Poor outlook for our trade

[Junk Box Nick]

Originally Posted by Radio Wrangler

Whatever happened to the old idea that you're unemployable once you turn 50?

I'm afraid that in many industries it is very much current.

Almost all my peers, and, depressingly, many of the generation below me, have gone from my industry and those very few who remain are working in their own tiny niche businesses plying their trade freelance or on a short-term contract basis. Those that remain in full-time salaried employment have moved into management or sales positions.

I have a couple of friends who were highly skilled electronics engineers working in fairly large concerns but were eased out in their fifties. They used to complain about the quality of some of the graduates but their higher salaries and benefits were wanted off the books. I never expected them to be in enforced retirement before me. I've heard similar stories from engineers in the telecoms industry, though I know of at least one that was re-employed when it was found his skills were not as replaceable as was thought!

On the other hand, a few years ago, I did some work for a small engineering company that send their bespoke products world-wide. I commented to the MD about the number of grey heads about the place and he said it was a worry as it was difficult to find younger people with a suitable level of skill and was worried for the future as the old guard retired.

[knobtwiddler]

I did some work for a small engineering company that send their bespoke products world-wide. I commented to the MD about the number of grey heads about the place and he said it was a worry as it was difficult to find younger people with a suitable level of skill and was worried for the future as the old guard retired.

This was very much the situation our 'bespoke OEM' was in up until recently. To be honest, it was through a stroke of luck that I got a couple of people (one of them is the daughter of a client, and the other decided to return to the UK as his wife didn't like the new country they emigrated to). However, there is definitely quite a bit of interest in retro tech amongst younger generations. As to whether it's sustainable, that's anyone's guess. I like to think it is, as a fair bit of dinosaur tech is unique and no amount of touch-screen + code can really replace it. The issue youngsters will find if they go into niche areas is that they will need to be a big fish in a small pool in order to call it a living.

If any grey heads fancy a bit of part-time work at a small maker in the N London area, give me a shout. Even bald heads are welcome (just like the MD ;-)

[duncanlowe]

It's an interesting thread this. I work in a large organisation and most of the detailed design / development of the electronics is done by tier 1 / tier 2 suppliers. My job is being part of the team that proves all these parts work together properly, but I'm very lucky that my experience and skills mean I'm in demand to help understand the root cause when they don't. Last week I was building a box that can create voltage transients while monitoring current draw, all synchronised with manipulating a communication bus (CAN). Arduino plus stuff built from components. Simple coding, and basic analogue and digital circuitry knowledge that I've slowly picked up over the years.

Now I see a huge variation in people I work with who could take over when I retire (in a few weeks) and to be honest age seems to make no difference. What makes more of a difference is the opportunity and willingness to learn. I see many youngsters willing to learn from me, but often their bosses just want me to keep doing it for them. That is fine until April......

[Heatercathodeshort]

It's all a matter of how long will it take and how much do you charge your customer, who on the whole expects the work to cost nothing for what may be hours of time, tracing faults, sourcing spares etc. You know the rest.
There maybe a very limited section of the repair trade that may still hold some viability such as repairing 700+w amplifiers, but this is a specialized section on it's own limited to a few specialist repairers that are willing to carry out this work and can therefore charge rates accordingly.
The domestic trade was running into the buffers as early as the late 90's [probably before] and by 2000 it was all but dead. If it was still a viable business, the leading supermarkets would have a repair center on every street corner. £199 for a 42" TV.. Regards, John.

[avocollector]

There are unfortunately other negative forces at work - my wife who has a University Masters in Electrical Engineering found herself so badly treated as an employee (National grid work) along with other staff members in the decade before she retired that she refused to go and tell school students it was a 'good career' any longer.