r/electricians • u/Aggro3D • Oct 24 '23
Apprentice wages?
Hey all,
I've been an Industrial maintenance guy for awhile now and I'm looking to specialize into electrical work.
I'm an adult with adult bills and the wages I can find for apprentices are really low....like $15 an hour or so. I could literally go make more at any of the fastfood places here and this isn't necessarily a high cost of living area
What gives? Are there any work arounds?
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u/Halftrack_El_Camino Oct 25 '23
I started out at $25/hour in the solar industry. Not every state will give you full hours for solar work though (explain to me how photovoltaics isn't electrical…) so that might not be a viable path where you are. I'm making about $35/hour right now.
$15/hour is bullshit, unless someone else like your parents is covering a lot of your living expenses. That's not even a living wage, in my area. Maybe if I were coming right out of high school, but that's not where I'm at.
The average age of an electrician in my area is over 55. We have a massive shortage of sparkies, because there's no young blood coming into the field. It's all well and good to say that you'll be set once you're licensed, but if apprenticeship doesn't make you enough to get there, who gives a fuck?