There has been a massive shortage of skilled trade workers across the UK, leaving the demand for trade jobs incredibly high. Brits have spent £110bn on home improvements during the coronavirus pandemic, standing at £2,000 per person for home renovations – creating a high demand for tradespeople with electrical and construction skills.
With this in mind the business comparison experts at Bionic have created a UK Trade Index to help support the growing local trade economy – and electricians rank in the top five paid trades in the UK.
The Bionic trade index looked at 10 of the highest populated cities in the UK outside of London, to find the trade jobs available and the average salary per trade in each city. London was omitted from the index to avoid skewing the results because of the sheer size and density of the capital’s population.
Building and construction roles receive the highest average annual salary for trades in the UK – with electricians ranking up to £35,141
| Ranking | Job Role | City | Salary |
| 1 | Bricklayers | Bristol | £38,775 |
| 2 | Plasterer | Birmingham | £37,765 |
| 3 | Carpenter | Leicester | £36,582 |
| 4 | Handyman | Bristol | £35,451 |
| 5 | Electrician | Glasgow | £35,141 |
| 6 | Mechanic | Bristol | £34,739 |
| 7 | Plumbing | Coventry | £33,993 |
| 8 | Painter & Decorator | Coventry | £33,859 |
| 9 | Builder | Bristol | £31,300 |
| 10 | Scaffolder | Bristol | £31,300 |
Electricians rank in fifth place with an average salary of £35,141 with the highest salary being in Glasgow. There are currently a whopping 2,603 jobs available for electricians in the UK and the highest available jobs in Birmingham, with 374 electricians needed! Electricians in particular are in high demand, from domestic to maintenance electricians that make sure all technology and systems run smoothly.
Building and construction trades have the highest number of trade job vacancies, with the highest volumes of these being in Birmingham (2,825). However, Bristol offers the highest average paid salaries for all construction trades analysed, sitting at £33,266.
Despite a growing need and availability for roles in building and construction, there is still a substantial gender pay gap of up to £18,250, between men and women.
Chief Customer Officer, Glyn Britton, at Bionic, has rounded up five top tips into what businesses can do to bridge this gender pay gap:
“While there is no quick fix to the gender pay gap – businesses can look to actioning the below top five tips to make sure they’re offering equal opportunities, appropriate maternity and paternity support”
- Include multiple women in shortlists for recruitment and promotions
When putting together a candidate shortlist of qualified applicants for advertised roles, make sure that more than one woman is included with this shortlist. It also helps if your advertisement is promoted on platforms that are used by a high percentage of both women and men. - Use structured interviews
Use structured interviews when recruiting for new starters and for promotions, as this can help rule out unfair practices and unconscious bias that can influence the process. For example, ask the same questions of all candidates and mark the responses with a pre-specified format. - Map out salary ranges against each job title
Some women can be hesitant about negotiating their pay as they don’t know what their salary potential is when starting a job. So employers should show salary bands against each job description so women can visualise potential salary earnings. - Offer shared parental leave
When women have children, the gender pay gap widens massively. Employers can help by sharing parental leave to reduce this pay gap. Shared parental leave means both parents can share up to 50 weeks of leave and 37 weeks of pay. - Be open about the process and the criteria for decision making process behind a jobs and promotions
Be transparent about pay and promotions so employees know what is involved and others can then review decisions made in the workplace. This can help reduce the gender pay gap and make promotions and pay as fair as possible.
