Tradies branded new ‘lawyers and doctors’ amid increasing pressure on Australia’s housing market

A property investor and entrepreneur has branded tradies the new “lawyers and doctors” in Australia as their pay packets continue to grow.

Tradies are so in demand across the entire country right now that they have essentially become the new “lawyers and doctors” — that’s according to entrepreneur and property expert Eric Machado.

Mr Machado made the claim during an episode of the Unemployable Media podcast. The podcast “prides itself on getting into the details of real business and investment success” by talking about these matters in the context of real life examples.

Both the hosts and guests share their own real life experience with things like real estate investments and wealth building.

In Mr Machado’s case he in an avid real estate investor and has a series of seven, eight and nine figure companies in Australia.

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His claim came as he was talking about the skyrocketing cost of housing in Australia, noting that the price of both materials and labour has increased.

“A lot of my friends, they’re in trades. Tradies are the new lawyers, the tradies are the new doctors. They’re getting paid big money and they are protected and I’m not against that,” he said.

“I’m not saying that we have to import cheap labour, but the reality is if that’s what they’re going to get paid and that’s what things cost, property prices will be affected by that.”

Speaking to news.com.au, Mr Machado said tradies are more in demand than they “have ever been”, with the country facing a shortage of skilled tradespeople.

He believes this is due to an ageing workforce, loss of trades to infrastructure projects and increase population growth that is putting serious pressure on housing.

Eric Machado recently declared that tradies were the new ‘lawyers and doctors’ in Australia. Picture: Supplied

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“Most young people are not wanting to jump into trades and want to earn more money digitally and this will continue to put pressure on these trades,” he said.

“I personally have friends that are lawyers, doctors and tradespeople and you would be surprised at the comparison in income.”

The investor said it was a “basic supply and demand problem”, adding: “I want to be very clear, I believe tradespeople deserve their fair share, as their skills and hard work are the backbone of our communities and economies.”

According to job search platform, SEEK, the average annual salary for a tradie jobs in Australia in 2024 ranges from $75,000 to $95,000.

However, the average salary jumps to over $110,000 for tradespeople working in mining, resources and energy.

But it is clear there is also the potential to earn a lot more, with Aussies being left stunned by some of the pay packets tradies are taking home.

In a recent interview with jobs app, Getahead, one Gold Coast man revealed he made around $178,000 a year working as a instrumental electrician in the oil and gas industry.

In another interview, a different man claimed he earned more than $200,000 a year operating cranes, while working anywhere from 40 to 70 hours per week.

Tradies have been leaving Aussie shocked by revealing their yearly salaries. Picture: iStock

Is the Australian Dream out of reach for young people?

In Mr Machado’s opinion, Australia has not kept pace with the demand for housing and, as a result, we have an “insufficient” amount of workforce to keep up with the rising pressure.

“This is due to immigration factors, divorces are on the rise and this means you need for housing to accommodate split families, slower development approvals, vacant properties that are just used as lock ups and sitting empty,” he said.

The entrepreneur believes that, in the current housing climate, young people earning average wages and who can’t get help from family will “find it difficult to get into the property market”.

“National median house price is approx $750,000.00 a 20 per cent deposit is $150,000.00. The average after tax income is approx $72,000.00 per year,” he pointed out.

“Even if you save about 10 per cent of your wage which is approx $7200.00 per year it would take you a little over 20 years to save the deposit.”

Buying a home seems like an increasingly unattainable dream for young people. Picture: iStock

However, the issue is that in 20 years time the house that the young person wanted isn’t going to be $750,000 anymore.

Mr Machado suggested a different path young people could take to get into the housing market is for them to “start collaborating together and buy property in syndicates”.

“Investors with higher borrowing capacity that have been in the property market for longer have the advantage from the previous year’s equity gain,” he said.

“Additionally, cashed up buyers or those with intergenerational wealth (family support) have a significant advantage. Again, this increases competition and makes it harder for young people to enter the market.”