With recent analysis predicting an additional 15,000 fully qualified electricians will be needed over the next five years, it is clear businesses have to make developing the next generation of electricians a priority.

Although the pandemic has provided the trade with many challenges over the last seven months, one positive to come out of the coronavirus crisis could be the opportunity it provides to attract new people into the industry. 

In a bid to encourage companies within the industry to invest in the electricians of tomorrow and to aid those within the trade currently out of work find a job, we have mapped out the areas of the UK where there are the biggest shortages of electricians.

Having analysed a job website for all of the vacancies for electricians, we found Middlesex – which has 574 openings – is the county with the highest number of electrician jobs going and ultimately the area with biggest shortage of electricians. With 566 job vacancies, Surrey is second, followed by Hertfordshire and London. 

The areas in the UK with the biggest shortages of electricians

With no job vacancies, the Scottish county of Wigtownshire is the area with the fewest openings for electricians. Caithness in Scotland, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, Moray, Scotland, Selkirkshire, Scotland and Sutherland, Scotland, all have just one job vacancy in their respective areas also.

While the majority of existing vacancies are for fully qualified electricians, there are a number of apprentice and trainee roles available as well. 

Founder member of recruitment company District4, Ian McDiarmid, specialises in recruiting within the electrical industry and said employers are beginning to widen their talent pools.

He said: “Over the last year or so businesses, especially those who have deals with the bigger contractors, have started to invest in additional training courses for new starters. The emphasis is definitely starting to shift from solely employing skilled electricians. Now, individuals who have the right work ethic and soft skills are being given the opportunity to be trained up which is a promising sign for the future. 

“Like all trades, electricians have been hit hard as a result of the pandemic but we are slowly starting to see the job market recover.” 

It’s not just the electrical industry which is suffering from a lack of qualified employees though with a government report in 2016 finding skill shortages were responsible for a quarter of all job vacancies. Recent analysis has also found 43 per cent of vacancies in skilled trades were as a result of skills shortages, with 13 per cent including electricians. 

As the demand for new houses continues to grow and smart home installations increase, the need for businesses to invest in the next generation of electricians could not be clearer. 

Andy Laycock (Head of Sales) of ERF said: “With the industry needing around 15,000 fully qualified electricians over the next five years, businesses really have got to make developing the next generation of electricians a priority. Although the pandemic has thrown up many challenges for us all, there is no doubting the opportunity it provides to attract new people into the trade. 

“Our research shows there are several areas in the UK where qualified electricians are in extremely high demand and we hope businesses can incorporate this insight into their recruitment strategies as they build towards developing the electricians of tomorrow. 

“We see through our customers, that being an electrician really is an extremely rewarding job and the skills you develop while training enable you to focus on a wide range of specialisms later down the line. Due to there being such a demand for new starters, there are also lots of fantastic opportunities to progress in a relatively short space of time.” 

Five reasons why you should become an electrician 

Electricity plays a huge part in all of our daily lives and as the population grows the demand for electricians is only going to increase. Here are five reasons why you should consider pursuing a career as an electrician. 

A well paid career  

Due to qualified electricians being such a vital component to the economic growth of the country, it is unsurprising it is a career which pays extremely well compared with other trades. In fact, data recently published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) found electricians earn the most out of all the trades with an average salary of £33,495. While money isn’t everything, we all like to feel as though we are being paid relative to the value of service we offer and as an electrician this often proves to be the case.

Varied working environment

One of the great perks of being an electrician is the fact you aren’t stuck in the same workspace everyday. Being an electrician is a very hands-on job and while one day you might be wiring a new home, the next you could be repairing an electrical panel at a warehouse. You are therefore constantly being faced with new problems and then ultimately coming up with the solutions which is an extremely valuable life skill to have. 

Plan your own career path 

As has been mentioned, you learn lots of different skills when you’re training to become an electrician which provides you with the opportunity to shape your own career path. From installations, repairs or upgrades – there’s lots of scope for variety. 

Affordable training 

While a lot of careers these days require people to go to university which results in them accumulating a huge amount of student debt, you don’t need to do this to become an electrician. Many businesses are now paying part of or even all of the cost of training courses in a bid to attract more people into the trade. With the demand for electricians continuing to rise, employers are only going to continue investing in the next generation of electricians. 

A demand for your services

Due to the ongoing shortage of electricians, those in the trade are struggling to cope with the demand for their services. With the need for new housing more evident than ever and smart home technology becoming all the more desirable there are going to be no shortage of opportunities within the electrical industry for many years to come. 

Methodology

We analysed more 7,500 vacancies which had been posted on a job website under the search term ‘electrician’. We then broke this data down by the regions of the UK they were being advertised in. From this we found Middlesex had the highest number of job vacancies in this particular field and ultimately the biggest shortage of electricians. 

The data is correct as of November 2020. 

As you may have seen, we were recently ran a competition to ‘win your weight in chocolate.’ On Tuesday, a lucky winner was selected at random from over 550+ entries, to win his or her weight in the delicious dairy goodness.

Our lucky winner was William Aston, who is a self-employed Electrician from Shrewsbury, trading as WA Electrical.

On finding out he had won, Will said:

‘I am still navigating being new to using social media for my business and didn’t realise that following electrical accounts on Instagram would mean me ending up with so much chocolate! It was a nice surprise.

It’s great of ERF to offer a fun competition and getting the call brightened my day. Andy taking the time to deliver it himself was very much appreciated.

I have received jokes about being sure to turn up on site with chocolate and am hoping that the banter about changing  my name from Will to Willy Wonka doesn’t stick!

Winning has provided some light hearted moments during an uncertain time for small Limited Companies like mine.

I have shared some chocolate with family and other small businesses, as well as making short work of a box of heroes myself!  Regardless of what I decide to do with the rest, a donation will definitely go to the local food bank. ‘

Our very own Managing Director, Andy Laycock, had the special job of delivering the mountain of chocolate to Will and commented:

‘It was a real pleasure to make the call to Will and deliver the good news that he had been chosen as our lucky winner. It was even better to turn up in the ERF truck and reveal the 80kg of chocolate treats that he had won. We hope he enjoys the chocolate and we hear that he plans to keep some for himself but also give some away, which we think is very charitable.’

Will is very kindly choosing to donate some of the chocolate to the local Shrewsbury Food Bank, Barnaba’s Community Projects.

Stay up to date with the latest ERF news, competitions and deals by following us on our social media channels.

Electrodoc app

Physical textbooks are now a thing of the past for trainees and apprentices. Now, to find key information about the trade, it’s only a quick tap away. Electrodoc (otherwise known as the portable bible for electricians) is available to download on iOS and android devices. The app is the perfect tool for making complex topics easy to understand, from the Ohm’s law calculator to the voltage divider, this app will give young adults a (valid) excuse for being glued to their phones!

The Electrodoc app caters for all abilities and enables people to learn in a range of different ways; from searching around a problem on the spot to learning about a core topic in more detail, it’s one of the best “toolkits” any aspiring electrician could bring to work – you might even teach the boss a thing or two!

Talk Electrician’s forum

Talk Electrician’s forum (TEF) is an online community bursting with over 30,000 fellow sparkys. The sheer number of working professionals in the forum makes it one of the best places to go for advice, information or help on anything related to the trade. Aside from all the technical stuff, TEF is known for the friendliness of its members, so even if you wanted a chat or a bit of a laugh, there’s always someone available.

There is a list of forums with different threads to read through and get involved in. For example, the ‘Question & Answer Board’ is a popular thread with as many as 129,309 posts on it… so never be too scared to ask a question! There are other forums that touch on industry news and updates, job openings and posts specifically for apprentices, as well as resources to aid learning, and a jokes thread – full of cheesy one-liners. 

Electricians on YouTube

As well as apps and forums, there is a space on YouTube that electricians are proudly filling. The videos are easy to find online and visual in nature, which makes YouTube an ideal platform for learning, especially for the more technical parts of the trade that require a bit of practice. 

GSH Electrical is the perfect place for apprentices to gain a useful (and professional) overview of the electrical world. With an impressive following of 69.6K subscribers, the channel aims to promote best practices in testing and installation. There are practical demonstrations which help to support learning for beginners, as well as offering handy advice from a fully-qualified college tutor. 

N Bundy Electrical is a fun YouTube account to watch, with day-in-the-life (of an electrician) videos that are both entertaining and educational. It’s run by self-employed electrician, Nick Bundy, who takes his followers along for the highs (and lows!) of the job, with videos on dealing with customers that refuse to pay, to reviewing the top electrical tools, and how to move a fuse board. This series is brilliant for those who want a bit of a laugh, whilst learning about the necessary skills that are required to get the job done properly. 

Electrician-come-YouTuber, John Ward is one to watch! With a slightly more formal tone to his channel, JW prides himself on putting electrical theories to the test, and showing off different experiments and demonstrations with his weekly videos.

#sparky TikTok

Electricians aren’t ignoring the TikTok craze at the moment either. The social media platform isn’t only for dance routines and strange trends, but it is now one of the best platforms for learning too. It’s pretty easy for any layperson to create and upload the short clips, and electricians are getting creative too by sharing tips about their trade and networking (and jumping on the odd trend too!). 

#sparky is followed by 390 million people on TikTok, so it’s a hashtag that’s well worth the extra screen time. This hashtag on TikTok makes learning a bit more engaging, with a range of insightful clips to funny moments that have been documented by electricians all over the globe. 

Kimmy The Sparks on TikTok is worthy of a special mention, uploading upbeat, witty videos of her working day. Kimmy’s content is full of electrical tips and tricks, but also breaks down any misconceptions about female electricians.

The Electrical Show Podcast

Podcasts are an up and coming way for people to talk on any given topic. For those who struggle to sit down and focus on information, podcasts are a great way to learn about something new – without having to concentrate too hard on what’s being said.

One podcast to play on the way to work is The Electrical Show. Every Friday lunchtime without fail, Thomas Nagy chats about the latest, most exciting topics in the electrical industry. The podcast is available to listen to on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, and each episode is relatively short, lasting around 20 minutes. 

Thomas mixes up each episode by inviting different guests in the industry to speak; interacting with comments from his audience and sparking debates. The Electrical Show hands out advice directly for junior electricians, touching on the problems with short courses and tips for packing a toolkit – helping young starters find their feet, episode by episode.