Foreign brickies brought in for

I think there's a lot of twaddle being written about what tradesmen earn and whether there is a skill shortage in the UK. Bricklayers will never earn more than either plumbers or electricians as the skills and educational qualifications and technical knowhow of the latter two are so much greater. Average wage of a qualified plumber on a normal 5 day week 40hrs = £30-£35k average hourly rate will be £15-£17 per hour and this is in London. Obviously self employed rates are different as will agency rates, I personally wouldn't use anyone from an agency as their employees / staff tend to be people who no company wants to employ and are pretty much useless and are only used when a business is desperate for labour. Brickies may earn £1k a week occasionally but certainly not continuously throughout the year regardless of what nationality they are. 

As a Brickwork tutor at Calderdale College ,West Yorkshire I find the headline very frustrating. I have been training young people for the last 10 years and yes we have been in a recession and that the industry has suffered but at last I now have the opportunity to tell our learners that they are going to have a much better chance of employment. As the majority of our learners are full time students who have learnt the technical side deserve the chance to try out their skills. I understand they haven’t any on – site experience but what they lack in experience will make up for with enthusiasm to learn more. We have to take our learners out to do voluntary work just to give them some idea of what it is like to work in Industry. If only employers looked on their own doorstep they would find that our Skills Shortage could soon be overcome!

If any employers wish to visit our learners to discuss

Please don’t hesitate in contacting me on 01422 346267

Great post Spenny, What a shame they don't invest in on-the-job training. They could then pay that money to people who are grafting in this country and want to work.

Welcome to the forum Spenny, and very much appreciate your professional input.

So why aren't employers looking on their own doorstep, or is just poor survey stats by Manpower done to drum up a media story?

If colleges like yours are offering free work experience for enthusiastic and trained youngsters, why on earth aren't large firms biting your hand off. Is there a common reason Employers are citing?

Outside looking in, it seems to be win win for everyone. Youngsters gain employment and experience, employers get lower cost resource and no doubt some grants for taking on apprentices.

I have worked in construction for over twenty years and worked on big construction project to now running my own building business. I find it very disappointing regarding the lack of skilled tradesman available with the average age of UK tradesman being over 50.

From what I have seen most youngsters don't seem to understand that if they want to get on they have to put in effort. I have had apprentices on day release and after investing 3 years to help train them, which reduces my output, they get qualified and say they want more money or they will leave for more money else where. Which is frustrating.

I have seen brickie, plasterers and carpenters using there skill to earn a lot of money but they will be self employed working on a price per meter. Therefore they get rewarded for want they can produce to a required standard.  But remember that they don't get sick pay or holiday pay and also most tradesman will have bad backs, knees, elbows and wrist as a reward for there hard work forcing them to retire early.

A balance needs to be found, what it is I don't know.