Channel 4 Presenter Calls for “More Brickies, Plumbers and Electricians”

To say that this tweet received some interesting reply s on how people thought the industry could change to help encourage more people into learning a skilled trade.

"The wage is shocking"

Some people responded by saying that the wages for skilled workers are poor, and that the wage needs to increase to encourage more people to train. This is a common misconception about skilled work. When you are a fully trained electrician, plumber or bricklayer, you could be earning up to £100,000 per year, well above the national average wage of £26,500.

"People are being encouraged to go to university instead of learning a trade"

Other people were voicing concerns over the fact that children are being encouraged to go to university instead of learning a practical trade. However, not everybody wants to attend university. Many people don’t like the idea of carrying on their education for an extra 3 or 4 years, to then leave with an extraordinary amount of debt and not have a guaranteed job at the end of it all.

By informing children that there are other routes to work, and well-paid work, we might add. Is a crucial step that needs to be taken to close the current skill gap. This will only happen if the education system and the construction industry come together to help educate the next generation. This is a topic we have written about in the past, and it is certainly an area leaders of the construction industry are keen to explore to see if more can be done to help raise awareness and educate children, not just at school leaving age, but throughout their time in education about the importance of skilled trade’s people.