About a year ago, we had a 2nd generation smart meter fitted at home. At the time, the engineer was only prepared to connect a new electricity meter to the smart box, saying that he "didn't have the right connectors to do the gas meter".
Last week, we finally got our connected gas meter, which was installed by a very personable and chatty engineer. In the course of our conversation, he dropped something of a bombshell: over the next few years, the industry needs approximately 65,000 electricians who are prepared to work on 3-phase systems. A lot of this is driven by the rollout of high-speed charging points for electric vehicles, which typically use 3-phase power.
Right now, the industry has approximately 15,000 electricians who are prepared to deal with 3-phase, leaving us with a shortfall of 50,000! One of the negative impacts of Brexit is that, in the main(s), these 50,000 electricians will need to be home-grown.
That's the UK situation. I'm curious to know whether it's any different elsewhere in the world....?