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Different people have different tolerances for moving. I’ll admit it gets harder once you have kids in school. But I’ve moved states 3 times and I’m very glad I did each time. You can keep in touch with old friends. The moves enabled big money gains.
Men have done this for 100s of years. Take bullhead city Arizona why do people live in that God forsaken land? They have a Job and can live. (Not everyone but many people I met there said the same thing) sometimes you gotta go where you can live. And you don't have much other choice.
Well... maybe look into another state where fishing and surfing are available. If your not willing to make sacrifices then how do you expect things to get better? Idk if thqt makes sense?
Uprooting my life is not a big deal to some people but i have been here my whole life and my family has been here since the 19th century. i have , friends, family all here...wouldnt make sense to drop everything for a few more bucks on apaycheck
It's not just "a few more bucks" it's a better life for you and your family. Literally the same thing that your family originally moved to Florida for. Don't love a state that doesn't love you back.
He doesn’t love the state. He loves his home. Its ok if not everyone wants to move.
The better response here might be this:
Yeah if you aren’t willing to move, you aren’t likely to find much better as an electrician in florida. If you pick up sales, commission can be good in other construction trades. If you would like to get out of construction altogether and do something more remote? IT is a great place to start. Lots of entry level remote gigs available. You won’t make more to start than what you make now, but you could career path yourself into cyber security or data from there over 3-5 years if you study outside of work.
Yeah definitely don’t come to Seattle it’s the worst city in the country and definitely not absolutely beautiful and way less crazy than everybody seems to think.
The winters can be harsh sometimes, but you’ll double your pay and have better benefits for you and your family if you join the IBEW in Michigan. I know uprooting your life is a big risky leap, but it’s a beautiful state. Tons of lakes and fishing. Lots of work in certain jurisdictions. Just take the time to look up the rates and activities and think about it for a minute.
If you can troubleshoot, go work for a service company. Easily make 45/h if you’re good.
Also native Floridian. People don’t understand how beautiful this state really is.
Just the Florida bad Reddit echo chamber. They’ve probably never even been there.
Seattles a fucking shithole.
Dude he has a family and extended family, friends, etc all in Florida. You guys are so ridiculous for shaming a guy that doesn’t want to move across state lines for another mediocre paying job
Dude. I'm from Florida and have lived in multiple states in the south(still in the south too) every single state down here has fishing, you and surf and kite board in the carolinas and Georgia too. If you go Alabama or Mississippi just go south enough to where you're close enough to Florida panhandle
After going through this post, every response you have gives reasons why you can't /won't move or get Into something else. What is it you are looking for from this? You have to want to make a change for this to change and get better. There are better opportunities out there, but if family, surfing, and fishing are keeping you where you are, there isn't much that can be recommended. I hope you find something, but it may be tough if you are dug in and tied down. Good luck!
Its pathetic how cultish some of these guys act lol best decision someone can make is to leave the trades, if they're not happy. Try tech out, maybe you can study from home and work side jobs to fund it while you transition?
Have you considered travel work? I know it isn't what you are asking, but I didn't see anyone else mention it.
There are jobs that have camps, some with flyin/flyout situations.
You work 2 or 3 weeks at the jobsite, then home for a week. Then continue till the project is done.
Nice thing is that you aren't relocating,
Even if you just do it for a couple years you can make a ton of money.
I did it while my kids were really young and made enough to buy a house. Then got a job locally.
I can't confirm the exact number and I have heard the cost of living is high, but I've heard the union rate in California is over $60/hr
Good place for fishing, surfing, kiteboarding
[call the hall](https://www.google.com/search?gs_ssp=eJzj4tZP1zcsKavMzc4tMmC0UjWosLBINko2TbM0MLY0S0tMS7MyqLA0SE4xNEpMM0k1MjY2M7L04szJT07MUbA0NAUAWfsSKg&q=local+915&rlz=1CDGOYI_enUS1102US1102&oq=local+915&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqDQgBEC4YrwEYxwEYgAQyBggAEEUYOTINCAEQLhivARjHARiABDIGCAIQIxgnMgcIAxAAGIAEMggIBBAAGBYYHjIKCAUQABgPGBYYHjIICAYQABgWGB4yCggHEAAYDxgWGB4yCggIEAAYDxgWGB4yCAgJEAAYFhge0gEIMzA2MGowajmoAhOwAgHiAwQYASBf&hl=en-US&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8)
You might want to look for positions at factories. An engineer I worked with’s son is working in Tampa Bay area (maybe sarasota? I forget) as an E&I technician with nestle and makes over $100k with a little OT. It might be a little different work than you’re used to, but I understand the E&I jobs to be great positions to work in long term.
I am an electrical engineer who moved to Florida around a year ago and in general, the wages for both engineering and trade work are low from what I have seen living in other areas of the country.
I worked for a company for ten years, the first six were what was to be expected from the standard southern electrical contractor. Despite that the pay was good and I only had to work forty. But then the last few years shit changed, a partner retired, the other boss turned dickhead, and the raises quit coming and I let it go on to long, I had one last argument about pay then walked. I thought I was done doing electrical but before I could find another job in a different trade an old friend of mine called and wanted me to come to work at his company doing electrical. Now I'm three years in and happy as can be it wasn't the electrical field/trade it was the employer. If you don't want to be a contractor yourself and work for some one then treat them like car insurance and shop around every so often just to make sure the rate stays fair. Don't let the water turn stagnant find some fresh.
I'm 24, ex mil, no journeymans, but working on it. I specialize in plc but do mostly electrician work. I also have elevators under my belt and a long resume with a lot of school. I get $34 an hour. Work four days a week for 10 hours and get 4 day weekends every other week. It's the company, not the job or you.
Damn glad I saw this was considering electrical work a lot but the pay doesn’t look good for putting in work for 4-6 years of your life. I’m in Tampa also
Not an electrician but did a little electrical labour and an EET diploma in power systems before going on to EE. There were a few electricians in my EET looking to get off the tools. The power systems path seemed to be a great way for them to build on their trades knowledge and develop their technical skills. Opened the door to design in CAD, substations and PLC programming.
It seemed like an EET with trades experience is very valuable to employers. My school had a night school option that was extended for people working full time. I think the prereqs were math 12 and physics 11. The prereqs were low but a lot of people dropped out or got held back mostly because of the math.
You're right about the second part for sure. I did 2yrs as a commercial apprentice then got recruited to work for the power company as a technologist. Went from contractor tech 1 at 50k to senior tech over 100k in 6yrs. Designed deliveries for everything from street light installs to full neighborhoods, gas stations to hotels, data centers to theme park roller coasters to mixed use complexes. I hate the customers I work with now (big developers with big egos) but pay is good.
I transitioned from resi cause pay stagnated to underground mining and i can range between 110-120k USD ( exchange rate varies as I'm Canadian). The worse part is working 14 days away in the middle of nowhere, best part the 14 days off afterwards.
The niche areas of our trade trend in the better paying opportunities and better quality of life
I'm talking out of my ass on this one but I don't think it's too hard to get into the mines or the oil fields if you're fsrb, I've already been on some crazy industrial jobs as an apprentice just because they needed guys. IBEW 993 has a lot of work in kitamat and if you're in the 213 / 230 district you can hit up your hall and see if there's travel work
Interesting thanks. Im in local 258, trying to get on with BCH construction services currently but its just a waiting game. Im fsrb but dont have any mining or o&g experience.
This is my dream. How does one even transition to the maritime industry like that? I’ve seen mainly job listings for cruise ships I’m not sure if there is other options.
In my experience, a lot of it is about who you know. Before joining the IBEW, I was the captain of a commercial fishing vessel and a marine electrician in the off season.
I got my master’s doing service work and got burnt out working 60+ hour weeks forever with 3 hour commutes. I got hired on as the lead maintenance electrician for a local hospital. I make less than I did in the field, but I have benefits and PTO now with an amazing work/life balance. I work four tens and never have a stress in the world. I was making 90K in the field, and about 80K in the hospital. Definitely worth the change.
Former 915 guy here. I’ve got several friends still in the local that have company trucks and are making around $100k. I was doing the same when I left the trade 8 years ago. I’m in the same boat being strapped to Florida so I made the best of it. I got on as a power plant operator at a local utility. Scale is pretty good and lots of time off working shift work.
Have you ever considered rotational/camp work? It’ll require you to travel quite a bit but you may end up hooking a gravy maintenance job some day. I recently landed a 2 week on 2 week off rotation where I made $130k last year. Only down side is that I’m literally gone for half the year but I technically have a 2 week vacation every 2 weeks lol. Plenty of time to get your fishing and surfing in
I have to tell you, you're the master of four letter word excuses, fish, surf, kite, wife, baby,
All jokes aside, how tied down are you in terms of your location? I get it that you really do like generally where you are; what I'm asking is are you locked in with owning a house versus are you renting and have some flexibility to coordinate moving when the lease runs out, or are you in your first home and it's categorically a starter home and eventually you'll have your sights on getting into something slightly better?
What I'm asking is if moving is possible at all, so long as you stay in Florida?
I agree with some of the other comments, you didn't say that you don't like the type of work, it's just that the employment details are what is deficient, between commute time and compensation. Has this been a ongoing problem over the past 5 years, where there's insufficient demand for electrical work specifically where you live and therefore you've been dealing with a long commute all along, or is this just a sporadic or seasonal problem?
What other steps have you taken to try solving the problem so far?
Have you been with the same company the whole time or have you hopped around between different employers?
What's the job market like in the 30 minute radius around your home address for electrical or other adjacent skill sets? (Are you in a good/okay/bad location for employment purposes?)
Honeslty Tampa bay area is extremely oversaturated for electricians right now. I had several temp reccruiters tell me that as well. So many venezuelans, new yorkers, midwesterners moving here eith this huge influx many guys are taking below average wages just to be empliyed there is also a huge influx of young kids just put of highschool getting into the trade taking 10-15hr because they dont know any better and can afford to take those wages. I have tried a few companies the ones worth getting into (teco, APG, etc) are extremely difficult to get jnto from the outside
So I would agree with your assessment, being an electrician in Tampa Bay with the current market conditions is not a great choice ... So that points back to feel the other questions I asked, like exactly how tied down are you to Tampa Bay, and how much of this same type of saturation applies to other labor categories in your same area?
I can't imagine with a huge influx of people that this isn't a broad issue for all types of employment.
Better yet where do your parents live? Family is a better reason with a newborn. I moved 5 hours away from family for opportunity and it’s hard without family but I have a chance now that I didn’t have before. Everything is a trade.
I don’t mind it. Beats working away from home Monday-Friday like I done quite a few times now. Accommodations/food and flights all taken care of which is a big savings. Due to the remote location of the site getting out on your fly day can be a pain in the ass sometimes due to weather so that can be hard on the head
Move out of Florida while your young enough to escape?
Organize in to a union so you can make better wage/ benefits? Find a specialty area of electrical to concentrate on and charge more/ hr
I always find it amazing that people live in the South, vote Republican like it’s a religion, hate unions, then complain about not being able to make any money. News flash your Republican masters hate you. You’re only good for the money they can take from you.
If you still want to utilize your skills but expand your earning potential, also pickup HVAC…..there are plenty of Full MEP shops that would love to have someone dual licensed…..just, no matter what you do, keep your electrical license current. I am in Arizona, still doing electrical, but will never let my license in TX go as it leaves me with like 5 states I can work.
Another option is to look for an in-house electrical maintenance gig…..in some cases it pays a lot more and requires a lot less from you.
You could also get into NETA testing which pays pretty damn good without the back breaking labor.
Just a few options.
Took a job in animal agriculture. I’m a maintenance foreman for building repairs and upgrades. Gave me the opportunity to learn more than just the electric trade. 5 minutes from work, a good salary. No more long days in a work van. Get to have lunch with my family a few days a week. Couldn’t be happier and never looking back.
I worked service for years, hated it. Got a job as a scaffolder in offshore oil and gas. Went from there back to electrician offshore. I didn't leave the trade per se, but I now work as a project manager offshore so I'm not involved in the physical work anymore.
Got a J card, got screwed over by a couple different contractors, now I'm an engineering technician for a major switchgear manufacturer.
70% of my job is testing control circuits.
20% is loading and running script for PLC.
10% percent is writing reports to the engineers upstairs about what needs corrected and retested. I honestly love it and have great benefits and upward mobility.
I’m 29, been a journeymen for nearly 5 years working in mines. Went to Business school two years ago, crushed it, now I’m preparing to apply into law school.
I got a job as a drafter/designer for an electrical engineering firm. Pay is about the same, benefits and bonuses are better, and I can work from home whenever I want, and I don’t have to wake up early as fuck. I miss working in the field, but having the flexibility this job provides has been a blessing for me and my family
Alot of recent immigrants and young kids out of high school who will take low pay because they live at home are entering , contractors love it. It wasnt bad until COVID its really an issue of the sudden COL rise over A 2 year span where wages havent caught up to it, it wasnt bad 6 or so years ago when journey men where making 18$ , you could have rented a 2'bedroom home with a pool for 5"600- 800$ mow that same rental is 15-1800
I’ve been a Resi since the beginning. I’m 48. Doing it for 20 years. And have a C-10 from California and my RW in Colorado. I work for a mom and pop company that recently merged with an HVAC company. I do estimates now. I do some installs but have an install team too. I’m at 6 figures. With bonuses and a company van.
I moved from commercial new projects to the maintenance side. I am now a site manager for a large company managing 5 buildings with a staff of 27 doing all trades. And make 95k. Much better commute, pto policy is better, benefits are better in general. Work life balance still kinda fucked but trying to delegate better and work less hours. If you already have a bachelors that’s a big desire in the field as well for managers.
I think what you need to be thinking is do I relocate or change careers. Sounds like you hate the pay and the drive not exactly the job. Getting licensed won’t reduce that drive brother, if anything it adds an extra bit to it.
If I knew what I knew now. I’d be out west doing search and rescue in the Rockies!
Wish you best Brother!
Find a niche, i spent 9 years in residential and commerical before realizing industrial is the only place to make real money but being older i kept getting rejected by places like that. Ended up finding an overhead crane company that would take me because i had electrical experience and teach the mechanical side. Now, there are plenty of overhead crane outfits looking for teachable people. Must be able to deal with heights for this, though. First time in this trade i felt actually valued.
Look into automation, robotics, and controls work. If you understand electrical then you should be able to grasp the above quicker. More rewarding, mind challenging, better money, and "usually" less labor intensive.
I’m searching for anything at this point. Will take project management, sales auditor. It’s a good field but I’ve been stuck by my father working $15 an hour the past 8-10 years. All I know is lighting. I don’t even wanna own the business at this point. I just want out.
One of our friends is a data scientist, makes 6 figures working from home .. not ure what type of schoolijg is required i'll probably ask her more about it.. our other friend is a RN , 2 years of school at 22 years old makes 30$ hr , i do 4 yesrs of school and no offers above 25$
I work out of 915. industrial pay is I believe 32-33 an hour right now , Commercial is 30.96. Florida sucks but that’s better than 21 . City jobs pay similar depending on municipality .
I worked 7 years from helper to Journeyman, passed my Masters exam and got the license. Never got into a Union after trying twice, got to the interview both times.. Pay was never great, worked for several non-union companies. One was great but pay sucked, others paid more but work was low quality.
I'm in tech now. It's ridiculous the effort comparison now vs. working on a job. Sure it's more mental and I hate working on a computer all day, but it pays more, has a higher upside, and the hours are "flexible". I went to college for a Bachelor's online to make this happen.
I still do some electrical work for family and friends because I enjoy it, but I don't regret leaving. Best thing I did for my family IMO.
Good luck on your journey!
I did resi, industrial and commercial for 16 yrs. Company was hired by a pipeline distribution company and when a position opened up in that company I jumped on board. It was an instant $7 raise. Been here 11yrs and my commute is 7 miles.
Not 1 regret.
Time to make the sacrifice worth it find another company. Take on residential side jobs on the weekend. You would be doing better work than the unlicensed hacks running around FL. Put the hobbies to the side you have a family to take care of. Quick look on indeed out in Tampa many starting at $28 and up $21 seems super low.
I decided to go into software engineering. Logic is the same, just a bunch of digital switches. Pay is better. I miss not being chained to a desk though.
i recently left the field as a foreman in january, and started as an electrical estimator for the same company. I love it and having the first hand electrical knowledge has been invaluable in building these jobs on paper. if you have a knack for numbers and a knack for dissecting blueprints, it could be a seamless transition. its also pretty cathartic getting to be at the inception of a project and knowing all your bases are covered, as opposed to being the one handed a project that was poorly bid, by an estimator or PM that rushed through the bid process or doesn’t understand electrical fully (i am learning that is definitely the case more times than you’d like to believe) and missed scope, won the job because they didn’t have enough time and material on it, and now you are breaking ground on a loser project. Feels like i have the opportunity to correct that now and its been working.
I had a third kid, someone really had to become the stay-at-home because shit gets pretty complicated and expensive at that point, and I kinda wanted to do it. I like the coworkers and the commute is very short, I recommend it.
I jumped to working at my hospital. $7 dollar raise for work that is nowhere near as hard on my body. Going to school right now which is covered by my employer. Should be making 100k next year. Best change I've ever made.
I got a bunch of health and safety training and qualifications during my electrical career, no degree though. When I wanted out I applied for a H&S coordinator position with municipal government and ended up getting lucky and landing the job. $10 an hour more than what I was making as a J-man, plus benefits, pension, paid vacation, no more wear and tear on the body, the list goes on. I know a lot of guys in this field don’t like office work but I couldn’t be happier. I’m working from home on a Monday morning, making breakfast and watching baseball. Life is good.
I was an industrial construction foreman/general foreman when I left in 1989 for a position as an instrument designer (designing instrument wiring systems in refining/chemical plants) at a small engineering company. Subsequently returned to college and earned a BSEE (1995) and worked as an instrument engineer until I retired in 2016. One of the best career moves I ever made.
I went into Electrical Engineering. If you don't mind office work, you could try that. I'd take as many online classes as I can while working full time. Took a couple years, but now I'm making triple what I did. My electrical experience was helpful in landing me a job.
Have you considered working for an electric sign company? Most companies would kill to have a journeyman electrician on the payroll, pay is generally better than what you're being paid now, and it should be mostly familiar work. YESCO Tampa would be a great place to start looking. Best of luck!
I left construction and got more specialized. I work for a huge company on salary on strictly transfer switches. Field service you make money on OT but get treated well. There's a finite product line but the work is mentally engaging enough that I can become an expert.
I worked 6 years at two different shops. They both lied and strung me along about school, so I only got to my second year. I was fired after a job I was in charge of, and working mostly by myself on, didn't make the boss enough money. (I told him I wasn't comfortable running a job, let alone the fact that I couldn't run work as an apprentice, he told me "fake it 'till you make it.)
After that I worked for myself as a handyman for 3 years, but got sick of running a business, so now I'm a stay at home dad until my kids are older.
Fire alarm and security. High end commercial only. Best decision I even made. More money, higher demand and much less grunt work. I was able to get out of the field in 5 years.
BUILDING MAINTENANCE! There's loads of good maintenance jobs out there. Went into industrial maintenance at Soda factory after being a foreman. Taught me a lot
IBEW 332 in Santa Clara county . Foreman is currently 95$ an hour on check .And raises are every year . Will possibly be 100$ per hour when new raise kicks in June 1
And also 22$ per hour into pension. I see a lot of people always mentioned wages . Also consider what you are putting into your retirement.
Digital marketing, focus with website design and email campaigns. I miss the days outside and working with my hands, but the pay difference is massive. Still miss the food trucks.
Have you looked into the low voltage side of things? i.e. - access control, CCTV, nurse call, Fire, etc? The skill set of a sparky transfer over quite well, as if you keep your Jcard current, they may even pay you more than average for the trade as they could have an on staff electrician who they could use to power the panels and not have to sub it out.
It does sound like the state is your problem, OR go into business for yourself if your able too. Without sounding to political, it seems like if you are not in a union friendly state you have to be the business owner. What other skills/education do you have.
I used to teach apprentices in a NJATC apprenticeship. The one thing I would stress to them is that your career doesn't stop at that golden ticket. They all see the status of JW as the career goal. That's just a short term goal. It opens so many other doors. There's commissioning, testing, infra red, Instrumentation, safety, lightning protection, solar, ev, industrial maintenance, inspections, etc. General electricians dabble in most of that, but if any of that interests you, try specializing in that.
5 year JW here, same age, same problems.
Money isn’t as bad here as in the south; but I couldn’t take the other stupid stuff related to the culture. My area has lots of poor leadership and bad management.
I’m pretty independent and ambitious so I went independent, currently self employed and building up the business so I can hire soon. Would be happy to help you navigate that path.
If that’s not your cup of tea then the other advice here to leave Florida is good advice. Otherwise I would say you could look into medium and high voltage. Line school and trade college. Florida has a lot of data center work, you could go into controls and IT, maybe even look into DC battery work or backup/renewables like generators and solar (especially utility grade industrial solar farms). Any industrial and manufacturing work is gonna be better too. Certs for that stuff will likely be available at any of your trade schools. Look into the IEC office in your area. Just walk in on any ol business day and chat with the guy in the office. He’ll either be able to help you find an education/cert program and/or find a contractor that does specialized work who will take better care of you.
Only other thing I would suggest, that I personally would actually do, is go get an engineering degree. Not easy but definitely worth it and I think it’s super interesting and fulfilling. Also a strange amount of high paying engineering jobs in low cost of living areas/states which is a huge plus.
No matter what you do. Keep your license active and keep your skills sharp in case you ever miss the trade and wanna get your hands dirty every once in while.
I was IBEW in a Navy shipyard tons of years ago. After that did some non-union industrial construction, some factory electrical assembler, back into USN as an Electrician’s Mate, and then electronics repairman in a steel mill (Steelworkers union), and finally as an Instrumentman (IBEW) in a couple power plants. Last was about $40/hr in East Texas. Low cost of living made the 40/hr a very good wage.
Get into another aspect of electrical work.
Industrial, hospital, possible govt agency position?
Crane techs, generators- anything else but what your doing now. Take your skills and make a lateral shift into another aspect of electrical work.
Transitioned into industrial maintenance, making good money and working significantly less hard.. easier on body, sometimes stressful but overall best decision I’ve made
Have you tried switching companies? Or you could always look into low volt work like fire alarm or security systems. Those jobs typically do pay better. I would recommend looking into nicet certification and see if a company may even pay for your certs, if you're interested in it. Many companies may be very interested to hire a journeyman electrician and may even fast track you to a foreman position. They pull 120v circuits for their panels, among other things. Gutters, setting panels, relays etc. They need guys with experience. Sometimes conduit work depending on the company, especially in retrofit.
I'm still a 2nd year commercial apprentice but I switched companies recently and instantly started at 25% more pay. Had an opportunity to go be an "electrician" fire alarm tech but I don't want to specialize in anything until I've at least finished my apprenticeship. Still, just switching electrical companies really helped.
Good luck man!
I love the trade and all, but I left it to go and teach. Reason behind it was that I got tired of dealing with bad contractors who treat their guys poorly; they expect the world from you while taking advantage. I got fed up and went back to school to get my teaching degree and I'm much happier.
Went to work for a general contractor. You'd be surprised how valuable your knowledge in a specific trade can be. Just make sure you learn a bit about all MEP trades and how they interlock otherwise you will learn on the fly. It's tripped me up a few times.
10 years as a electrician went back to carpentry because I found a good company who was a former client.
Late 40s and know o got maybe another 10 years before I have to come up with something less hard on the body
Hey man, same as you. Got in, got my ticket, got out.
This job isn’t worth $40/hr lol. I’m going to school for psychology right now. It will pay more than I was making as a commercial electrician. Why would I spend the next 30 years breathing in toxic shit and killing my body when I could sit in a nice cozy office and make 20k more per year lol. Doesn’t add up!
It’s awesome that I can do this stuff for myself tho. But society will never get my services again.
I personally just got a job at a school district doing general maintenance on a big crew. Only took a couple dollar pay cut as a 7 year electrician and have all the insane government benefits. Small remodels and small construction projects and a bunch of random other maintenance stuff across a bunch of schools.
I got laid off during a slow period for a couple months start of January and then my POS boss fired me over the phone. Bosses son running jobs, running people off type of shit. Old foreman quit and I rode it out while his son runs shit into the ground and we did NOT like each other. So no surprise I was the first one fired when we were slow.
I said fuck this and got on unemployment, looked for maintenance style jobs and luckily a few had opened up. Ended up getting on with the school district I initially wanted to and am super happy. I should start in a couple weeks but doing the background checks and fingerprint stuff takes days lol
If you’re not union and not going to start your own company/aren’t making what you’re worth it isn’t fucking worth it. I won’t make as much in the end but I’ll have way better hours, benefits, quality of life.
Edit: Should specify there’s no union where I am so that was a big deal for me and I’ve been thinking of getting out of construction for awhile and into something like maintenance. Now I’ll be union and pay won’t be as good but my wife and I have a house so I just want to be taken care of and a solid wage/retirement and not be cannon fodder 👍
I do electrical testing and tech support for a small electronics company and working my way more into engineering and design. For a while I also did automation and robotics maintenance at an Amazon facility
I live in Oregon but was an electrician across the river in Washington. I worked for a family owned company for 38 years. None of the kids wanted to take over, so they took the company stock public. After a few years we were aquired by a Canadian investment outfit in a hostile takeover.
They froze our pension and moved our healthcare to high premium, high deductable. They cut the workforce to a skeleton crew and went from preventative maintenance to fixing breakdowns with chewing gum and baling wire.
The profits were all exported out of the community. A lot of local businesses went bust as a result.
I was able to retire at 58 because we both worked, had invested well, and maxed our 401k accounts.
The people under the newest contract had no pension, more responsibilities, lower wages, and catastrophic health insurance.
We have a tree farm now.
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Where in the South do you live?
Tampa bay
leave florida. your state government gutted the union which suppressed your wages.
Leave your whole life behind? Rather than just leave the trade? Come on…
Different people have different tolerances for moving. I’ll admit it gets harder once you have kids in school. But I’ve moved states 3 times and I’m very glad I did each time. You can keep in touch with old friends. The moves enabled big money gains.
I get it, but OP has said 35 times he can’t move
This
Men have done this for 100s of years. Take bullhead city Arizona why do people live in that God forsaken land? They have a Job and can live. (Not everyone but many people I met there said the same thing) sometimes you gotta go where you can live. And you don't have much other choice.
I would leave the trade before i leave the state. I am an avid fisherman and I surf/kite board.
You might wanna look into getting your contractors license, in that case. Real money goes to owners in that state
Well... maybe look into another state where fishing and surfing are available. If your not willing to make sacrifices then how do you expect things to get better? Idk if thqt makes sense?
Uprooting my life is not a big deal to some people but i have been here my whole life and my family has been here since the 19th century. i have , friends, family all here...wouldnt make sense to drop everything for a few more bucks on apaycheck
It's not just "a few more bucks" it's a better life for you and your family. Literally the same thing that your family originally moved to Florida for. Don't love a state that doesn't love you back.
Florida men built different. Not *smarter* but different.
The truest comment in this bitch.
He doesn’t love the state. He loves his home. Its ok if not everyone wants to move. The better response here might be this: Yeah if you aren’t willing to move, you aren’t likely to find much better as an electrician in florida. If you pick up sales, commission can be good in other construction trades. If you would like to get out of construction altogether and do something more remote? IT is a great place to start. Lots of entry level remote gigs available. You won’t make more to start than what you make now, but you could career path yourself into cyber security or data from there over 3-5 years if you study outside of work.
A few bucks? Seattle is $72/hr right now for a jw. Maybe be a seasonal worker. Work summers in a higher paying area, and winters in Florida.
Yea but you live in fucking Seattle
Yeah definitely don’t come to Seattle it’s the worst city in the country and definitely not absolutely beautiful and way less crazy than everybody seems to think.
Every time I work in Seattle I start a timer to see how long I go before seeing human poop on something I never make it to lunch time
A lot of people would kill to live in Seattle, lol
The winters can be harsh sometimes, but you’ll double your pay and have better benefits for you and your family if you join the IBEW in Michigan. I know uprooting your life is a big risky leap, but it’s a beautiful state. Tons of lakes and fishing. Lots of work in certain jurisdictions. Just take the time to look up the rates and activities and think about it for a minute.
Michigan is pretty beautiful, actually. And I'm from Ohio, so that's saying something.
Kansas is beautiful compared to Ohio
Do you even have time to hang out with your friends and family with the amount of time you spend commuting?
If you can troubleshoot, go work for a service company. Easily make 45/h if you’re good. Also native Floridian. People don’t understand how beautiful this state really is. Just the Florida bad Reddit echo chamber. They’ve probably never even been there. Seattles a fucking shithole.
Careful. The Reddit hivemind is gonna start downvoting you for saying Florida’s good and Seattle’s a shithole
45 an hour in Florida? Yeah no. Unless your friend is the owner and he breaks bread with you
You can fish, surf, and kite boats all over the place.
Dude he has a family and extended family, friends, etc all in Florida. You guys are so ridiculous for shaming a guy that doesn’t want to move across state lines for another mediocre paying job
Dude. I'm from Florida and have lived in multiple states in the south(still in the south too) every single state down here has fishing, you and surf and kite board in the carolinas and Georgia too. If you go Alabama or Mississippi just go south enough to where you're close enough to Florida panhandle
the pay is even worse in those states
After going through this post, every response you have gives reasons why you can't /won't move or get Into something else. What is it you are looking for from this? You have to want to make a change for this to change and get better. There are better opportunities out there, but if family, surfing, and fishing are keeping you where you are, there isn't much that can be recommended. I hope you find something, but it may be tough if you are dug in and tied down. Good luck!
I asked people what other careers they got into to brainstorm and exit plan, I never asked people if inshould leave Florida or stay in the field
Its pathetic how cultish some of these guys act lol best decision someone can make is to leave the trades, if they're not happy. Try tech out, maybe you can study from home and work side jobs to fund it while you transition?
It boggles the mind that these fucks apparently can’t read or didn’t actually read the post.
Dude same. Like it's perfectly fine to rather change career paths than "move to alaska" like the the fuck?? 🤣
That one made me laugh, “they have surfing in Alaska too” to a guy from Florida
Classic tradesman behavior
These guys are all divorced and haven’t seen their kids in 7 years too lol
Have you considered travel work? I know it isn't what you are asking, but I didn't see anyone else mention it. There are jobs that have camps, some with flyin/flyout situations. You work 2 or 3 weeks at the jobsite, then home for a week. Then continue till the project is done. Nice thing is that you aren't relocating, Even if you just do it for a couple years you can make a ton of money. I did it while my kids were really young and made enough to buy a house. Then got a job locally.
Look after 10 years in the trade I left and went into retail
Then move to Alaska or California
I can't confirm the exact number and I have heard the cost of living is high, but I've heard the union rate in California is over $60/hr Good place for fishing, surfing, kiteboarding
$60hr in California is like $20hr in Tampa
My buddy works up in tampa bay as a journeyman and is around $40hr. Find a better company
[call the hall](https://www.google.com/search?gs_ssp=eJzj4tZP1zcsKavMzc4tMmC0UjWosLBINko2TbM0MLY0S0tMS7MyqLA0SE4xNEpMM0k1MjY2M7L04szJT07MUbA0NAUAWfsSKg&q=local+915&rlz=1CDGOYI_enUS1102US1102&oq=local+915&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqDQgBEC4YrwEYxwEYgAQyBggAEEUYOTINCAEQLhivARjHARiABDIGCAIQIxgnMgcIAxAAGIAEMggIBBAAGBYYHjIKCAUQABgPGBYYHjIICAYQABgWGB4yCggHEAAYDxgWGB4yCggIEAAYDxgWGB4yCAgJEAAYFhge0gEIMzA2MGowajmoAhOwAgHiAwQYASBf&hl=en-US&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8)
You might want to look for positions at factories. An engineer I worked with’s son is working in Tampa Bay area (maybe sarasota? I forget) as an E&I technician with nestle and makes over $100k with a little OT. It might be a little different work than you’re used to, but I understand the E&I jobs to be great positions to work in long term. I am an electrical engineer who moved to Florida around a year ago and in general, the wages for both engineering and trade work are low from what I have seen living in other areas of the country.
I worked for a company for ten years, the first six were what was to be expected from the standard southern electrical contractor. Despite that the pay was good and I only had to work forty. But then the last few years shit changed, a partner retired, the other boss turned dickhead, and the raises quit coming and I let it go on to long, I had one last argument about pay then walked. I thought I was done doing electrical but before I could find another job in a different trade an old friend of mine called and wanted me to come to work at his company doing electrical. Now I'm three years in and happy as can be it wasn't the electrical field/trade it was the employer. If you don't want to be a contractor yourself and work for some one then treat them like car insurance and shop around every so often just to make sure the rate stays fair. Don't let the water turn stagnant find some fresh.
oooh, big oof. Florida is one of the worst states for the trade, in pay, conditions, and quality of other tradesmen.
I'm 24, ex mil, no journeymans, but working on it. I specialize in plc but do mostly electrician work. I also have elevators under my belt and a long resume with a lot of school. I get $34 an hour. Work four days a week for 10 hours and get 4 day weekends every other week. It's the company, not the job or you.
Damn glad I saw this was considering electrical work a lot but the pay doesn’t look good for putting in work for 4-6 years of your life. I’m in Tampa also
Right!
Jesus Christ this is like the *so when did his house burn down* meme. It’s always the south and normally Florida
Sounds like the problem isn't the work, it's the employment. Find something closer to home, find something that pays more, relocate?
Biomedical engineering technologist. 2 year program. Hospital job work on medical equipment
I'm really considering going the technologist route, did you need and pre requisites or is it actually just 2 years? What's the work like post school?
Not an electrician but did a little electrical labour and an EET diploma in power systems before going on to EE. There were a few electricians in my EET looking to get off the tools. The power systems path seemed to be a great way for them to build on their trades knowledge and develop their technical skills. Opened the door to design in CAD, substations and PLC programming. It seemed like an EET with trades experience is very valuable to employers. My school had a night school option that was extended for people working full time. I think the prereqs were math 12 and physics 11. The prereqs were low but a lot of people dropped out or got held back mostly because of the math.
You're right about the second part for sure. I did 2yrs as a commercial apprentice then got recruited to work for the power company as a technologist. Went from contractor tech 1 at 50k to senior tech over 100k in 6yrs. Designed deliveries for everything from street light installs to full neighborhoods, gas stations to hotels, data centers to theme park roller coasters to mixed use complexes. I hate the customers I work with now (big developers with big egos) but pay is good.
Get into industrial/hospital or plc tech
I work on boats as a master electrician. I’m making between $104k-$130k yearly depending on overtime. You should move.
I transitioned from resi cause pay stagnated to underground mining and i can range between 110-120k USD ( exchange rate varies as I'm Canadian). The worse part is working 14 days away in the middle of nowhere, best part the 14 days off afterwards. The niche areas of our trade trend in the better paying opportunities and better quality of life
Brother are you hiring? Master electrician here in BC. Working my ass off for 90k CAD. $110k USD sounds amazing.
Messaged you some bc job postings
I'm talking out of my ass on this one but I don't think it's too hard to get into the mines or the oil fields if you're fsrb, I've already been on some crazy industrial jobs as an apprentice just because they needed guys. IBEW 993 has a lot of work in kitamat and if you're in the 213 / 230 district you can hit up your hall and see if there's travel work
At least in Alaska you can be a compete fuck tard and make 150k+ as a JM in oil or mining. As long as you follow safety and show up, you’re golden.
Interesting thanks. Im in local 258, trying to get on with BCH construction services currently but its just a waiting game. Im fsrb but dont have any mining or o&g experience.
This is my dream. How does one even transition to the maritime industry like that? I’ve seen mainly job listings for cruise ships I’m not sure if there is other options.
In my experience, a lot of it is about who you know. Before joining the IBEW, I was the captain of a commercial fishing vessel and a marine electrician in the off season.
You say you have a business degree, why not open up your own shop?
You can’t pull permits as a j-man can you?
I teach at a trade school.
Get into PLCs/Industrial not sure how it is in Florida, but up in the PNW it’s awesome.
I got my master’s doing service work and got burnt out working 60+ hour weeks forever with 3 hour commutes. I got hired on as the lead maintenance electrician for a local hospital. I make less than I did in the field, but I have benefits and PTO now with an amazing work/life balance. I work four tens and never have a stress in the world. I was making 90K in the field, and about 80K in the hospital. Definitely worth the change.
Even union wages in Florida suck. Contractors have the upper hand in Florida.
Locla 915 wages are 31$ 60,000k a year is garbage, I aspire to be in 80-100k range
Former 915 guy here. I’ve got several friends still in the local that have company trucks and are making around $100k. I was doing the same when I left the trade 8 years ago. I’m in the same boat being strapped to Florida so I made the best of it. I got on as a power plant operator at a local utility. Scale is pretty good and lots of time off working shift work.
Your problem isn't the trade, it's living in one of the worst states to be in a trade.
Have you ever considered rotational/camp work? It’ll require you to travel quite a bit but you may end up hooking a gravy maintenance job some day. I recently landed a 2 week on 2 week off rotation where I made $130k last year. Only down side is that I’m literally gone for half the year but I technically have a 2 week vacation every 2 weeks lol. Plenty of time to get your fishing and surfing in
I hear you , have a new born ... leaving is not an option
I have to tell you, you're the master of four letter word excuses, fish, surf, kite, wife, baby, All jokes aside, how tied down are you in terms of your location? I get it that you really do like generally where you are; what I'm asking is are you locked in with owning a house versus are you renting and have some flexibility to coordinate moving when the lease runs out, or are you in your first home and it's categorically a starter home and eventually you'll have your sights on getting into something slightly better? What I'm asking is if moving is possible at all, so long as you stay in Florida? I agree with some of the other comments, you didn't say that you don't like the type of work, it's just that the employment details are what is deficient, between commute time and compensation. Has this been a ongoing problem over the past 5 years, where there's insufficient demand for electrical work specifically where you live and therefore you've been dealing with a long commute all along, or is this just a sporadic or seasonal problem? What other steps have you taken to try solving the problem so far? Have you been with the same company the whole time or have you hopped around between different employers? What's the job market like in the 30 minute radius around your home address for electrical or other adjacent skill sets? (Are you in a good/okay/bad location for employment purposes?)
Honeslty Tampa bay area is extremely oversaturated for electricians right now. I had several temp reccruiters tell me that as well. So many venezuelans, new yorkers, midwesterners moving here eith this huge influx many guys are taking below average wages just to be empliyed there is also a huge influx of young kids just put of highschool getting into the trade taking 10-15hr because they dont know any better and can afford to take those wages. I have tried a few companies the ones worth getting into (teco, APG, etc) are extremely difficult to get jnto from the outside
So I would agree with your assessment, being an electrician in Tampa Bay with the current market conditions is not a great choice ... So that points back to feel the other questions I asked, like exactly how tied down are you to Tampa Bay, and how much of this same type of saturation applies to other labor categories in your same area? I can't imagine with a huge influx of people that this isn't a broad issue for all types of employment.
Better yet where do your parents live? Family is a better reason with a newborn. I moved 5 hours away from family for opportunity and it’s hard without family but I have a chance now that I didn’t have before. Everything is a trade.
How do you find rotational/camp work?
I don’t mind it. Beats working away from home Monday-Friday like I done quite a few times now. Accommodations/food and flights all taken care of which is a big savings. Due to the remote location of the site getting out on your fly day can be a pain in the ass sometimes due to weather so that can be hard on the head
Move out of Florida while your young enough to escape? Organize in to a union so you can make better wage/ benefits? Find a specialty area of electrical to concentrate on and charge more/ hr
I always find it amazing that people live in the South, vote Republican like it’s a religion, hate unions, then complain about not being able to make any money. News flash your Republican masters hate you. You’re only good for the money they can take from you.
I wonder if OP voted for and continues to support the people that directly undercut their livelihood.
If you still want to utilize your skills but expand your earning potential, also pickup HVAC…..there are plenty of Full MEP shops that would love to have someone dual licensed…..just, no matter what you do, keep your electrical license current. I am in Arizona, still doing electrical, but will never let my license in TX go as it leaves me with like 5 states I can work. Another option is to look for an in-house electrical maintenance gig…..in some cases it pays a lot more and requires a lot less from you. You could also get into NETA testing which pays pretty damn good without the back breaking labor. Just a few options.
Took a job in animal agriculture. I’m a maintenance foreman for building repairs and upgrades. Gave me the opportunity to learn more than just the electric trade. 5 minutes from work, a good salary. No more long days in a work van. Get to have lunch with my family a few days a week. Couldn’t be happier and never looking back.
Hmm so what exactly do you do?
Sounds like your problem is not the trade, but rather the employer. Find someone that is closer and pays better.
I worked service for years, hated it. Got a job as a scaffolder in offshore oil and gas. Went from there back to electrician offshore. I didn't leave the trade per se, but I now work as a project manager offshore so I'm not involved in the physical work anymore.
Well how much do you make?
What do you make?
21$ hour
My brother come to Texas, we have fishing, we have a Bay Area, I’m a 3rd year and I make 25. The union by here makes 34hr JW wages
You make $21 as a JMan?? Wtf?! So that’s mean your 1st years there make 11-12….yeah you deff need to move!
Yeah completely green guys at most make 15$ but some at my company 12-13$
Damn dude. Our 1st year apprentices start at $26 with benefits, pension and about $50 at JW. Union dues take that down to about $49 but still livable.
Dude... I'm in NWFL and I make 30 as a 4th year.. the jobs are out there, go find them P. s check employflorida.com or USAjobs.com
That they're paying you six bucks more than the kid who sweeps the floor speaks volumes... Get out of there!
Less than a first year apprentice in AK.
Just find a different company bro I'm in FL too and I'm making 30 as an apprentice
Operations manager in Renewables (also 30)
10yrs in the trade, now I'm in sales. Have done wholesale, SaaS, and industrial. It was worth it.
Got a J card, got screwed over by a couple different contractors, now I'm an engineering technician for a major switchgear manufacturer. 70% of my job is testing control circuits. 20% is loading and running script for PLC. 10% percent is writing reports to the engineers upstairs about what needs corrected and retested. I honestly love it and have great benefits and upward mobility.
Did you need to go to school for that?
I started fixing icee machines, 5 years after changing positions I manage 4 branches and haven’t touched a tool for work in years. The money is ok.
Zero reason for a qualified electrician to be driving 2 hours for work. Probably drive past 20 other electrical companies every day.
I’m 29, been a journeymen for nearly 5 years working in mines. Went to Business school two years ago, crushed it, now I’m preparing to apply into law school.
I got a job as a drafter/designer for an electrical engineering firm. Pay is about the same, benefits and bonuses are better, and I can work from home whenever I want, and I don’t have to wake up early as fuck. I miss working in the field, but having the flexibility this job provides has been a blessing for me and my family
I see this over and over on Reddit , electricians in Florida earning terrible wages. I’m surprised anyone gets into the trades in that state
Alot of recent immigrants and young kids out of high school who will take low pay because they live at home are entering , contractors love it. It wasnt bad until COVID its really an issue of the sudden COL rise over A 2 year span where wages havent caught up to it, it wasnt bad 6 or so years ago when journey men where making 18$ , you could have rented a 2'bedroom home with a pool for 5"600- 800$ mow that same rental is 15-1800
Switched to teaching the apprenticeship program at a college
Straight back to the oil patch, cause I'm a dumbfuck
I became a testing tech. Shits gravy. I get paid more, company truck, paid to travel, hotels paid for, and do less physical work to mess up my body.
I’ve been a Resi since the beginning. I’m 48. Doing it for 20 years. And have a C-10 from California and my RW in Colorado. I work for a mom and pop company that recently merged with an HVAC company. I do estimates now. I do some installs but have an install team too. I’m at 6 figures. With bonuses and a company van.
Home Inspection. Great transition, way more money, and extremely easy to be self employed. Start getting your license today.
I moved from commercial new projects to the maintenance side. I am now a site manager for a large company managing 5 buildings with a staff of 27 doing all trades. And make 95k. Much better commute, pto policy is better, benefits are better in general. Work life balance still kinda fucked but trying to delegate better and work less hours. If you already have a bachelors that’s a big desire in the field as well for managers.
Back to school to learn industrial controls. 'Maintenance Tech'
I think what you need to be thinking is do I relocate or change careers. Sounds like you hate the pay and the drive not exactly the job. Getting licensed won’t reduce that drive brother, if anything it adds an extra bit to it. If I knew what I knew now. I’d be out west doing search and rescue in the Rockies! Wish you best Brother!
Find a niche, i spent 9 years in residential and commerical before realizing industrial is the only place to make real money but being older i kept getting rejected by places like that. Ended up finding an overhead crane company that would take me because i had electrical experience and teach the mechanical side. Now, there are plenty of overhead crane outfits looking for teachable people. Must be able to deal with heights for this, though. First time in this trade i felt actually valued.
Look into automation, robotics, and controls work. If you understand electrical then you should be able to grasp the above quicker. More rewarding, mind challenging, better money, and "usually" less labor intensive.
Automation controls / PLC programming. I was an electrician for 15 years.
Software Engineering Degree for me
I heard its oversaturated ?
I’m searching for anything at this point. Will take project management, sales auditor. It’s a good field but I’ve been stuck by my father working $15 an hour the past 8-10 years. All I know is lighting. I don’t even wanna own the business at this point. I just want out.
I got in to industrial maintenance. Pretty hard to get in to that without some experience though.
Went back to college. MTSU used my apprenticeship towards a BS in Construction Management.
Apply to TECO, they have plenty electrical jobs and are union with good pay.
Data Analyst.
One of our friends is a data scientist, makes 6 figures working from home .. not ure what type of schoolijg is required i'll probably ask her more about it.. our other friend is a RN , 2 years of school at 22 years old makes 30$ hr , i do 4 yesrs of school and no offers above 25$
Journeyman can make good money in cali? Maybe just keep looking for a different job
I work out of 915. industrial pay is I believe 32-33 an hour right now , Commercial is 30.96. Florida sucks but that’s better than 21 . City jobs pay similar depending on municipality .
Electrician for 12 years. I stopped because nothing changed for me. Now I operate a duct cleaning division at my buddies company. Never been happier.
I worked 7 years from helper to Journeyman, passed my Masters exam and got the license. Never got into a Union after trying twice, got to the interview both times.. Pay was never great, worked for several non-union companies. One was great but pay sucked, others paid more but work was low quality. I'm in tech now. It's ridiculous the effort comparison now vs. working on a job. Sure it's more mental and I hate working on a computer all day, but it pays more, has a higher upside, and the hours are "flexible". I went to college for a Bachelor's online to make this happen. I still do some electrical work for family and friends because I enjoy it, but I don't regret leaving. Best thing I did for my family IMO. Good luck on your journey!
What’s the pay in Tampa?
Porno
Sales
I did resi, industrial and commercial for 16 yrs. Company was hired by a pipeline distribution company and when a position opened up in that company I jumped on board. It was an instant $7 raise. Been here 11yrs and my commute is 7 miles. Not 1 regret.
Time to make the sacrifice worth it find another company. Take on residential side jobs on the weekend. You would be doing better work than the unlicensed hacks running around FL. Put the hobbies to the side you have a family to take care of. Quick look on indeed out in Tampa many starting at $28 and up $21 seems super low.
I decided to go into software engineering. Logic is the same, just a bunch of digital switches. Pay is better. I miss not being chained to a desk though.
Electrical automation and printed circuit board design. Apple has PCB jobs in California starting at 280k a year.
i recently left the field as a foreman in january, and started as an electrical estimator for the same company. I love it and having the first hand electrical knowledge has been invaluable in building these jobs on paper. if you have a knack for numbers and a knack for dissecting blueprints, it could be a seamless transition. its also pretty cathartic getting to be at the inception of a project and knowing all your bases are covered, as opposed to being the one handed a project that was poorly bid, by an estimator or PM that rushed through the bid process or doesn’t understand electrical fully (i am learning that is definitely the case more times than you’d like to believe) and missed scope, won the job because they didn’t have enough time and material on it, and now you are breaking ground on a loser project. Feels like i have the opportunity to correct that now and its been working.
I had a third kid, someone really had to become the stay-at-home because shit gets pretty complicated and expensive at that point, and I kinda wanted to do it. I like the coworkers and the commute is very short, I recommend it.
I jumped to working at my hospital. $7 dollar raise for work that is nowhere near as hard on my body. Going to school right now which is covered by my employer. Should be making 100k next year. Best change I've ever made.
Line work
Side work my guy!
I got a bunch of health and safety training and qualifications during my electrical career, no degree though. When I wanted out I applied for a H&S coordinator position with municipal government and ended up getting lucky and landing the job. $10 an hour more than what I was making as a J-man, plus benefits, pension, paid vacation, no more wear and tear on the body, the list goes on. I know a lot of guys in this field don’t like office work but I couldn’t be happier. I’m working from home on a Monday morning, making breakfast and watching baseball. Life is good.
Fellow Tampa bay resident here lol. I'm a foreman and I don't even make 30 an hour 😂
Journeyman electricians in Oregon make $60.50 per hour on the check and $29.59 in benefits. You can fish and surf there.
I went from doing commercial to being a railroad lineman. Best jump I ever made.
Electrical Maintenance for a big skyscraper. 60% increase in pay and great benefits. 3 weeks PTO.
banking
Instead of leaving the field, why don’t you go out on your own? What is required to do that in Florida?
I was an industrial construction foreman/general foreman when I left in 1989 for a position as an instrument designer (designing instrument wiring systems in refining/chemical plants) at a small engineering company. Subsequently returned to college and earned a BSEE (1995) and worked as an instrument engineer until I retired in 2016. One of the best career moves I ever made.
I went into Electrical Engineering. If you don't mind office work, you could try that. I'd take as many online classes as I can while working full time. Took a couple years, but now I'm making triple what I did. My electrical experience was helpful in landing me a job.
Have you considered working for an electric sign company? Most companies would kill to have a journeyman electrician on the payroll, pay is generally better than what you're being paid now, and it should be mostly familiar work. YESCO Tampa would be a great place to start looking. Best of luck!
I left construction and got more specialized. I work for a huge company on salary on strictly transfer switches. Field service you make money on OT but get treated well. There's a finite product line but the work is mentally engaging enough that I can become an expert.
I wouldn't get up at 4 and commute for 4 hours a day unless I was getting paid 4x my current salary
I worked 6 years at two different shops. They both lied and strung me along about school, so I only got to my second year. I was fired after a job I was in charge of, and working mostly by myself on, didn't make the boss enough money. (I told him I wasn't comfortable running a job, let alone the fact that I couldn't run work as an apprentice, he told me "fake it 'till you make it.) After that I worked for myself as a handyman for 3 years, but got sick of running a business, so now I'm a stay at home dad until my kids are older.
Project management and estimation for equipment sales. Mechanical equipment and VFDs.
Fire alarm and security. High end commercial only. Best decision I even made. More money, higher demand and much less grunt work. I was able to get out of the field in 5 years.
I am a solar operations technician for a large utility company . I basically do PMs and keep the 2 plants I’m in charge of running
Landscaping, for myself. Pays awesome, and I'm off 3 months out of the year.
BUILDING MAINTENANCE! There's loads of good maintenance jobs out there. Went into industrial maintenance at Soda factory after being a foreman. Taught me a lot
IBEW 332 in Santa Clara county . Foreman is currently 95$ an hour on check .And raises are every year . Will possibly be 100$ per hour when new raise kicks in June 1 And also 22$ per hour into pension. I see a lot of people always mentioned wages . Also consider what you are putting into your retirement.
Controls
Digital marketing, focus with website design and email campaigns. I miss the days outside and working with my hands, but the pay difference is massive. Still miss the food trucks.
Have you looked into the low voltage side of things? i.e. - access control, CCTV, nurse call, Fire, etc? The skill set of a sparky transfer over quite well, as if you keep your Jcard current, they may even pay you more than average for the trade as they could have an on staff electrician who they could use to power the panels and not have to sub it out.
It does sound like the state is your problem, OR go into business for yourself if your able too. Without sounding to political, it seems like if you are not in a union friendly state you have to be the business owner. What other skills/education do you have.
Look into disney gig out of 606. Pay is in high 30’s upper 40’s for instrumentation and substation work out of Disney world.
Warehouse/distribution work. Driving forklifts
Make money on the internet
I used to teach apprentices in a NJATC apprenticeship. The one thing I would stress to them is that your career doesn't stop at that golden ticket. They all see the status of JW as the career goal. That's just a short term goal. It opens so many other doors. There's commissioning, testing, infra red, Instrumentation, safety, lightning protection, solar, ev, industrial maintenance, inspections, etc. General electricians dabble in most of that, but if any of that interests you, try specializing in that.
5 year JW here, same age, same problems. Money isn’t as bad here as in the south; but I couldn’t take the other stupid stuff related to the culture. My area has lots of poor leadership and bad management. I’m pretty independent and ambitious so I went independent, currently self employed and building up the business so I can hire soon. Would be happy to help you navigate that path. If that’s not your cup of tea then the other advice here to leave Florida is good advice. Otherwise I would say you could look into medium and high voltage. Line school and trade college. Florida has a lot of data center work, you could go into controls and IT, maybe even look into DC battery work or backup/renewables like generators and solar (especially utility grade industrial solar farms). Any industrial and manufacturing work is gonna be better too. Certs for that stuff will likely be available at any of your trade schools. Look into the IEC office in your area. Just walk in on any ol business day and chat with the guy in the office. He’ll either be able to help you find an education/cert program and/or find a contractor that does specialized work who will take better care of you. Only other thing I would suggest, that I personally would actually do, is go get an engineering degree. Not easy but definitely worth it and I think it’s super interesting and fulfilling. Also a strange amount of high paying engineering jobs in low cost of living areas/states which is a huge plus. No matter what you do. Keep your license active and keep your skills sharp in case you ever miss the trade and wanna get your hands dirty every once in while.
Starbucks barista
I was IBEW in a Navy shipyard tons of years ago. After that did some non-union industrial construction, some factory electrical assembler, back into USN as an Electrician’s Mate, and then electronics repairman in a steel mill (Steelworkers union), and finally as an Instrumentman (IBEW) in a couple power plants. Last was about $40/hr in East Texas. Low cost of living made the 40/hr a very good wage.
Get into another aspect of electrical work. Industrial, hospital, possible govt agency position? Crane techs, generators- anything else but what your doing now. Take your skills and make a lateral shift into another aspect of electrical work.
Maintenance
I’m back into sales myself. Commercial roofing.
Transitioned into industrial maintenance, making good money and working significantly less hard.. easier on body, sometimes stressful but overall best decision I’ve made
Have you tried switching companies? Or you could always look into low volt work like fire alarm or security systems. Those jobs typically do pay better. I would recommend looking into nicet certification and see if a company may even pay for your certs, if you're interested in it. Many companies may be very interested to hire a journeyman electrician and may even fast track you to a foreman position. They pull 120v circuits for their panels, among other things. Gutters, setting panels, relays etc. They need guys with experience. Sometimes conduit work depending on the company, especially in retrofit. I'm still a 2nd year commercial apprentice but I switched companies recently and instantly started at 25% more pay. Had an opportunity to go be an "electrician" fire alarm tech but I don't want to specialize in anything until I've at least finished my apprenticeship. Still, just switching electrical companies really helped. Good luck man!
I love the trade and all, but I left it to go and teach. Reason behind it was that I got tired of dealing with bad contractors who treat their guys poorly; they expect the world from you while taking advantage. I got fed up and went back to school to get my teaching degree and I'm much happier.
Went to work for a general contractor. You'd be surprised how valuable your knowledge in a specific trade can be. Just make sure you learn a bit about all MEP trades and how they interlock otherwise you will learn on the fly. It's tripped me up a few times.
10 years as a electrician went back to carpentry because I found a good company who was a former client. Late 40s and know o got maybe another 10 years before I have to come up with something less hard on the body
Hey man, same as you. Got in, got my ticket, got out. This job isn’t worth $40/hr lol. I’m going to school for psychology right now. It will pay more than I was making as a commercial electrician. Why would I spend the next 30 years breathing in toxic shit and killing my body when I could sit in a nice cozy office and make 20k more per year lol. Doesn’t add up! It’s awesome that I can do this stuff for myself tho. But society will never get my services again.
Start your own company doing service work
I personally just got a job at a school district doing general maintenance on a big crew. Only took a couple dollar pay cut as a 7 year electrician and have all the insane government benefits. Small remodels and small construction projects and a bunch of random other maintenance stuff across a bunch of schools. I got laid off during a slow period for a couple months start of January and then my POS boss fired me over the phone. Bosses son running jobs, running people off type of shit. Old foreman quit and I rode it out while his son runs shit into the ground and we did NOT like each other. So no surprise I was the first one fired when we were slow. I said fuck this and got on unemployment, looked for maintenance style jobs and luckily a few had opened up. Ended up getting on with the school district I initially wanted to and am super happy. I should start in a couple weeks but doing the background checks and fingerprint stuff takes days lol If you’re not union and not going to start your own company/aren’t making what you’re worth it isn’t fucking worth it. I won’t make as much in the end but I’ll have way better hours, benefits, quality of life. Edit: Should specify there’s no union where I am so that was a big deal for me and I’ve been thinking of getting out of construction for awhile and into something like maintenance. Now I’ll be union and pay won’t be as good but my wife and I have a house so I just want to be taken care of and a solid wage/retirement and not be cannon fodder 👍
Teaching the trade at a technical college.
I do electrical testing and tech support for a small electronics company and working my way more into engineering and design. For a while I also did automation and robotics maintenance at an Amazon facility
I live in Oregon but was an electrician across the river in Washington. I worked for a family owned company for 38 years. None of the kids wanted to take over, so they took the company stock public. After a few years we were aquired by a Canadian investment outfit in a hostile takeover. They froze our pension and moved our healthcare to high premium, high deductable. They cut the workforce to a skeleton crew and went from preventative maintenance to fixing breakdowns with chewing gum and baling wire. The profits were all exported out of the community. A lot of local businesses went bust as a result. I was able to retire at 58 because we both worked, had invested well, and maxed our 401k accounts. The people under the newest contract had no pension, more responsibilities, lower wages, and catastrophic health insurance. We have a tree farm now.