There may be some 583,500 electricians working in the United States, but hardly any of them are experienced enough, according to a new survey by Klein Tools.
On behalf of Klein Tools, Russell Research conducted the “State of the Industry” survey, doing 201 online interviews of different electricians across the country. About 40% of survey participants were union members, and 60% were not.
According to the results, about 75% of electricians believe that there’s not enough experienced electricians on job sites. At the same time, about 37% — almost two-fifths — of electricians also believe that there aren’t enough entry level electricians on site, either.
The survey also found that there is some division in the industry in regards to the amount of training that should be required to become an electrician. The majority (55%) of electricians believe that professionals need 1,000 or more hours of training to be effective electricians. Yet, only about three in five electricians who possess more than 20 years of professional experience have gotten that much training.
Less experienced electricians feel differently. More than half (55%) of surveyed electricians who had less than 10 years of experience believe that 250 hours or less of training is necessary. About one in 10 of them also believe that they’ve already received too much training.
“Electricians are at a renaissance as new technology constantly replaces old standards and practices,” said Klein Tools co-president Mark Klein in a press release. “Electricians need to be up-to-date both with the latest products and also the newest building practices so time in the classroom and also on the job site is critical. Klein Tools works hard to keep tools and materials up to date so electricians of all generations can rely on quality products when they put all of their training to use.”