By Sue White
Times are changing for Australian tradies. Within a decade, thousands of Baby Boomers running trade businesses will have hung up their workbooks, while their Gen X colleagues will be wrapping up their working lives.
According to the 2024 Future Tradie Report, this means that by 2033, 16 per cent of the current trade workforce will be “tools down”, and an overwhelming 75 per cent of our tradies will be Millennials and Gen Zs. These are generations influenced by technology, values, and better work-life balance than those who preceded – and trained – them.
Co-owner of Melbourne’s EvoBuilt, builder Robby Kruyer
In its survey of over 1000 Australian tradespeople, the Future Tradie Report found that many of the industry’s emerging leaders were now using business coaches.
Co-owner of Melbourne’s EvoBuilt, builder Robby Kruyer, is one of them. The former plasterer and carpenter says he’s always invested heavily in business coaching and personal development.
“I think anything that you would like to improve on, get a coach! I want to stay fit, so I have a fitness coach. I love golf, so I have a golf coach. I will always want to progress in business so it’s a no-brainer … get a business coach,” he says.
Kruyer’s approach also embraces a values and culture shift seen in many of today’s tradespeople.
“I never liked how anyone that I worked for always kept their cards close to their chest and made out like they were holding million-dollar secrets. The best thing you can possibly do in business is help the people around you level up and expand their knowledge,” he says.
There are also significant benefits in store for small businesses which cultivate a positive public presence on social media. It’s a real benefit in today’s tight labour market, as many of today’s tradies use social media as a tool for recruitment.
The Australian government has also recognised changes are needed to continue attracting tradespeople.
From July this year, it added more targeted support to help more apprentices finish their training. There’s also increased support for women in male-dominated trades, First Nations apprentices, and apprentices working in clean energy jobs.
Specialist services will begin offering mentoring services to apprentices (including pastoral care and career guidance). It’s a change in line with findings from the Future Trades Report 2024, which notes that “the new generation of leaders remembers their apprenticeships as unwelcoming and disrespectful. They want to create a better, more fulfilling experience for the generation coming up behind them”.
Kruyer, who is in business with his cousin, focuses on building sustainable homes – yet another industry trend. Over the years, technology has radically changed how they do business, while embracing automation has paid dividends.
“Let’s say you’re doing a small task once a week that takes half an hour. A lot of people will think that’s not worth improving or automating because it’s only 26 hours for the year. But if you sit down and spend six hours figuring out how automate it you now never have to do it again,” he says.
Tracking hours manually, both for invoicing and pay runs, is long gone.
“We have it automated to the point where team [members] clock into a specific category on their phone where it tracks the actual live cost against what was estimated. [This then] creates a separate time sheet that syncs with our accounting software to automate pays and give me a live dashboard across all of our projects,” says Kruyer.
For clients, 3D modelling helps price projects at the click of a button, taking the pain out of costing jobs.
“I think one of the hardest things about running a building company is estimating efficiently and accurately. It’s been quite a journey,” he says.
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