Women in Trades: New Research Shows 125% Growth in Demand for Female Painters & Decorators
The trades sector and construction industry has traditionally been almost entirely male- dominated, but things are beginning to change.
My Local Toolbox recently carried out some research by analysing online search trends, government data and conducting their own research to gauge consumer sentiment around the growing demand for tradeswomen.
What’s the current landscape for tradeswomen?
Well, only 4% of the overall trades industry consists of women. Gardeners & landscapers and painters & decorators are the trades with the highest representation of women but it is still only 4% of the painters & decorators industry that is female.
The number of homeowners searching for female painters & decorators is rising
However, there is a growing demand for tradeswomen, and in particular for female painters and decorators. When analysing google search terms, the number of homeowners searching specifically for female painters and decorators has increased significantly over the past year. For example, the google search query ‘lady painter and decorator near me’ is up 125% year on year.
What’s the view of homeowners?
My Local Toolbox also conducted their own survey of 348 homeowners that have used the platform and found that hiring a tradeswoman is becoming more common, with 26% of respondents indicating that they have hired a tradeswoman recently. The perception of trust for tradeswomen is also very high – in fact 46% of homeowners view them as more trustworthy. There was also a segment of homeowners who would prefer to hire a tradeswoman (11%), and almost all (96%) of the respondents indicated that they’d be happy to hire a tradeswoman.
View from a female painter & decorator
To gain some insight into a tradeswoman’s experience working in a predominantly male industry, My Local Toolbox interviewed Annette Taylor, who runs Eliza Tay Lady Decorators in Plymouth. When asked what challenges she has faced being a painter and decorator, Annette said, “Not many really, our customers love us, and always say they prefer the female trades as we are much quieter, tidier, and more fun to have around!”. She is also a big advocate for promoting the trade to females and makes sure to have at least one apprentice on her team – she has had a total of 11 over the 8 years of running the business.
Expert opinion
Adam Clark, founder of My Local Toolbox said “It’s evident from our recent research regarding the growing demand for female tradespeople that this trend is increasing. Consumers are becoming more aware that hiring a female tradesperson is a more accessible option, as a result over the coming years we expect to see the volume of consumers searching online specifically for a female painter & decorator to continue to increase”.
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