you definitely need to keep an eye on job market trends and be aware of international market pressures.
A few years ago anything IT related was seen as a “nice earner”; this created a glut of IT staff in some sectors, yet businesses were unwilling to train or take risks with younger staff to deal with other skills gaps.
Then the Internet made it easy to outsource work to other nations (where there were already trained and qualified graduates) loads of jobs have simply disappeared – and are not coming back!
Those jobs which remain have lower salaries and longer hours.
Even in the trades wages/salaries have been driven down by competition from skilled tradespeople coming in from Eastern Europe, Another new (and IMO deplorable) development in the construction industry is fast-tracked projects and 12 hour shifts (which can be a source of dangerous situations and accidents).
Plumbing is not an “easy earner”. The work is hard, some of it is nasty (drains, sanitary appliances etc) – just consider if you got the rework job for a building which had been used for a squat party!
To get certain certificates such as Corgi (gas safety) you usually need to be attached to a firm as an apprentice – the the wages can initially be quite low (for most plumbing qualifications you need to provide a portfolio showing actual work carried out and that you have satisfied customers etc).
Electrical Engineering is less “dirty”, still valuable but you need to be industry certified to do certain jobs (including even working on your own home!) – that means either setting up your own business (and swallowing the business risk and costs) or again becoming a lower-paid apprentice.
All these skills are still worth learning as you can use them to improve your own living conditions; and to help others.
There is often more job satisfaction as you are actually making something that many people will use every day and you can see the end results of your project….
Further, The way the world is going there is serious danger of major infrastructure disruptions in some areas and resource shortages,,,
There are many areas even in developed countries where the privatisation of utility services and constant reliance on the market has left big companies to abandon their obligations with regard to maintenance and universal service provision, also those in the social housing sector often do not have access to an acceptable level of building maintenance or decent housing.
Thus, people who can carry out reliable maintenance or construction work particularly with renewable power, water and sanitation infrastructure and who have skills in making things particularly from recycled material will be vital in the future.
The future isn’t going to be just about money and individual careers, it will be about re-building communities and society…
