Ari this is a very good point.
I started out in 1994 as an installers helper. We had two technicians on a basic residential installation. Now we charged more for the systems then but this also allowed me to learn the proper way to install an alarm system as we had more time in the job. Fortunately I have very good mechanical skills and electronic skills but still doesn't make me a great installer unless I am shown how and why the job needs to be done.
Shortcuts and technique are a huge part of an installation as well as getting a job done efficiently. At one point I owned my own business back in the heyday of selling monitoring contracts. Either installing my own systems or subcontracting systems we typically did two to three basic installations a day and these were mostly hardwired installations. Wireless was much more expensive to add to a system unlike now. We got to the point where we could knock out 3 hard wired jobs a day per person and not have an inch of wire showing other than in the attic. Hard work for sure but a job well done and high customer satisfaction. Unfortunately not good for the back by the way.
A good friend of mine works for one of the major security system manufacturers and sent out a survey to his vendors a while back and asked how long a typical wireless system takes and how many they could do in a week. On average they could do two to three a day. He couldn't believe how they responded. He told them I used to work with a tech that did three hardwired systems in a day, not wireless. Even with wireless installations you still need good skills to make the installation presentable and not just thrown together with double-sided tape and bubble gum. This just reiterates my point in that skilled technicians are lacking in our industry today. Actually not just our but many others.
I do mainly large commercial government work now but in talking to electrician, plumbers, carpenters and such they all say the same thing. In this day and age whether it be residential, commercial, industrial or government we don't take the time to train new technicians properly. One reason being is that there isn't enough money typically in a job to properly train someone and also the fact that there is such a technician shortage we don't have time to train a new technician properly. It goes like this: Oh you have computer skills and can operate a screwdriver. Here is a box of parts and a van, go figure it out. New technicians typically get thrown to the wolves.
Another issue is we don't due much quality assurance of our technicians work anymore because the project managers are having to spend too much time in the field to finish up the loose ends. I always liked someone coming and checking on my work. Many times, especially early on, I would learn something from mistakes I had made or was shown a better way to do it.
One more thing is that with the aging of skilled and qualified technicians they typically don't want to share their knowledge. Now some of that is attributed to not wanting a younger tech to push them out of a job and some of it they don't have the patience to deal with the younger generation.
I have always tried to part as much knowledge as possible. If someone can do it better than me so be it.
Sorry if I went a bit off topic from the original post. ADT if actually the cause of hurry up and get the install done. They made the incentive of selling an alarm system contract to appealing in the late nineties that our industry had a black eye for a long time due to trunk slammers.