The name is porter......
Jaz, my first job out of school was a panel beating apprenticeship, got the ticket then walked. I did other things for a bit, then returned to it for a 12 month stint to save for a backpacking trip. In '89 in Sydney I was pulling about $1700 a week, fixing smash during normal hours and a days overtime bogging up rust for rego checks.
Is that how far the conditions have deteriorated??
A good contractor now can pull 2k or more if he is gung ho, and slaps in a few extra hours, but that hinges around the tools available and the quality of the estimator.
The trade is screwed.
Seriousl Lack of training of apprentices (AME's are in the same boat).
I won't name companies, but the last one i worked for is a prime leader, but a serious race to the bottom $
Yes I worked for them for $900 in hand on unit based award, but it was 2 fold for me...i needed the cash, and i wanted to see how they did things. (industry groups I am involved in are highly critical, so working for them gave me actual knowledge).
Aviation and the auto body repair industries have an identical problem.
The total lack of investment in training, and i think mechanics are about to join the list.
Pilot training is also suffering...with you pay rather than your employer..............being bonded is a better option than self funding.
In the auto body repair sector, the change in technology is so fast paced, that by the time an apprentice finishes, he almost needs to go back to school to catch up.
There is a company called I-Car, that offers online courses in new car technology. These courses are primarily aimed at tradesmen and keeping them up to date.
Just before xmass, i enrolled and went through the RPL stuff with them. Of 276 modules they offered,
I qualified for 57.
I approached my employer to do some of the courses that he wasn't qualified to sign off on....his response was "sure, thats a great idea, let me know when you have done them so we can accept that type of work"
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The country is screwed.
Bring back tech and trade schools.......take trade training away from tafe.