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Not me, but my buddy got out of software development and learned to be, as he describes it, "a bog standard electrician." He had money for trade school, and th

Not me, but my buddy got out of software development and learned to be, as he describes it, "a bog standard electrician." He had money for trade school, and then apprenticed under an experienced electrician. Dude is in his 40's, so late career change. Makes double the money he did doing remote coding.

betaby 2y ago
> Makes double the money Canada?
ecshafer 2y ago
Certified electricians can make really good money, especially union. But that's really hard to believe. Is this somewhere like NYC or something that there is an edge. A remote software developer is typically in the $100-200k range in the US. I know union certified electricians in that range, but none in the $300-400k range.
- francisofascii 2y ago
  There are plenty of developer gigs in the US with salaries less than $100k, or with contract hourly rates less than $50/hour. Especially if the job is remote or in a low COL area.
  - lm28469 2y ago
    Unless we only talk about big tech companies there are more devs under 100k than devs above 200k, for sure, not even close. 300k as a dev you're in the lucky top 10%
    - closeparen 2y ago
      BLS quantifies this. $100k is 25th percentile. $200k is 90th percentile nationally, median in Sunnyvale-San Jose-Santa Clara. https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes151252.htm https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes151252.htm
    - DanielHB 2y ago
      People would be surprised how much of the software world relies on low-pay PHP/wordpress developers. I know a few people who started their careers like that. No-code and low-code solutions have been getting better so the demand for those jobs is drying up though, but there are still massive operations running on top of some wordpress server that people FTP files to.
      - lesuorac 2y ago
        Yeah straight up, SquareSpace is killing more jobs than LLMs.
        DanielHB 2y ago
        That is a very spicy hot take, wasted on hackernews. I agree though.
        dumbledoren 2y ago
        Every other thread in /r/wordpress is from people who want to get away from Wix or Squarespace because they started squeezing them for $$ for minor features like contact forms etc. When people start paying $20/month for a contact form, suddenly 'Wordpress org' (as they call self-hosted Wordpress) becomes very attractive.
  - mywittyname 2y ago
    The best way to compare is to use BLS figures. The median salary of an electrician in the USA is $62k. For a software developer, the median is $130k. A top 10% electrician earns $110k. A top 10% software developer earns $210k. In fact, even developers in the bottom 10% of software development out earn a median electrician.
- more_corn 2y ago
  My buddy did this. Apprenticed to become a low voltage electrician. Runs Cat6 for office builds. He did it for the reduced stress. He’s a lot happier. He owns a home in SF on a single salary.
  - knowitnone 2y ago
    lots of missing information here. running cat6 can be done without highschool education. I highly doubt this is a lucrative job, no more than $25/hr.
    - AceyMan 2y ago
      > become a low voltage electrician You must have missed that part. I worked for an engineering firm that did low voltage design (Network / A-V). The people who installed our plans weren't just high school types, trust me.
  - DanielHB 2y ago
    Man in highschool I interned as a technician for a school computer lab. Never in my life do I want to run Cat6 cables around again. I was freaking 17 and already getting back aches from leaning down so often.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
- mywittyname 2y ago
  Yeah, my father is an electrician who does industrial work (non-union, but co-owns his business) and I was out-earning him by the time I was 21. Even though he made some good investment decisions, such as owning the building his company leases, based on info from my mom, I have amassed 2x the net worth in half the time. I think people often conflate "being a <trade>" with "owning a <trade> business." A W-2 electrician earns a median salary of $62k in the USA. A guy who runs a business as an electrician might bill out $250k a year for his work, but he'll have to pay expenses like insurance, vehicles, gas, tools/tec, FICA, taxes, rent, on call services, and probably salaries for his assistants (which may include an unpaid secret assistant like a spouse who coordinates appointments). So their take home isn't nearly that much.
  - ecshafer 2y ago
    This is much more in line with the electricians I know. Another part that can really mess with TC for tradesman, even union electricians, is that getting a solid 40-50 hours is difficult. They might have 60 hours of work one week, and 30 hours the next week. A union guy might not get stable 40 hour weeks until they are 40+ due to the way seniority works. High paying electrician gigs like a lineman or high voltage at a power plant often have to get there on huge amounts of OT during storms.
Gooblebrai 2y ago
> Makes double the money he did doing remote coding. Yes, but I presume at a high physical cost in the long-term? (I mean, more than the physical cost of sitting in a chair)
- itsoktocry 2y ago
  >Yes, but I presume at a high physical cost in the long-term? Why? Electricians aren't doing intense labour, and I'm 99% certain that being in a job where you move around a lot (as opposed to sitting at your desk) has long term health benefits, without even getting into carpal tunnel syndrome and other RSIs associated with being at a computer.
  - mjthrowaway1 2y ago
    I hire electricians regularly. Driving a grounding rod is physically demanding. Moving conduit and hoisting it overhead for long runs is demanding. Carrying tools around, mounting light fixtures…and this is for light commercial work. It’s definitely not easy on the body and why older electricians want to transition in to design and engineering as opposed to field work.
    - Drunkfoowl 2y ago
      I think the key here is the extra income. He doesn’t need to grind as a sparky he can be very selective. I have seen it in other trades. My family is GC, we have retired biz folks doing cranes, excavators, and some light hand trades. I personally am considering starting an arborist.
    - itsoktocry 2y ago
      These things are relatively physically demanding if your baseline is sitting at a desk. But hammering a rod into the ground for 15 minutes, or holding some weight over your head, or carrying weight in your toolbag are not things that break your body down; they build your body up.
      - 2y ago
jagtstronaut 2y ago
I’ve done some of my own electric work and the logic isn’t dissimilar to what we do. Just way less abstract, way slower, and way simpler. I found it kind of interesting.

betaby 2y ago

> Makes double the money Canada?

ecshafer 2y ago

Certified electricians can make really good money, especially union. But that's really hard to believe. Is this somewhere like NYC or something that there is an edge. A remote software developer is typically in the $100-200k range in the US. I know union certified electricians in that range, but none in the $300-400k range.

francisofascii 2y ago
There are plenty of developer gigs in the US with salaries less than $100k, or with contract hourly rates less than $50/hour. Especially if the job is remote or in a low COL area.
- lm28469 2y ago
  Unless we only talk about big tech companies there are more devs under 100k than devs above 200k, for sure, not even close. 300k as a dev you're in the lucky top 10%
  - closeparen 2y ago
    BLS quantifies this. $100k is 25th percentile. $200k is 90th percentile nationally, median in Sunnyvale-San Jose-Santa Clara. https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes151252.htm https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes151252.htm
  - DanielHB 2y ago
    People would be surprised how much of the software world relies on low-pay PHP/wordpress developers. I know a few people who started their careers like that. No-code and low-code solutions have been getting better so the demand for those jobs is drying up though, but there are still massive operations running on top of some wordpress server that people FTP files to.
    - lesuorac 2y ago
      Yeah straight up, SquareSpace is killing more jobs than LLMs.
      - DanielHB 2y ago
        That is a very spicy hot take, wasted on hackernews. I agree though.
      - dumbledoren 2y ago
        Every other thread in /r/wordpress is from people who want to get away from Wix or Squarespace because they started squeezing them for $$ for minor features like contact forms etc. When people start paying $20/month for a contact form, suddenly 'Wordpress org' (as they call self-hosted Wordpress) becomes very attractive.
- mywittyname 2y ago
  The best way to compare is to use BLS figures. The median salary of an electrician in the USA is $62k. For a software developer, the median is $130k. A top 10% electrician earns $110k. A top 10% software developer earns $210k. In fact, even developers in the bottom 10% of software development out earn a median electrician.
more_corn 2y ago
My buddy did this. Apprenticed to become a low voltage electrician. Runs Cat6 for office builds. He did it for the reduced stress. He’s a lot happier. He owns a home in SF on a single salary.
- knowitnone 2y ago
  lots of missing information here. running cat6 can be done without highschool education. I highly doubt this is a lucrative job, no more than $25/hr.
  - AceyMan 2y ago
    > become a low voltage electrician You must have missed that part. I worked for an engineering firm that did low voltage design (Network / A-V). The people who installed our plans weren't just high school types, trust me.
- DanielHB 2y ago
  Man in highschool I interned as a technician for a school computer lab. Never in my life do I want to run Cat6 cables around again. I was freaking 17 and already getting back aches from leaning down so often.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
mywittyname 2y ago
Yeah, my father is an electrician who does industrial work (non-union, but co-owns his business) and I was out-earning him by the time I was 21. Even though he made some good investment decisions, such as owning the building his company leases, based on info from my mom, I have amassed 2x the net worth in half the time. I think people often conflate "being a <trade>" with "owning a <trade> business." A W-2 electrician earns a median salary of $62k in the USA. A guy who runs a business as an electrician might bill out $250k a year for his work, but he'll have to pay expenses like insurance, vehicles, gas, tools/tec, FICA, taxes, rent, on call services, and probably salaries for his assistants (which may include an unpaid secret assistant like a spouse who coordinates appointments). So their take home isn't nearly that much.
- ecshafer 2y ago
  This is much more in line with the electricians I know. Another part that can really mess with TC for tradesman, even union electricians, is that getting a solid 40-50 hours is difficult. They might have 60 hours of work one week, and 30 hours the next week. A union guy might not get stable 40 hour weeks until they are 40+ due to the way seniority works. High paying electrician gigs like a lineman or high voltage at a power plant often have to get there on huge amounts of OT during storms.

Gooblebrai 2y ago

> Makes double the money he did doing remote coding. Yes, but I presume at a high physical cost in the long-term? (I mean, more than the physical cost of sitting in a chair)

itsoktocry 2y ago
>Yes, but I presume at a high physical cost in the long-term? Why? Electricians aren't doing intense labour, and I'm 99% certain that being in a job where you move around a lot (as opposed to sitting at your desk) has long term health benefits, without even getting into carpal tunnel syndrome and other RSIs associated with being at a computer.
- mjthrowaway1 2y ago
  I hire electricians regularly. Driving a grounding rod is physically demanding. Moving conduit and hoisting it overhead for long runs is demanding. Carrying tools around, mounting light fixtures…and this is for light commercial work. It’s definitely not easy on the body and why older electricians want to transition in to design and engineering as opposed to field work.
  - Drunkfoowl 2y ago
    I think the key here is the extra income. He doesn’t need to grind as a sparky he can be very selective. I have seen it in other trades. My family is GC, we have retired biz folks doing cranes, excavators, and some light hand trades. I personally am considering starting an arborist.
  - itsoktocry 2y ago
    These things are relatively physically demanding if your baseline is sitting at a desk. But hammering a rod into the ground for 15 minutes, or holding some weight over your head, or carrying weight in your toolbag are not things that break your body down; they build your body up.
    - 2y ago

jagtstronaut 2y ago

I’ve done some of my own electric work and the logic isn’t dissimilar to what we do. Just way less abstract, way slower, and way simpler. I found it kind of interesting.