“Trades make up on average five percent of the country’s GDP,” says Emma Kaniuk, founder of Tradespeople, Aotearoa’s only online directory of women and gender-diverse people working in the trades industries. “It’s estimated that there’ll be 56,000 new jobs in construction by 2029, and with the high level of new housing projects, infrastructure, and people staying home and doing up their houses rather than travelling, it’s an industry crying out for more workers.”
Garry Fissenden, CEO of Skills Consulting Group, says that, with a shortage of apprentices across all industries, the more women that step up to the plate the better. “If you are only hiring from 50 percent of the population, then that skills shortage is much, much worse,” he says. “Research has shown that women apprentices are better at customer service, more reliable and easier on the equipment.”
However, though the trend is moving in the right direction—with the percentage of new female apprentices being twice as high as the percentage of all new apprentices—the overall numbers are still low. Only around 10 percent of people in the trades industry in New Zealand are female, with less than half of them on the tools.
Emma says that the lack of encouragement for women to enter into the industry is because of the misconception that they are seen as less capable than their male counterparts, “if they are seen at all”.
“When I talk to the builders listed on Tradespeople, strength capability isn’t really an issue,” she adds. “There are lots of technologies on site now, and also, if heavy lifting is needed, you just share the load. Probably the biggest thing is being work-fit, in terms of being on your feet all day, but that’s just time. Most of the work is about precision and craft. And that’s not gendered.”
Female plumbers are especially rare in New Zealand, with only 44 registered, while the number of women glaziers totals just eight. But, says Garry, there’s a promising pattern of clusters, for once a workplace has a female apprentice, then “they tend to add more”; and it’s clearly beneficial to a company’s client base too, with more “residential customers specifically asking for women”. Which is little wonder when examining the likes of a 2017 survey that eight in 10 Kiwi consumer purchasing decisions were influenced by women, yet they didn’t feel that tradies treated them as well as they did the men.
“Anecdotally this is an industry with ingrained attitudes which aren’t always welcoming, and it’s an industry built on networks, so it can feel very much a boys’ club,” says Emma. “On the flip side it is often women who are the lead customers — the ones managing household renovation projects and have typically found the industry dismissive or patronising.”
“The public reaction to Tradespeople had been overwhelmingly, and amazingly positive,” says Emma. “The demand is outstripping supply right now—which is its own kind of challenge!”
The Tradespeople boss beams that she receives weekly emails about the positive impact that the site has had on the lives of both the workers and customers, and of how it has inspired heaps of women and those from the rainbow community to start their own businesses as they now have a way of reaching an audience “who really wants to hire them”.
“Many customers have said it’s the first time they’ve felt safe hiring a tradie.”
Power To The Tradespeople!
“A couple of years back I had some work done on my home and I didn’t know any builders, so I used a directory, and hired a number of tradies,” says Emma. “I had a mixed experience. Some were really helpful people, while others were intimidating and aggressive. I really reflected on that and thought about how others might have found this experience. It’s in your home, and it’s invariably people you don’t know. I realised many of my friends and wider network were on the lookout for recommendations of female tradespeople, but couldn’t find them.”
And so the foundations for Tradespeople, the only company of its kind in New Zealand, were laid. The online directory is one of a collective of organisations focused on changing the narrative of these male-dominated industries.
“Every time someone sees themselves represented, it means they are part of the national story and that they matter and are valued, and that people like them can be part of that, too,” says Emma. “When people from different genders or backgrounds are seen as the norm within the trades and not the token, we’ll start seeing more diverse, safer, healthier industries.”
Tradespeople’s code of care, both for both tradies and people using the site, includes the stipulations such as respecting people’s homes, providing clear written quotes, , paying promptly, and respecting tradies’ — especially women’s — profession and expertise.
Not from a trade background, Emma never expected to be a champion of this kind of change—but she’s sure glad it’s begun.
“I went into it solving a need. I think, like most things, if you realised where something is going to lead you, you might not do it! I think being an outsider is exactly what is needed to create meaningful, transformative change. Tradespeople is for everyone: for people who want a choice when hiring tradies, and for those who currently aren’t aware of these people and their companies, and the services they provide.”
