Source - Times Jan 23rd
Quote:
IT WAS one of the most curious episodes in British employment history: City workers were abandoning high-flying jobs to retrain as plumbers.
Now, as trade associations give warning of a major oversupply of trainee plumbers, the employee exodus from the Square Mile may be going into reverse, with plumbers returning to the City.
The rush into the trade began four years ago with a report that there was a desperate shortage of plumbers, who could earn ?70,000 a year.
Now the shortfall is put at 1,500 plumbers for the next three years, but there are 26,000 on NVQ2 courses, many more working for higher qualifications and thousands on ?fast-track courses?. Competition for apprenticeships is fierce. Plumbing companies report turning away hundreds of hopefuls. And starting salaries are low.
There was this huge thing over here where it was said there were too few tradesmen to do too many potential jobs. Suppose if this is true, then it might affect builders too.
Then again, maybe this would spell the end to the situation where
some plumbers/builders were failing to keep promises to turn up, and when they did, would beggar off leaving jobs half finished.