Unshackling the stereotype of the tradie

What springs to mind when you think ‘tradie’? Some of us default to the stereotype - blokes, high-vis, utes, hard work, banter, afternoon beers and smokos. Not a particularly flattering description, and not one that captures the actual truth about tradies.  

I joined hipages in 2017, which is when I really began to appreciate the trade sector as a profession. Prior to that, I was likely as guilty as anyone in reverting to stereotypes. What I’ve learnt in the past four years, is that being a tradie is as much about building business skills and customer management as it is about the actual trade itself.  

Tradies are a professional cohort of highly skilled men and women running businesses, leading teams, managing finances and harnessing technology, and that’s before we even touch on their specialist trade skills.  And more than that, I strongly believe that tradies are the backbone of our economy, something my colleague Roby Sharon-Zipser, CEO and Co-Founder of hipages, recently commented on in his post on our nation’s COVID-19 recovery.

The home renovation sector is booming, with job postings on the hipages’ platform for home extensions and additions up an average of 111% across the year to March 2021. In March we also saw the highest volume of enquiry in three years from tradies wanting to join the hipages platform. So, whether a tradie aspires to be on the tools as the very best plumber in their area, or whether it’s the business side of things that really gets the tradie buzzing, the opportunities are plentiful for a long, bright and enriching career.  

Why then are we hearing of talent shortages in the trade sector, with extended wait times for consumers to secure a tradie for their home improvement projects?  At hipages, we’ve seen consumer demand for trade services soar over the past 12 months – luckily we have more than 34,000 tradies on our platform to keep pace with demand.

So where is this next generation of tradies to meet this growing demand? Is this shortage being compounded by the outdated stereotype that being a tradie isn’t a profession?  And how as an industry can we better demonstrate the huge opportunity for more young people, or later stage career shifters, to consider becoming a tradie?

It’s a challenge, and something that we’re passionate about at hipages. We recently celebrated the country’s top 30 tradies under 30 in partnership with Pedestrian.TV, and while as a nation we may still be experiencing a tradie shortage, the talented men and women representing this next generation of tradie are an inspirational group truly demonstrating the trade sector as a profession.

If these men and women are an indication of our pipeline of talent, the future of the tradie sector is in good hands (as are our home renovations!).

#hipages #tradies #careers #talent #30under30 #homerenovation #property