We sometimes hire a plumbing contractor at work for bigger jobs we don’t have the time or equipment for. Our normal guy is more or less a one man band. I usually have to go be his gofer and I don’t mind as he’s a good guy and I can usually learn something from him.
Talking with him a while back and I asked why he didn’t have a helper or another guy running another van since he’s always swamped. He said he can’t get anyone to come work for him, nobody wants to be a plumber he says. He’s had a standing offer out for a couple years for a hand, pay is $25 an hour to start, he’ll provide the tools and training. Hasn’t had anyone stay more than a couple months. Now he’s about 60 and charges a minimum of $100 to show up plus $50-75 an hour. He’s about the only game around so what happens when he dies or retires?
To me that means that market will be ripe for the taking for a young ambitious fellow. But like the man says, seems nobody wants to be a plumber anymore. Almost seems like guys would be embarrassed to tell people they were plumbers.
Thing to remember is what another buddy of mine, who was also a plumber, told me. He said, “When someone has schit floating in their basement, they don’t care what it’s going to cost”.
