Economy

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Len

Len

Senior Member
Location
Bucks County
Does anyone see things getting better? All I see is wanna be electricians under bidding jobs causing industry havoc......:mad:
 
laketime

laketime

Senior Member
put out a bid yesterday $9350 for a 1500 sq ft house. we will see if it hits. Wanted to lower the cost but had $1700 in wall heaters with $500 in programmable thermostats. so we shall see, i have been getting undercut.
 
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hardworkingstiff

Senior Member
Location
Wilmington, NC
Len said:
Does anyone see things getting better? All I see is wanna be electricians under bidding jobs causing industry havoc......:mad:
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In the short run, things should continue to improve. In the long run, .... well.... let's just say I tend to think the world has some very serious problems heading our way.
 
N844AA

N844AA

Member
Location
Los Angeles
Electrical Contractor magazine just revealed government statistics that the unemployment rate in the construction industry is almost 25%. Since these stats only take into account people who the government knows about, ie those applying for unemployment benefits, the actual number is certainly at least double, or 50%. Out of all industries the construction industry has the highest unemployment rate.

During the height of the great depression of the 1930's, the maximum unemployment rate was 25%. Construction workers are suffering through worse unemployment than was suffered in the Great Depression.

Everyone who caused this current depression has already been rewarded with large bonuses that will be paid for by those harmed by the depression.

For the most part the construction industry is not working. When the economy rebounds, it is very possible that the construction industry will not be included in the recovery. Be careful when you hear reports of economic improvement, they are talking about other industries, not ours.

We have not yet seen the worst, I expect 2011 to be even worse than 2010. The construction industry has been permanently damaged by the banking, finance and insurance industries. They are smoking cigars and drinking champagne from the safety of their life boats as they gleefully watch the economic shipwreck they caused slip below the waves.
 
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AV ELECTRIC

Senior Member
I think the future is quite bright for are industry I think in five to ten years we may not have enough electricians to do the work. the technological revolutions coming will change everything . We will have to upgrade are skills though education and training if you stay a dinosaur you may become extinct.
 
growler

growler

Senior Member
Location
Atlanta,GA
AV ELECTRIC said:
I think the future is quite bright for our industry I think in five to ten years we may not have enough electricians to do the work.
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Yes in 5 to 10 years most of the electricians will have starved to death so there will be plenty of work for those that are left. The circle of life goes on. :)

Always look on the bright side of life......
 
readydave8

readydave8

re member
Location
Clarkesville, Georgia
Occupation
electrician
I've been hearing how bad things are and how awful it's gonna get for 42 years. Maybe it's like the weatherman in Georgia, he keeps predicting snow and eventually it really does. But I can't plan my week around it since he's wrong so many times before he's right. So I keep with my conservative business practices until the economy improves, if it doesn't I can't help it, if it does now I know how to prosper in a boom.
 
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hardworkingstiff

Senior Member
Location
Wilmington, NC
electricmanscott said:
It cracks me up when I read all the stuff people write here. Economic experts they are. Or so they think ;)

I guess I'm a wanna be. :cool:
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electricmanscott said:
Is baseless pontificating really "electrical in nature" .

This should be closed.
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Do you think about what may be and why? Do you have an opinion, or do you just go with the flow and deal with whatever comes with no real plan?

We all have to deal with what comes, good or bad. Some of us like to think about things and try to understand why things will be what they might be.

I see no one claiming to be an economist, and baseless pontification? PLEASE, no one has crossed that line...... yet.

You seem to be angry, I hope you get to your happy place soon. :)
 
iwire

iwire

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Massachusetts
Lou IMO electricians commenting on economics have as much chance of being right as economists have at commenting on Article 250.

It is all a waste of bandwidth, we know nothing.

Remember, the more we learn the more we realize we do not know.
 
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hardworkingstiff

Senior Member
Location
Wilmington, NC
With all due respect Bob, the way the Economist have been for the last decade I think I might trust an Electrician more.

In 2004-2007 I was running with dock builders that were toning it and I get a lot of the scraps (and scraps were good). I made more money in those 4 years than I'd made in the decade prior. I had shared with the group my plan for paying off my house and being debt free. The other 2 guys (there were 3 of us) were spending like a drunken sailor on shore leave. In 2007 I told one of them to "get your money right". I told him this was not going to last and that hard times were coming. I was poo-pooed and my comments dismissed.

Well, just about 6-months ago one of them admitted they wished they had listed to me and about 2-weeks ago the other one admitted I was right in my predictions.

There are a lot of smart people on this board. You are one of them, and I value everyone's opinion. Sometimes a working person (electrician or engineer) is more in tune with the economy than a spectator reading data that's sent to them (economist).

So Bob, I respectfully disagree, I think an electrician or engineer has a much better chance of being right about the economy than an economist has of being right on Article 250. :)

Edit: Scott, I still value your opinion and I still think you have anger issues (not that I believe you care in the least what I think).
 
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iwire

iwire

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Massachusetts
hardworkingstiff said:
So Bob, I respectfully disagree, I think an electrician or engineer has a much better chance of being right about the economy than an economist has of being right on Article 250. :)
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And I think you are as wrong as the DIY that watches a TV show on the weekend and thinks they are now as capable as an electrician.
 
StephenSDH

StephenSDH

Senior Member
Location
Allentown, PA
The bottom of the market never really fell out in Pennsylvania. Things have been very steady for most companies I have talked to. Glad to hear the jobless claims are settling out. Hopefully this is the worst of it.
 
goldstar

goldstar

Senior Member
Location
New Jersey
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
Len said:
Does anyone see things getting better? All I see is wanna be electricians under bidding jobs causing industry havoc......:mad:
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I can't comment on the economic outlook for our area or for the country. It's kind of like predicting the weather; you know the storm is comming but will you get 6" of snow or 2'. It all depends on how the wind blows. And anyone who professes to be more accurate than that is blowing smoke.

What I can say is that there is still a lot of $$$ out there but people are not willing to part with it. Rather than spending it on an addition or a remodel they're stuffing it in mattresses hoping for better days to come. Until those days come back I would consider trimming down your expenditures and taking jobs with lesser profit just to stay afloat. If you have to take a base project for a few $$ less perhaps you can make some of it up on the extras.

Wanna be and real electricians are low balling jobs all over the place. A 200 amp service upgrade used to go for about $2400.00 in my area. Now I see guys taking them for $1600.00. I don't mind competition but why leave $800.00 on the table ?:confused:

We just had a major snow storm in my area with extensive electrical damage. Power was out for some homes for 4 days. I've already repaired about 6 services but I have yet to get a call for a generator. Go figure.:roll:
 
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