Keep in mind butcher that the IUEC is going to have a 1:1 ratio policy. So for every apprentice on a job they need to have a mechanic. You can't have 2 apprentices and one jman on a job unless I think certain requirements are meant.

So if there aren't apprentices to be had, a contractor is going to have to just bite the bullet and pay a ton of money to have all journeymen on the job. This is why when big jobs open up we'll get hired in waves to keep the ratio right and save the contractor money.

You are cheap labor as an apprentice, it's that simple. Because of this you will discover apprentices are employed easier than the journeymen are.

I heard that they took 26ish apprentices in last year which was extremely out of the ordinary I think and likely the reason they haven't called us all out yet this year. So don't get me wrong, the demand is still there and it's still a good time to get in, but we don't get hired until all apprentices are working and the books are cleared.

It's possible in a couple years they don't even hold a recruitment because this year and the last few will have had such an influx of apprentices.

Vet also made a great point, lay offs suck and we can only hope this union keeps demand up by not over saturating the work force. It's a growing city though so again, not a bad spot to be in. 20 years down the line though, who knows. By then you would have been smart to have found yourself into a foremanship or service truck.

Either way these big projects can't start soon enough, I'm itchen to get started. I'm also looking forward to a pay raise so I can save up from some property hopefully, renting in Austin is getting absurd.