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ACROSS THE TRADES Winter 2022
WE WANT YOU: TRADIE BOOM
LEADS TO RISE IN JOBS
WITH THE PANDEMIC (HOPEFULLY) FADING AWAY, AUSTRALIA AND ITS ECONOMY ARE GETTING BACK ON TRACK.
SEAN CARROLL
WRITES ABOUT WHAT THE RAPID RISE IN TRADIE JOBS IN THE PAST 12 MONTHS MEANS FOR
INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS.
T
radie gigs have seen a huge
uptick in the past 12 months.
Fergus, a cloud-based platform
that aims to help small-to-mid-sized
trades and service businesses manage
their operations end-to-end, says that
trade jobs have increased by 8% on the
platform and the increase is in line with
the end of lockdowns across the country
and the renovation boom.
“The need for tradies is solid, and
many construction companies are
expanding their apprenticeship
programs to respond to the increase in
demand,” Fergus chief executive Dan
Pollard says.
“Part of the reason we’re seeing this
scenario is that the borders have been
closed for almost two years, and we’ve
had a decline in immigration. But it’s
also true that Australia will need to
increase its capacity to train more
people, even once the borders open.”
Dan says that companies should
make sure they’re taking a long-term
approach to their businesses during this
time of high demand. While the market
has its ups and downs, great businesses
are always in need and by delivering an
appropriately priced, quality product,
trade companies can carry a short-term
win into longer-term success.
On top of consistency, businesses
must keep up their staff figures.
“Tradies should always have a roster
of apprentices in development to
minimise disruption if and when staff
numbers start to thin,” Dan adds.
“Tradies should also investigate
whether they’re eligible for any grants
to assist with subsidising apprentice
wages. For example, the Australian
government introduced the Boosting
Apprenticeship Commencements
(BAC) wage subsidy scheme, which
compensates businesses training
apprentices by up to 50% of their wages
for 12 months.”
The BAC subsidy was created as a
post-COVID stimulus, aimed at getting a
strong pipeline of skilled workers in the
country to support sustained economic
recovery, well past a post-lockdown
boom.
Another tool for tradies trying to
make the most of the increase in work
is appropriate time management
practises. Instead of spending so much
time in the office running the books,
Fergus recommends outsourcing as
many back-office activities as possible,
even automating them with technology.
“The right technology platform has
the power to transform how a tradie
runs their business altogether,” Dan
explains.
“While technology won’t solve all
problems, it should make it easier for
tradies to do their job when integrated
correctly. We’d recommend taking stock
of your current platforms, culling what
you don’t need and investing in what you
do need.”
The boom in tradies jobs doesn’t
appear to be subsiding any time soon.
Australia looks like it’s on the other end
of lockdowns, on the other end of the
pandemic and powering through. There
is a seemingly endless number of jobs
out in the industry today and with home
owners continually investing inside,
there’s plenty of work to chase.
“Tradie businesses either boom
or bust in periods like this. Be the
tradie who booms and shore up your
workforce, outsource whatever keeps
you off the tools and quoting more jobs,
lean on technology to make day-to-
day operations quicker, easier and as
stress-free as possible,” Dan concludes.
“If you do all of this, you’ve got the
potential to turn 2022 into one of the
best years yet.”
BUSINESS