Half of young tradespeople come from a university background, with eighty per cent having A-Levels or equivalent, according to research by insurance firm AXA, which claims that “a new generation of tradesmen and women is arising.”
The study, which reveals that fifteen per cent of younger workers now enter the trades after previously working in a corporate or professional role, also argues that younger people are bringing “a greater diversity of backgrounds and talents to the building trade.”
Only two per cent of the younger demographic have no formal qualifications, compared to 18 per cent of older tradesmen, while the amount of youngsters with a formal apprenticeship behind them has almost doubled, while sixty per cent of those aged 45 or over followed the more “popular image” according to AXA, which involves “working on the job and then cementing that experience later on with a vocational qualification.”
One in five tradespeople now say their trade was a hobby before it became their work, with half stating that they started their own business because they had an innovation or original idea, while two per cent invented something in the process.
Darrell Sansom, Managing Director, AXA Business Insurance, believes that the firm’s study offers some hope that the trades offer a very attractive option to young people, despite talk about an image problem in the building trades, and the industry’s wrestle with a skills shortage.
“There are few industries where you can be your own boss within a few years of starting out – and earn a better living than most graduate jobs offer. And far from being mundane, the work is often both creative and requires constant innovation,” he said.
“Tradesmen, though rarely credited with this, are often the glue that hold communities together and develop extraordinary relationships of trust with their customers.”
The survey also shows that eight in ten tradesmen surveyed regularly do work for free for vulnerable customers, with two thirds saying they often work extra hours unpaid too, while sixty five per cent claim that they often get asked for advice unrelated to their work, with one in ten saying they’ve even supported a customer through a personal crisis, which AXA argue is in direct contradiction of the ‘cowboy builder’ stereotype and shows that most tradesmen enjoy a strong emotional bond with their local communities.
The number of women entering the trades remains low, accounting for just one in ten, a figure that hasn’t changed since the late 90’s, while those who do join quote the ‘tradesman lifestyle’ as the top draw, citing independence, choice of jobs and a good work-family balance as benefits.
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