Which Trades Have It Easiest?

Rhino recently sent out a survey to 512 tradespeople, which included a question so loaded that it should have come with its own manual safety switch. No, we didn’t ask the colour of their underwear. Rhino loves to get to know our customers, but not like that.

The question we asked was, “Which trades have it easiest?”

This type of question can really get tempers flaring – which is why we asked it from behind our computer screens. Rhinos are known for their bravery and ability to charge headlong into issues, but on this occasion, we played it safe. To cool things off, we also asked a follow-up question, “Which trades do you think have it hardest?”

Let’s break down the results.

Electricians

41.2% of the tradespeople we asked told us they think sparkies have it easiest when it comes to their work. That’s a significant majority, so let’s consider the reasons why this might be.

• The pay is generally good
• Sparkies are in high demand
• Often the work is indoors

But hold on a minute. There’s another side to this. Electricians may get paid well, (between £27,000 and £60,000 per year for a fully qualified electrician), but what about the training required? It takes up to four years’ study and practical training to qualify, then you need experience before you start getting decent jobs. There is no quick-and-dirty fast-track when you’ve got potentially deadly voltage at your fingertips.

But after you’ve qualified, it’s mostly old ladies making you cups of tea and biscuits while you change their light bulb for £100, right?

Wrong – working as an electrician can mean long hours, physically demanding work (crouching or bending into awkward angles to access those hard-to-reach switches), not to mention the significant physical risk involved when working with power distribution.

Plumbing & Heating

Of the 512 tradespeople we asked, 80 (15.6%) felt that plumbing and heating was the easiest gig. We scratched our heads over this one. Try telling that to the tradesperson who’s just turned up at a property with a leaking radiator valve and a flooded living room – only to discover the boiler hasn’t been serviced since Barry was on EastEnders and the elderly, vulnerable homeowner wants to pay them in shortbread.

However, we came up with some possible reasons as to why some folks might think it’s a piece of cake:

• Plumbers and heating engineers are in high demand
• Good rates for emergency callouts
• Work is often indoors

Carpenter

Of the people we asked, 14.6% thought that being a carpenter seemed like a stroll down easy street. To play the devil’s advocate, we thought they might be thinking of the following aspects of the role:

• Relatively easy to train as a carpenter (compared to electricians and heating engineers)
• You don’t need to get your hands too dirty (of course, this is relative, but compared to a plumber for example, you’re less likely to find yourself elbow-deep in human waste).
• It’s safer than direct gas or electrical work

Carpentry, however, is not without its downsides. All that lifting, sawing and hammering can make for back-breaking work, so it’s definitely not a soft option. You’re wielding power tools, which obviously come with dangers, and the working conditions aren’t always confined to a cosy kitchen. Construction sites can be noisy, unfinished properties can be freezing, and there’s plenty of tight spaces to navigate.

Painter & Decorator

Apparently, only 9% of the people we asked felt that painting and decorating work was the easiest trade. This means that for this particular question, more people thought that electricians, plumbing & heating engineers and carpenters had it easier.

We think we might know why this might be. Because although painting and decorating is relatively straightforward compared to working with electricals or pressurised systems, the nature of the trade means that the market is open to unqualified and untrained ‘have-a-go’ contractors who will do the job for a low, low price. They’ll do it terribly, but the homeowner won’t know that until afterwards, by which time the cash-in-hander has disappeared into the sunset.

This makes it harder for skilled painting and decorating professionals to get a fair price for their work. Plus, lots of homeowners begrudge paying for professional painting as they often (incorrectly) think they could do just as good a job themselves.

Builder

No real suprises here, but only 7% of people thought builders had it easy.

You don’t go into the building trade for an easy life. Builders are the unofficial kings of manual labour – lifting heavy materials, working outside in all weathers and risking falls and tool accidents every day. Still, a few tradesmen did think those in the building trade had it easiest. Maybe this was because there are comparatively fewer formal qualifications and training required compared to trades like electricians and heating and gas engineers. In fact, we reckon that the anonymous 36 people who answered that builders had it easy might have been electricians or gas safe engineers themselves!

What About The Hardest Trades?

We mentioned that we also asked, “Which trade do you think has it hardest?”

Let’s take quick look at the results to balance things out.

• Builder: 133 (25.98%)
• Plumbing & Heating: 219 (42.77%)
• Electrician: 72 (14.06%)
• Carpenter: 46 (8.98%)

People see other trades differently, which explains why the role of plumbing and heating engineer was voted both the second easiest and the second hardest trade. The results of the first survey were also skewed by the large number of respondents who thought that electricians had it easiest – a whopping 211 tradespeople thinking it was easiest! So, in fact, more people thought the plumbing and heating trade was hard than those who thought it was easy.

So, what did Rhino learn from this survey? It definitely shed some light onto what our customers thought about the different trade professions out there. From Rhino’s perspective, we reckon there are upsides and downsides to every trade. There is no single trade where tradespeople have it ‘easiest’ – or honestly, everyone would be doing it! People are all different, and it really is different strokes for different folks.

And with that, Rhino is going to back away from this hot topic (for now!).