The study, conducted by The Leadership Factor on behalf of IronmongeryDirect in November 2021, asked 500 UK tradespeople about their level of job satisfaction and found that 56% of them are happy with their careers, compared to just 37% across all industries, according to YouGov figures for the same period. 

Millennial tradespeople are the least likely to enjoy their job, however, with only 43% of them stating that they like their work, while those over the age of 65 have the greatest career satisfaction (69%). 

More men said they enjoy their job (60%) than women (50%), although women are more likely to be proud of their work (51% vs 45%). Overall nearly half (47%) of tradespeople are proud of the work they do, and around a third say they are happy with both their work-life balance (32%) and level of income (31%). 

Tradies were also asked exactly which parts of their work they find the most enjoyable. The most popular answer was interaction with customers (22%), while the ability to continually learn on the job also ranked highly (21%). 

The top five things tradespeople enjoy about their work are interacting with customers (22%), learning something new (21%), working outdoors (20%), job variety (20%), and seeing visible accomplishments each day (19%).  

When it comes to individual trades, bricklayers are the most likely tradespeople to say they enjoy their job (69%), but interestingly are also the least likely to feel proud of their work (19%). 

Electricians (63%) and plumbers (61%) also have really high job satisfaction, while at the other end of the table, building surveyors are the least likely tradespeople to enjoy their work (43%). 

Painter decorators and electricians are the most likely tradies to feel a sense of pride about their work (58%). 

Dominick Sandford, Managing Director at IronmongeryDirect and ElectricalDirect, said: “It’s great to see that so many tradespeople enjoy the work they do, and feel a real sense of accomplishment for their projects. 

“We’ve always believed that for many tradies, their work isn’t just a job, but truly a passion and a way of life, and that was echoed by the majority of tradespeople in our study.”