[Heatercathodeshort]

I agree Hobbs End, I used the word 'Engineer' incorrectly when I was describing the death of hands on jobs in the UK.

It appears to me that any job that involves getting your hands dirty is very much out of favour by the majority of the young today. It is very difficult to get guys interested in anything mechanical unless they have been brought up in that environment in their fathers business such as motor engineering, farming [very much so in this area. Farming lads are incredibly capable] or road transport.

They were told that if they attended University they would automatically have entry to £100k a year jobs. That sadly is not true as many of them have found themselves in jobs that would be considered to be very basic at best.

Far better if they had signed up for an apprenticeship and learned something really useful for themselves and the Country. Hands on experience is very much valued by employers and worth more than a thousand bits of paper.

The time is running out for these guys. Your 'White Heat' period are your 20's and 30's, something you start to discover when you are in you mid 40's.

I ran my Television and electrical business from the age of 18 in 1966 possible only because I was lucky enough to get a job at a very young age in a television shop in Wimbledon. It took a lot of courage to enter that premises and ask 'Do you have any Saturday jobs'. I did have a few lads ask that question in the early days of my business but it was a very rare request in later years.

Unbelievably I used to get parents from the Asian community ask me if I would let their son work for me for nothing, just to learn the trade!

Times have changed. As Chris has mentioned, there are niches but now, having interests in the heavy truck business, know what a nighmare this can be. Often the multi plugs on the ECU are rotted or the complete unit has been damaged by water ingress to such an extent that repair would be difficult and very time consuming.
It's not exactly fun anymore.

I have repaired a number of electronic modules connected with the motor trade but there can be unforeseen problems with this from a safety angle and haulage companies prefer to have new manufacturers units fitted.
Could you actually make a living from this?
Times are very different now. I was just lucky to have been born in 1948, mid 20th Century. Austerity yes, oh yes but everyone was full of hope and jobs were plentiful due mainly of course to the rebuilding of Britain after WW2.
There will be a whole new generation of electric vehicles available in the not too distant future. Maybe this is where we should be looking for careers in the electronic industry.
Mobile battery charging services. Now there's a thought..
Regards, John.