REVEALED: Builders are the most in demand trade across the UK and rank in the top ten paid trades

There has been a massive shortage of skilled trade workers across the UK, leaving the demand for trade jobs incredibly high.  Brits have spent £110 billion on home improvements during the coronavirus pandemic, standing at £2,000 per person for home renovations  – creating a high demand for tradespeople with building and construction skills. 

With this in mind the business comparison experts at Bionic have created a UK Trade Index to help support the growing local trade economy – and builders are the most in demand!

The Bionic trade index looked at 10 of the highest populated cities in the UK outside of London, to find the trade jobs available and the average salary per trade in each city. London was omitted from the index to avoid skewing the results because of the sheer size and density of the capital’s population.

Building and construction roles receive the highest average annual salary for trades in the UK – with Builders ranking up to £31,300

Building and construction trades have the highest number of trade job vacancies, with the highest volumes of these being in Birmingham (2,825). However, Bristol offers the highest average paid salaries for all construction trades analysed, sitting at £33,266.

Builders rank in ninth place with an average salary of £31,300 with the highest salary being in Bristol. Builders in particular are in high demand as statistics show the number of completed homes hit nearly 50,000 last quarter, which is the highest in over 20 years. 

Despite a growing need and availability for roles in building and construction, there is still a substantial gender pay gap of up to £18,250, between men and women. 

Chief Customer Officer, Glyn Britton, at Bionic, has rounded up five top tips into what businesses can do to bridge this gender pay gap

“While there is no quick fix to the gender pay gap – businesses can look to actioning the below top 5 tips to make sure they’re offering equal opportunities, appropriate maternity and paternity support”

1. Include multiple women in shortlists for recruitment and promotions
   When putting together a candidate shortlist of qualified applicants for advertised roles, make sure that more than one woman is included with this shortlist. It also helps if your advertisement is promoted on platforms that are used by a high percentage of both women and men.
2. Use structured interviews
   Use structured interviews when recruiting for new starters and for promotions, as this can help rule out unfair practices and unconscious bias that can influence the process. For example, ask the same questions of all candidates and mark the responses with a pre-specified format.
3. Map out salary ranges against each job title
   Some women can be hesitant about negotiating their pay as they don’t know what their salary potential is when starting a job. So employers should show salary bands against each job description so women can visualise potential salary earnings.
4. Offer shared parental leave
   When women have children, the gender pay gap widens massively. Employers can help by sharing parental leave to reduce this pay gap. Shared parental leave means both parents can share up to 50 weeks of leave and 37 weeks of pay.
5. Be open about the process and the criteria for decision making process behind a jobs and promotions
   Be transparent about pay and promotions so employees know what is involved and others can then review decisions made in the workplace. This can help reduce the gender pay gap and make promotions and pay as fair as possible.

The top 5 trade jobs in the UK with the biggest supply shortage 

Building and construction roles are currently the most sought after by companies looking to hire staff. This comes as no surprise given the increase in home renovations throughout the past two years. There are around 18,000 jobs up for grabs for skilled tradespeople in this industry.

You can read the full report here.