A tradesman has voiced his frustration over the reluctance of Generation Z to engage in manual labor, coinciding with the retirement of Generation X, which is leaving significant gaps in the workforce.
Steven Sousamlis, who runs Jim’s Bathrooms and Resurfacing in Sydney, pointed fingers at young Australians for the current shortage of trade workers across the nation.
According to Sousamlis, many tradespeople feel “compelled” to retire in their 60s due to the physical demands that their bodies can no longer handle, even if they wish to continue working.
Research from Master Builders Australia reveals the construction industry requires an additional 130,000 workers to meet the government’s goal of constructing 1.2 million new homes by 2029.
Despite this demand, the National Centre for Vocational Education Research reported a 7.3 percent decline in trade apprenticeships in Australia during the last financial year.
Sousamlis expressed that the younger generation entering the workforce is increasingly drawn to office roles, which offer better earnings and the potential for longer careers.
‘A lot of people are moving away from construction; they don’t want to work hard, and they make enough money at an office job,’ Mr Sousamlis told News.com.au.
‘The gap between what a licensed tradie is getting paid versus an office worker used to be a substantial gap but now… all the other professions have caught up. For $100,000 why wouldn’t I just go sit at a desk?’
Steven Sousamlis (above), a Sydney tradie, warned Australian trades are in massive trouble with Gen X retiring and less Gen Z workers interested in physical labour
Mr Sousamlis attributed the lull in apprentices to an increase in office salaries
Monash University found 70 per cent of Australian teenagers aged between 15 and 19 intended to go to university rather than learn a trade.
Apprenticeships Are Us LTD reported an incredible 60 per cent of automotive apprentices were quitting before finishing their apprenticeships.
Information from job platform SEEK appears to up Mr Sousamlis’ claim that there’s no longer a major financial incentive for young workers to choose a trade.
The average salary for a builder in Australia, according to SEEK, was between $85,000 and $105,000 while the average salary for an executive assistant, a typical office job, was $90,000 to $110,000.
Mr Sousamlis claimed the lull of available tradies is already becoming apparent with businesses often struggling to send workers out for quotes.
‘When I quote jobs, clients will always tell me they often couldn’t get someone out to come and even quote the job and thank me for coming,’ he said.
‘I could never understand it, but for someone to not quote something, it just means they think the project is too small and there is not enough money in it.’
Mr Sousamlis’ concerns are an echo of those shared by carpenter Josh Alcorn who in June warned many businesses can’t hire the few young Australians interested in apprenticeships because they’re ‘are too expensive to hire’.
Mr Sousamlis highlighted many tradies are forced to retire in their.60s, while office workers can stay in their jobs longer
‘People love to talk about the trade shortage, but no one’s talking about why,’ Mr Alcorn said in a video.
‘From my experience, there are two big reasons: apprentices are too expensive to hire and young people have other ways of making money these days.’
As the owner of a business, Mr Alcorn said there were several disadvantages to hiring apprentice tradies.
‘I’ve crunched the numbers and when you factor in annual leave, TAFE days, sick leave, public holidays, RDOs, rain days – a first-year apprentice ends up costing you the same as what it would to have a subby (subcontractor) for $50 an hour,’ he said.
‘That doesn’t include overheads, insurance, payroll, all that other s***.
‘So as a boss, you’ve got two options. You can either take on an apprentice who doesn’t know anything or a subby who’s got a car, tools and can work unsupervised.
‘From a pure financial perspective, what would you do?’
With no financial incentive for business owners to hire apprentices, the size of the next generation of tradies could be drastically smaller.
Josh Alcorn (above), the owner of a luxury cabin building business in Wollongong, in June claimed fewer apprentices are being hired because they’re ‘too expensive’
‘Obviously, I did my time as an apprentice and I believe in training the next generation, but I can see why people aren’t hiring apprentices like they used to,’ Mr Alcorn said.
‘Some people will tell you it’s because they don’t make them like they used to.
‘Maybe they’re right, but I’m sure there are some young guns out there who won’t get a shot because it just costs too much to hire them.
‘Until that changes, we’ll continue to hear them talk about how the trades are dying.’
