Half of apprentices dumped by construction firms

thriftybabe

leveller2911 wrote: »

You only have to look at the build quality of houses, its dropped worryingly in the last 10-15yrs.If a site chippy can't use his nail gun on it, he cant do it.About 4 years ago a site local to me was crying out for skilled carpenters, 1st and second fix ,6 months later they had to take the roofs off 12 houses as they were put up wrong,trussed roofs require very little skill to put up and most site chippies cant "cut and pitch" a traditional roof,the skills are being lost.
I'm sure Thrifybabe will back me up on this, it amazes me how many joiners cant make boxframe windows and staircases.It seems like youngsters are brainwashed into thinking they have to go to university and get a degree in stupid subjects like "monkey psycology" ,its getting beyond belief now, the way things are going,in 15 years time Joiners will be on the same wage as a Solicitor or Barrister..........well I can hope can't I?:D.........Oh and by the way 1-2 yr courses are rubbish and not worth it, no employer takes them seriously.

We have had guys come on to site looking for jobs saying they can do this and do that and then complain about the prices. They are the ones that we find are usually cr*p!. When we get good joiners we want to hold on to them!

The other thing that happens that people do not understand is that Contractors are so desperate to get things built so quickly and therefore standards drop. We were on a site where we were to put the framing and gyproc up and the roof was not on (winter time) and the place was soaking! They asked my OH to sign off to say that the works had been done to the agreed specification (he did not as he did not agree with it). Now there is so much maintenance with very large cracks in the internal building, wind cills are slipping down as the Timber kit is now shrinking and everything else is coming with it. Seriously dangerous stuff and only happened cause they had dates to get things done by and didn't ensure the building was dry correctly!

thriftybabe

bo_drinker wrote: »

I noticed the rates have taken a dive in construction. Some jobs on the J C site are paying tradesmen what labourers were on a couple of yrs ago. Can't see many other occupations standing for this, but as I have said before if you are s/employed you are scum, and more so in the construction game. Trouble is the construction will lose from apprentice end and skilled end as many will get out this year And when they get into something else and don't lose days to the rain they will get used to it.:T It happened before.

Have already seen it happen Bo. Getting references in from jobs from guys that worked from us that are just so far away from Construction! These guys just want a regular income and know that they can pay the mortgage. I feel rotten for them as they trained all those years to get their Apprenticeships and now they are doing something totally different!

vivatifosi

leveller2911 wrote: »

I'm sure Thrifybabe will back me up on this, it amazes me how many joiners cant make boxframe windows and staircases.It seems like youngsters are brainwashed into thinking they have to go to university and get a degree in stupid subjects like "monkey psycology" ,its getting beyond belief now, the way things are going,in 15 years time Joiners will be on the same wage as a Solicitor or Barrister..........well I can hope can't I?:D.........Oh and by the way 1-2 yr courses are rubbish and not worth it, no employer takes them seriously.

I missed this post originally, so thanks for thriftybabe for quoting it. The public does have a big part to play in this. They want the best quality work for the lowest possible price, so its no surprise that skills are being lost, especially ones that aren't obvious to the general public. I have a real problem with people who object to tradespeople earning £40k pa plus, when they wouldn't bat an eyelid if a salesperson earned the same (nothing against sales people, just making a point).

treliac

thriftybabe wrote: »

We have employed Polish in the past and they were fantastic. They were very enthusiastic. They got paid the same rates as everyone else but made more cause they went in earlier and left later..... had the Polish worked for us the longest then they would have been the ones that we would have been most loyal to. It is just the way things have turned out.

thriftybabe wrote: »

We have had guys come on to site looking for jobs saying they can do this and do that and then complain about the prices. They are the ones that we find are usually cr*p!. When we get good joiners we want to hold on to them!

The other thing that happens that people do not understand is that Contractors are so desperate to get things built so quickly and therefore standards drop. We were on a site where we were to put the framing and gyproc up and the roof was not on (winter time) and the place was soaking! They asked my OH to sign off to say that the works had been done to the agreed specification (he did not as he did not agree with it). Now there is so much maintenance with very large cracks in the internal building, wind cills are slipping down as the Timber kit is now shrinking and everything else is coming with it. Seriously dangerous stuff and only happened cause they had dates to get things done by and didn't ensure the building was dry correctly!

Sadly, everything you are saying points to a general decline in the attitude of many Brits.

It's about time we had a good shake up and developed an expectation that we should get out there, work, and work properly for a living and for a better future for this country.

My pride at being British has seriously waned in recent years. We could do with an end to concentrating on our individual rights rather than our shared responsibilities; getting back some self-respect and pride in what we can do for ourselves and others.

bo_drinker

vivatifosi wrote: »

I missed this post originally, so thanks for thriftybabe for quoting it. The public does have a big part to play in this. They want the best quality work for the lowest possible price, so its no surprise that skills are being lost, especially ones that aren't obvious to the general public. I have a real problem with people who object to tradespeople earning £40k pa plus, when they wouldn't bat an eyelid if a salesperson earned the same (nothing against sales people, just making a point).

This is so true. Joe public is/has been short sighted to this in recent years. And they really will throw their teddies when the recession is over and tradesmen are hard to find, busy and cost a lot more than in recent times:rotfl:

treliac

bo_drinker wrote: »

This is so true. Joe public is/has been short sighted to this in recent years. And they really will throw their teddies when the recession is over and tradesmen are hard to find, busy and cost a lot more than in recent times:rotfl:

Maybe not, if there is a good supply from Poland or wherever else. Who will care about our own?

bo_drinker

treliac wrote: »

Maybe not, if there is a good supply from Poland or wherever else. Who will care about our own?

Obviously not you. When the chips are down your fellow countrymen will not be relying on your support. Thanks for nothing

treliac

bo_drinker wrote: »

Obviously not you. When the chips are down your fellow countrymen will not be relying on your support. Thanks for nothing

You might read my posts before spouting off like that.

bo_drinker

I agree with your post (35), sorry the wording looked like a support for the cheaper labour.:o

treliac

My attempt at sarcasm didn't come across as is should have! Glad we've cleared the air.