is nobody bothered anymore? (trades people / companies)

Diddums said:
Nail, meet head. About time tradies start getting some respect and recognition.
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I wouldn't say traders don't get respect or recognition. If they're good at their job, then word of mouth pretty much keeps them in business, and having a packed schedule of customers happy to pay good money for your services.

I think the issue now comes down to the younger generation (now I'm sounding old and I'm only a millennial) and their reasons for not entertaining a trade. Is the manual hard work unappealing? Is it the environment (cold/outdoors) that's unappealing. It certainly can't be the money because as the last few posts have said, some traders seem to be living quite a life of luxury.
 
Ever since the end of lockdown, trades have been inundated as people went for home improvements with all the cash they saved on not travelling etc. It seemed like every other house had scaffolding up at one point.

When we did our renovation ten years back, I was lucky enough to have a family friend who ran a large building company and could get good people in for me. Even then, I got let down badly by a plumber...
 
It's funny I wanted to electrician back in high shool but got persuaded in 2000 that computing and all those jobs are where the money is and look at us now.
 
Semple said:
I wouldn't say traders don't get respect or recognition. If they're good at their job, then word of mouth pretty much keeps them in business, and having a packed schedule of customers happy to pay good money for your services.

I think the issue now comes down to the younger generation (now I'm sounding old and I'm only a millennial) and their reasons for not entertaining a trade. Is the manual hard work unappealing? Is it the environment (cold/outdoors) that's unappealing. It certainly can't be the money because as the last few posts have said, some traders seem to be living quite a life of luxury.
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The push to get everyone into university is probably the only real reason why people were 'uninterested' in trades and it's rather difficult to disturb the zeitgeist when everyone follows along. I think the crappy wages for a lot of jobs that really deserves far more has likely made university relatively unappealing now in addition to the government almost barely doing something about trades education.
 
dLockers said:
We do need to cull all of the wannabes tho.
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Yarp.


That said, seeing this thread does push my needle a bit towards getting the tools out again. Thing is, it'd be an either/or situation, I couldn't do it next to my current job, which I rather enjoy, pays well and is quite possibly the pinnacle of clients in my line of work.


Hmmmmm.
 
Hardly had any experience recently to get tradespeople to give me quotes. In the past 18 months, had loft ladder installed, installing new kitchen sink and taps and building a cupboard in a void. Had 3 quotes done for each. Dad came round if they couldn't come round when working etc.
 
Ayahuasca said:
An even bigger concern is the percentage of them who can do a proper job.

A lot of charlatans in the trades who just throw numbers around and hope they aren't challenged on their standard of work or the price.

Had some idiot try and charge an elderly neighbour £500 to replace a couple of roof tiles, he was up there for a grand total of 15 minutes.
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Rouge Trader.
 
Then back in the day, got door 2 door salesmen coming to your house to try to sell vacuum cleaners and windows etc.

Knew of a relative who had a vacuum cleaner salesman come round and spent 3 hours before husband came in from work and threatened to ring the police if the VC person didn't **** ***.
 
StriderX said:
The push to get everyone into university is probably the only real reason why people were 'uninterested' in trades and it's rather difficult to disturb the zeitgeist when everyone follows along. I think the crappy wages for a lot of jobs that really deserves far more has likely made university relatively unappealing now in addition to the government almost barely doing something about trades education.
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I'm not very good with my hands, heights and design. I knew being a tradesperson for me was a no.

At school, I remember a few students who wanted to go to college to do woodwork, bricklaying, hairdressing etc. They got a cold reception from the teachers after that. As the school wanted us to stay at 6th form. Schools should not force students into studying something that they don't want to do.
 
Contacted 10 double glazing companies recently. Had 3 come around to quote, one wanted us to take photos and send them to him to quote (really? You can tell sizes from a photo?) and the others.... Nothing.

Ended up going with a company a friend recommended. Not only getting the windows done, but a new front door and all the soffits, facias and bargeboards as well.
 
sigma said:
That's why they all drive around in £60k transits, range rovers and McLarens. License to print money.
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All the young team want to go to Uni and then get a job where they can toss it off on TikTok all day; very few of them want to get into anything physical. Couple that with the fact that companies deserted apprenticeships years ago and the government is too busy convincing us all to hate each other so that we don't invest any energy into noticing what they get up to, and you have the perfect storm.

This won't be an issue soon because none of you will have any money to get any work done because ChatGPT will have taken all your jobs. :p
 
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cheesefest said:
Then back in the day, got door 2 door salesmen coming to your house to try to sell vacuum cleaners and windows etc.

Knew of a relative who had a vacuum cleaner salesman come round and spent 3 hours before husband came in from work and threatened to ring the police if the VC person didn't **** ***.
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Sebo were notorious for it. My neighbor had them vacuum his entire house to prove it would do it effectively and then in the final demonstration he opened the under stairs cupboard where his very own Sebo was stored.
 
sigma said:
That's why they all drive around in £60k transits, range rovers and McLarens. License to print money.
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Depends where you live, in rural and poorer areas many of them struggle to even make a living and have to get regular jobs.

And in wealthy, built up areas you get a bunch of overpaid cowboys who dont even turn up as far as i can tell.
 
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