not my experience in my locale. while they may not be getting rich as in driving ferrari's rich, almost all the tradies i know of are what i would call well off.
Robot bricklayers that can work round the clock coming to Britain
- Thread starter Tram
- Start date
It really depends on location.
My ex work colleague moved from being a sparky to IT (shocking, I know!!).
He did the trades thing and people always needed work but the cost of him renewing his electrical equipment every year got too expensive. Plus the compulsory training he had to do to keep his license pushed him and many others out the market. Made it very difficult to remain self employed, you have to keep raising your prices to cover the costs but not every customer is willing to pay.
Alternative was to join a big company to be a sparky but its oversaturated, in return doesn't pay well compared to being self employed.
Its one of the hidden costs no one really talks about. You need to keep up with the local rules and regulations in certain trades, which can cost money otherwise you are not allowed to work in that field and not everyone wants to lay bricks all their lives.
My ex work colleague moved from being a sparky to IT (shocking, I know!!).
He did the trades thing and people always needed work but the cost of him renewing his electrical equipment every year got too expensive. Plus the compulsory training he had to do to keep his license pushed him and many others out the market. Made it very difficult to remain self employed, you have to keep raising your prices to cover the costs but not every customer is willing to pay.
Alternative was to join a big company to be a sparky but its oversaturated, in return doesn't pay well compared to being self employed.
Its one of the hidden costs no one really talks about. You need to keep up with the local rules and regulations in certain trades, which can cost money otherwise you are not allowed to work in that field and not everyone wants to lay bricks all their lives.
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Same here. I know someone who started in IT, became a sparky after burnout , but moved back to IT after 5 years. The pay is not great, hours long, stress is high, and is physically demanding. Dealing with customers is just a pain, and lots of lost time driving to sites, managing the business.
People tend to see the labour charges and think the tradesmen are raking it in, forgetting all the expenses, the hours worked without charging a customer, pensions, vacation, sick time, overheads.