in the video, do you need an apprentice???
Train drivers make a killing. Surprised no one has mentioned commercial gas engineers. Nevermind
If you consider how much an hour it costs to get your car serviced at a main dealership, then i dont think electricians get any where near enough.
make a shorty about the difficulties of becoming a scaffolder 😁
Started my level 2 electric and now I've got the ticket I'll stop there and continue as a commercial gas engineer as it just not worth the headache going all the way.
Is it worth being a gas engineer over an electrician or bricklayer/scaff? what's the job satisfaction like?
@@coachingconfidant2785 I've not been an electrician nor bricklayer. I've done a basic bricklayers day course, but recently was told that they are in high demand. Unless I was self employed there is no way I would do either job. It doesn't pay enough money for it to be worth it. Electrician is the worse for qualifications needed and amount paid. Can cost 6-9k to become one. Personally if I could go back in time I would still become a gas man then get to commercial as quickly as possible. AC or BMS engineer is another good route. AC, fgas is quick and cheap. Recently paid 1.4k to get fgas. AC you can learn on job quickly with mentor and KZhead. Bms can be learnt on job and no official qualifications are required. In house training from suppliers like trend, tend to be adequate. Employed as commercial gas engineer you can make 65-80k in London if you're willing to do out of hours work. AC you can make 50-65k. BMS 50-80k. I recently made a vidio on the different trades, qualifications and average earnings. Regarding job satisfaction. I think this depends on what you want from your career. I get good job satisfaction. Worked in some amazing locations, seen some of the most important buildings in the world. Learnt other trades whilst doing gas. Have worked 4 day week shifts 8-4pm door to door. Currently only work in uk for 6 months and live abroad for several then return. There's always good money and pay waiting when I return. Been blessed. Hope that answers your question.
We get the terminology wrong. When an employed person looks at their wage slip what they get 'paid' is what they see as their net income. When a self employed tradesperson gets 'paid' their hourly or daily rate includes all the expenses of running the business: Tools, van, materials, travel costs, other business costs (premises, mobile phone, office, accountant, etc.) sick pay, holiday pay, pension and, oh yes, a wage. Perhaps quotations should show, business costs, material costs and 'wages' as seperate items and then maybe customers wouldn't consider that they're being 'ripped off' ? 😣😣
I earned more in the 70s/80s/ 90s up to 2020 when I retired. ..in the late 70s I was getting 20 pounds a hour. 80s more by the 90s 50 a hour by the time I retired I was on 220 a day sometimes more it depends on the job. And were you work .. I worked in London , but worked in Germany , France , and Spain on decent contracts , I also had my own company . I worked for kitchen company’s , builders , shops , banks etc I done ok but you need luck as well … I had my fair share … I can now sit back and enjoy myself … would I do it again. Defo …