If you’re working towards a new career, you want to be safe in the knowledge that your skills will earn you a good wage. Without a demand for work, that isn’t possible. So, before deciding on a career path, it’s worth looking at whether there is a call for your chosen service.
Over the years, many people have gone down the route to becoming a gas engineer. But a lot of people are wondering if gas engineers are in demand.
As long as people are using gas powered appliances, there will be a call for gas engineers to fit, service and repair these products.
However, there has been some concern that the demand for gas engineers will drop as the UK looks to become a greener place. What does this mean exactly? In short, the government is looking to replace gas appliances but this doesn’t look set to happen across the board for many years to come.
So, if you’re keen to get your qualifications as a gas engineer then you’ll likely have a profitable career ahead of you. That said, there are a few things to consider.
What is The UK Government Saying About Gas Appliances?
A lot of people are aware of the changes the UK government is making to ensure that the country becomes a greener place. One of the major developments is stopping the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles by the year 2030. But what a lot of people don’t realise is that Boris and friends are also looking to reduce, and eventually eradicate, things like gas boilers.
In fact, they’re hoping that by the year 2025, they will be able to enforce a ban on gas boilers being installed in new build properties. Moreover, the government is aiming to create a blanket ban on the sale of new gas boilers by the year 2035.
But that shouldn’t put you off pursuing your dream career as a gas engineer. Note that we said the sale of new gas boilers. For many years after this, there will still be an enormous number of homes and commercial properties using gas appliances. In fact, it’s thought that the earliest things will be powered solely by hydrogen won’t be until 2050. So, you’ve got a great deal of time before that happens.
According to figures given by one of Check A Trade’s partners, as many as six and a half million gas boilers will be installed in the lead up to the ban. Since a new boiler stands to last anywhere between ten and fifteen years, it’s easy to see why there would still be a demand for gas engineers.
Learning New Skills
Let’s assume that you are a young person, around the age of 18, looking to start your career. You’ve got a good 50 or so years of work ahead of you. We understand that you’ll want to learn skills that will serve you for the duration of your working life.
But since the call for gas engineers does look set to drop in the future, you might need to be prepared to advance your knowledge down the line.
We have to make it perfectly clear that, for the next 25+ years, there will still be a call for this type of service. It may start to decline towards 2050 when hydrogen is set to take over but that’s still a lengthy period of time.
But what gas engineers need to be prepared for is change. And that isn’t something that’s exclusive to this industry. Look at medicine, for example. Someone who trained as a doctor 30 years ago would have continued educating themselves over the decades as medical advances took place.
We live in an ever changing world and you’d be hard pushed to find a career that didn’t involve some sort of further learning down the line. Which is why you shouldn’t look at advancing your gas service training as an inconvenience but an opportunity to expand your skills and knowledge.
What Will Gas Service Engineers Need To Learn To Stay In Business?
If you’re keen to upskill then you’ll be set for life working as a gas engineer. When things like hydrogen and other natural gas take over, there will be appliances that need to be upgraded and new ones that need to be installed. While it would be possible to train an entire new team of engineers for this, that would be costly and time consuming.
The solution? Get existing gas engineers trained in installing, upgrading and repairing natural gas appliances. The concept won’t be all that dissimilar to what you’re already doing. It’s simply upgrading your knowledge.
So, Is It Worth Becoming A Gas Engineer?
It is very much worth training as a gas engineer. While you will need to further your skills as technology changes, this is something that can be said of any industry.
Moreover, gas engineers have the opportunity to make a decent living, with the best gas engineers in the UK earning in excess of £38,000 a year.
Conclusion
There has been some speculation that the call for gas engineers is going to dwindle in line with government plans to ban the sale of new gas boilers. While there is some truth to this, that doesn’t mean that training as a gas engineer isn’t worth it.