What will the tradie of the next few decades look like? How will trades change in response to changes in the broader society? The Future Tradie Report released earlier this year identifies five major trends as it maps out how business, government and industry bodies can support the new-look trades sector of the future.
Its authors describe it as a ‘forward looking’ document as it forecasts industry shifts in the next five years to help guide decision-making impacting the sector. To do that, researchers took a ‘deep dive’ into ‘tradie’ values, ambitions and hurdles using a survey of more than 1000 workers.
The findings released early in 2024 identify five main themes:
- Limitless ongoing learning using business coaches, specialist partners, AI and social networks to get ahead
- A values reboot to focus on excellence in resilience, integrity, adaptability, professionalism and dedication
- Sustainable building to save energy and reduce waste
- Tradie hospitality; building businesses based on a good reputation to create lifelong customers who value professionalism
- Creating a positive team culture that helps people grow, and sharing that culture on social media to attract the best workers
Nearly two million people in Australia work in the technicians and trades sector including electricians, carpenters and plumbers.
The report says that while the last 30 years have been good for trades, the future holds particular challenges. It says the collapse of building companies has jumped by “28 per cent year-on-year” and that even in a tough labour market more tradies drop out of apprenticeships each year than qualify.
It predicts that by 2033, 16 per cent of today’s trade workforce will have retired and 75 per cent of the workforce will be millennials and gen Zs. The latter are eager to build their own businesses, and open-minded and tech savvy as eager adopters of ChatGPT, job management systems and business monitoring software to increase efficiency.
The Future Tradie Report was created by Reece’s Breakthrough Innovation Group including brand and creative agency Trout, innovation consultancy Next, and venture capital fund SuperSeed, with collaboration from corporate partners including BlueScope, Dulux and CSR.
Report co-author and researcher, Reece Group senior innovation designer Olivia Ellis, says the work took nine months to complete during which there were a number of ‘Aha!’ moments when researchers pinpointed really pivotal shifts. Section 4 Tradie Hospitality was one, describing workers as polished service providers striving to convey a high level of professionalism, and showing up to jobs organised, efficient and well branded, breaking the mould of the old ‘scuffed-boots’ stereotype.
Another was Section 5 Magnetic Culture, centred on creating a positive team culture, helping people grow and using social media to share that culture as a way of attracting good staff.
Ellis explains, “Tradies are really feeling the pinch in terms of finding and retaining skilled labour and they are looking now at creating more human-centered businesses as a way of being able to find and retain talent.
“There’s a focus on how they’re treating their staff, how they’re training and nurturing young talent, how they’re considering themselves as business leaders so that they can bring those younger folks along for the ride.
“And this is breaking the mould too; there’s no longer this feeling of, ‘I had it really tough when I was an apprentice, so you have to have it tough too,’ like a rite of passage,” Ellis adds.
Sydney-based electrician and Energy Culture CEO Joe Edginton whose business focuses on sustainable and renewable energy, took part in the Future Tradies survey. Edginton is one of a number of innovative trade business owners whose responses inform the Future Tradie Report.
An early adopter of new technology for his business, Edginton is also strongly committed to maintaining a healthy internal culture as the cornerstone of delivering quality service. He says every quarter he sits down with his team to talk about what’s working in the business and what’s not and where the company can improve.
They then create a list of work-related and personal goals, and record them in an app, planning to review them three months later to see how far they have progressed towards achieving them.
He explains it not only helps his workers develop by being conscious of their work and life goals, but also encourages them to think about the quality of their lives and how they might improve on that a bit at a time.
“They also do a 14-day check-in—a little checklist that just pops up [on the app] about how they are doing onsite, any feedback and problems and so on.
“It’s been really good,” he says. “That’s how you get people working together. We put these goals together and they know you are not just there to take their time away and make money.”
