Have you struggled to get a tradesman lately ?

[Gillstay]

Is this your hair?

I believe its an A an E term for the wave of older people getting injured doing jobs. They forget the do not have the reactions, strength etc of their youth.

 

[Gillstay]

I took this photo just the other day. The tree opposite. I'm sure a hefty fee will have been charged - she works in the City.
View attachment 594497

We watched, aghast, as they basically went straight across with chainsaws at about 20 foot, and that was that.

Bet they're booked up for months.

Nice tree, awful job.

 

[welsh dragon]

I look at the ones you left here every day

They must take up a hell of a lot of space.

 

[Dave7]

They must take up a hell of a lot of space.

I had an empty double wardrobe. Reserved now for bloomers and mothballs.

 

[newts]

I had an empty double wardrobe. Reserved now for bloomers and mothballs.

Do one's mothballs sway like low hanging fruits just below the bloomers in said wardrobe?

 

[gbb]

I believe its an A an E term for the wave of older people getting injured doing jobs. They forget the do not have the reactions, strength etc of their youth.

That's a fact, a good half days physical work and I'm fooked nowadays . Miind, I blame the arthritis, if it wasnt for that, I'd probably make 3/4 of it

 

[the snail]

Also its a lack of skills as the Collages that trained people are decimated from the changes started with Tony Blair's push to get them into Uni. I see plenty of people doing short courses to work in the tree surgery trade, but the level of training is very low, no plant knowledge, no science to form a basis to work from. Local painter says he has to train his own guys as there is no courses any where near.

Skills shortages go back many decades before Blair or brexit. The big companies with the resources to train people largely stopped doing that a long time back. Everything is subcontracted out and casualised. When I started work with Laings in the 80s they had 100,000 employees, but only 10,000 on the tools. There's not enough professionalism in the industry - somewhere like Germany people's skills are more valued, and if you don't have the right training, you basically can't work as a tradesman.

 

[gbb]

Skills shortages go back many decades before Blair or brexit. The big companies with the resources to train people largely stopped doing that a long time back. Everything is subcontracted out and casualised. When I started work with Laings in the 80s they had 100,000 employees, but only 10,000 on the tools. There's not enough professionalism in the industry - somewhere like Germany people's skills are more valued, and if you don't have the right training, you basically can't work as a tradesman.

Is one of the problems the de-industrailisation we've seen over the last 40 years.
If I think back to when we moved to Peterborough, we had...
Perkins engines, still here but nowhere near the employer they used to be.
Baker Perkins, a big employer, I dont even think they exist in a meaningful way here now.
London Brick...a huge employer, now most pits have gone.
Brotherhood engineering, again, thousands of employees, now a shadow of its former self.
Molins, employed hundreds, now gone.
United Technologies I think used to make car wiring looms, long gone.
Acco office furniture manufacturers, long gone.
Christian Salvesens, employed hundreds, an engineering team of around 20, long gone.
Pedigree Petfoods, relocated to its sister site.
And so on and so on. All of these companies will have had a large engineering team, all or most taking on apprentices, mechanical and electrical, they're just not out there anymore. Multiply this across any major town or city ?

Large companies have the will and capacity to take on apprentices...I'm not sure smaller outfits do. Is it no wonder the numbers of apprentices have fallen ?

 

[raleighnut]

Skills shortages go back many decades before Blair or brexit. The big companies with the resources to train people largely stopped doing that a long time back. Everything is subcontracted out and casualised. When I started work with Laings in the 80s they had 100,000 employees, but only 10,000 on the tools. There's not enough professionalism in the industry - somewhere like Germany people's skills are more valued, and if you don't have the right training, you basically can't work as a tradesman.

I can only go back to when I did my C&G as a Cabinet Maker, the college ran an apprentice course (traditional 3 year 'day release' and 2 evenings) they also ran a 2 year 'full time' (35 hours a week) course. There were about 40 people on each but both split into 2 lots of 20 to keep class sizes manageable.
Anyway come to 'exam' time and of the 'full time' students about 30 or so of us 'passed' the exam (incidentally 3 of them Women) but the 'trade' apprentices none of them 'passed'.....................The reason, they all worked in an 'industrial' environment where cutting Dovetail Joints by hand with a Saw and Chisels not to mention the 'Secret Mitre Dovetail'


View: https://youtu.be/kzNhv1kID6E


Trade guys just don't learn this at work, they're stuck on one job (Dimension Saw, Spindle Moulder, Overhead Router. Edge 'Lipper' etc) and may change every couple of months but they don't get the full spectrum of skills, everything is 'pre made' and then screwed together or (worse) glued and pinned.

These are the skills we are losing, most 'woodworkers' can't cut a 'halving' joint by hand not to mention a 'Through Tenon' but that's the modern world

 

[Gillstay]

Skills shortages go back many decades before Blair or brexit. The big companies with the resources to train people largely stopped doing that a long time back. Everything is subcontracted out and casualised. When I started work with Laings in the 80s they had 100,000 employees, but only 10,000 on the tools. There's not enough professionalism in the industry - somewhere like Germany people's skills are more valued, and if you don't have the right training, you basically can't work as a tradesman.

Yes your correct, this dilema doesnt seem to occur in Switzerland where you have to have the skills or you cannot be in that trade. Funny thing they also like to pay their taxes, no cash in hand jobs.

 

[postman]

We got a furloughed air stewardess to paint our staircase.She did a fabulous job on the landing.

 

[potsy]

Struggled last year to get someone to do some landscape work, including putting in a driveway.
Had 2 fail to turn up to quote, one measured up but never got back to me.
Eventually found a guy that was only booked up for 2 months so went with him, did an OK job.

About to start looking again for a few more bits I need doing, hopefully get someone this side of Christmas

 

[slowmotion]

Two weeks ago, the scaffolding company rang twenty minutes before they were due here......
"You won't believe this but the lorry just failed its MOT"

A week later...
"You won't believe this but I'm at A&E. The dog nearly bit off my little daughter's finger."

Today....
"You won't believe this but our driver's wife has just gone into labour.
Reliability 0/10, Creativity 7/10.

I'm looking forward to his call on Monday morning.