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Before making any life changing decision, you should do your research.  That sounds like good advice doesnt it?  But what if whilst doing that research, you find that seemingly reliable sources disagree as to whether your new career is goer or not?  Thats what its like these days if you are interested in a career in plumbing.  Is there a skills shortage or isnt there?

You must have been living on the moon if you havent heard that theres a shortage of qualified plumbers.  Talk of a current shortage of 32,000 plumbers nation wide is rife.  6,100 short in the South East alone no less if you believe the claimed facts.  Worse, the colleges cant keep up with demand for courses in plumbing.  Did you know in some places theres an 18 month waiting list to get on a City and Guilds Plumbing Course?

But it gets better, some point out there are 28 million houses in this country, coupled with 2 million commercial properties.  Thats a lot of bathrooms, a lot of showers, a lot of toilets, a lot of sinks and kitchens, dishwashers, heating and cooling systems that need fitting, maintaining, fixing and replacing. 

Wait theres more: the 2012 Olympic Games is in jeopardy if we dont find another 13,000 builder and each year between now and then, 1,500 more plumbers and electricians, just to meet the demand of the games.  Add to that other major construction projects that are coming up like the Crossrail in London, the redevelopment of Kings Cross station, and then theres Heathrow Terminal 5 thats going to need a lot of plumbing work.

So to recap: theres loads of plumbing work and not enough qualified plumbers to do it, right? Its no wonder theres stories abound of plumbers earning upwards of 70,000.  Even stories of city slicker stock dealers giving up their 100,000 a year and company Porsches to become blue collar plumbers.

Well in the words of Tree Beard, lets not be hasty.  You see not everyone agrees with this story: The Institute of Plumbers and Heating Engineers doesnt agree.  They say there are already 120,000 plumbers in the UK, and that we dont need any more cowboy plumbers entering the market.  They warn of the dangers of DIY plumbing.  The say to forget the common tales of earning 70,000 to 120,000 a year as a qualified plumber, claiming its more like 25 grand.

Its not just them, the Association of Plumbers and Heating Contractors says there is already 26,000 people currently on plumbing training courses.  Yet they believe only 1,500 will find work, tops.  They heap scorn on those that dont spend 2 years bare minimum training, really theyd prefer if you took longer, NVQ Level 3 being realistic.

What about the Learning and Skills Council, that has received 11 Billion of tax payers money to spend on closing the countries skills gap?  Even Sir Digby Jones, the governments own Skills Envoy says that this money is being mis-spent and is not delivering what employers want.

What are we left with?  There is a plumbing skills gap.  There isnt a plumbing skills gap.  And the Government spends 11 billion on not closing the alleged skills gap.  So we are right back at square one: Before making any life changing decision, you should do your research.  If you want to have a career in plumbing, you should do your research.  Look at the plumbing courses on offer, decide whether you want to spend 2-3 years on an intensive plumbing course when you have no idea if the world of plumbing will be the same at the end of it. 

Or take an alternative view.  You may want to dip your toe in the pool.  Take a short home study DVD plumbing course and see if you can get some work in your area.  If you are rushed of your feet, swamped with work, getting in trouble with the better half because you cant cope with the amount of work and are earning too much money, then you know that youre on to a winner by starting a career in plumbing.

Tags: lumbing training courses, career in plumbing, qualified plumbers, courses in plumbing, intensive plumbing courses, diy plumbing, home study DVD plumbing cours | lumbing training courses, career in plumbing, qualified plumbers, courses in plumbing, intensive plumbing courses, diy plumbing, home study DVD plumbing cours

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This entry was posted on Friday, May 2nd, 2008 at 3:35 am and is filed under Education research. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.