Job satisfaction in the skilled trades remains high, with 83% of tradespeople satisfied in their choice of work, according to B2C platform Angi's second annual Skilled Trades in America Report. However, skilled trades still face a worsening labor shortage, with more than three-quarters of tradespeople, 77%, viewing it as a problem that has worsened over the last year.

“On one side, you have disengaged workers leaving their jobs and on the other you have skilled home tradespeople saying they are happy because they find meaning and value in their work, making it a unique and opportune time to attract new talent to these careers, while also improving employee engagement across the country,” said Oisin Hanrahan, CEO of Angi.

Since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, demand for home services has steadily increased and the skilled trades have been experiencing a chronic labor shortage. And Angi’s report found the perception among tradespeople is that the shortage continues to worsen. Sixty-eight percent of tradespeople have struggled to hire skilled workers and more than one-third, 35%, are slightly or extremely understaffed. Over half of tradespeople, 52%, say a lack of available workers is stunting their growth and 68% say they could grow their business if they could find more available workers.

In addition, 27% of skilled trade workers are within 10 years of the social security retirement age of 62.

Diversifying recruitment efforts as a key part of the solution to overcoming the labor shortage, according to the report. While less than 3% each of electricians, plumbers and overall construction supervisors are female, nearly nine out of 10 tradespeople believe making the trades more welcoming to women would have a modest or major impact on getting more people involved in the trades and more than half, 54%, agree that more women would join the trades if there was a clearer career path for them.

“In addition to providing engagement for the disengaged is the opportunity to diversify the skilled home trades with minorities that have been traditionally underrepresented in the industry,” Hanrahan added. “By taking a fresh look at how and who the skilled trades are recruiting, there is a great opportunity to help people find meaningful work while also starting to tackle what has become a chronic labor shortage.”

The report was compiled based on Angi analysis of American Community Survey Public Use Microdata and two surveys of 2,400 skilled tradespeople conducted between Aug. 4 and Aug.17. Each survey had 1,200 participants.