[Swizec]

> key to the building's stability and durability

Key to the building’s stability and durability are the steel reinforced cement corners and support columns. The bricks in between, especially for internal walls, are just dividers. You could build them out of paper and the building would be just fine.

Afaik you need the reinforced concrete part of construction for even small family homes for earthquake safety. Bricks don’t do well under sheering forces.

[ajb]

Not everywhere has (large) earthquakes. The UK has centuries old buildings solely made of bricks.

[ddmf]

I'm sure I saw an article somewhere of a bricklayer doing 60 hour weeks but making well over £125K

[mytailorisrich]

As I wrote, this is a skilled job and they are apparently in very short supply here in the UK, where most houses are made entirely of bricks and even many taller buildings use a lot of them... so they can make a good living, indeed. Maybe not as high as you suggest but pretty good.

Actually, many skilled trades in the UK can make 50-60k a year, bearing in mind that these are technical qualifications, no university involved (whereas the system pushes everyone towards uni)