My local is pretty well dead in the water right now. It's so slow that the apprentices are failing the journeymans exam on purpose when they "top out".
Getting your license up here right now means being laid-off as a journeyman and the apprentices are all working.
The one thing I can say is that electrical is no trade to get into just to "try it".
It requires extensive training and continuing education just to get your license and keep it valid. It's a trade in which you will never stop learning new tricks and theories. If you must work with your hands, it's about as good a trade as there is but, I hope my son does better than to pull wire and run pipe on a daily basis.
As for the apprentice program here, the apprentices do their class work on weekdays (friday) and it's up to the contractor whether or not they get paid for the school time. most contractors are more than willing to pay them for the training.
Also, all apprentices "rotate" atleast every six months to different contractors.
This ensures that they get a wide scope of different types of electrical work under their belt. All in all, it's a solid program.
