Anyone who knows me well would say that I’m a sucker for a good survey. Especially when it comes to industry surveys and statistics, I’m guilty as charged. I often spend way too much time going down rabbit holes trying to interpret the latest niche data (it could be any topic, really — from electrical safety, renewables, and technology trends to market analysis, labor shortage stats, or construction unemployment figures) in hopes it will spark a story or uncover something useful for EC&M readers. Oftentimes, this leads to a dead end, but occasionally I run across a hidden gem worthy of further investigation. In the consumer world, I admit I even tend to fall for those super gimmicky surveys that play on our extreme high and low emotions. You know the ones — the 10 worst places to live in America, the 10 most rewarding jobs young people should pursue right now, five things you must do to ensure financial success, the worst places to retire. The list goes on and on, and I am almost always guilty of clicking on the bait.
A new survey recently crossed my inbox from CraftJack that immediately caught my attention, probably due to its catchy title: “The Hardest Contractor Jobs in America.” There was no way I wasn’t clicking on that one because let’s be honest … “electrical” contractors had to be the toughest, right? That’s obvious, at least in my mind. Although the premise seemed simple and straightforward, upon further examination, I discovered the results were much more telling than the title suggested because the findings were presented not only from a contractor’s perspective, but also from a consumer’s point of view. The key here is perception. How do contractors view themselves, and what do consumers perceive about certain trades as compared to others? In November 2019, CraftJack surveyed 1,609 contractors and 652 consumers with the goal of determining what type of work was most physically grueling and what trade was the most difficult to learn and master. When it comes to which work was most physically demanding, consumers and contractors were in consensus — roofing and demolition trades topped the list. Electrical came in at 5% with contractor respondents and 3% with consumers. When asked what type of work was most difficult to master (out of 32 different trades), the two groups of respondents (the average age of which was 43 years old) were in agreement again — electrical work was the hardest to master, followed by carpentry, HVAC, and cabinets/countertops. On this question, consumers actually rated electrical contractors higher (38%) than they rated themselves (23%). Looking further into the survey results, I found it interesting to note that the answers to certain questions definitely came down to what audience was being asked. For example, certain contractors identify their own specialty as the most demanding while others downplay the difficulty factor when it comes to self-evaluation. For more details, analysis, and charts that reveal specific trends, read the original report at https://bit.ly/35Qv0bN.
This survey couldn’t help but make me think of EC&M’s recent “2019 Electrical Salary Survey and Career Report,” which was conducted in August 2019 with results published in our October issue. Available at https://bit.ly/2NouLOD, this survey not only presented the most current salary, bonus, and employment statistics, but it also took a deeper look into exactly what keeps electrical professionals up at night — another query that relied heavily on the perception factor. While work-life balance concerns, staffing issues, and the ability to stay on top of emerging standards and technologies seem to be hot button issues, see what other issues are top of mind for most of our readers.
