You have likely experienced it: You receive job bids, you have deadlines, and yet your number of crewmen is just not the same as it was before. In electrical, plumbing, HVAC, and other trades, the contracting industry is experiencing a labour shortage, putting pressure on schedules, profit margins, and employee morale.
As long as you are dealing with a team, sending out crews, or dealing with a trade-contracting business, this is not mere theory; it is survival.
Let’s dig in.
The labour shortage: what’s the situation and what’s driving it
This is the fact: in construction and the trades, skilled labour is becoming increasingly difficult to retain. A large number of contractors have rejected projects simply because they had not found the right people they required. And although this is international, the same is true in the UK and other similar markets.
What’s driving this?
- An ageing workforce and not enough young entrants.
- Post-pandemic labour shifts
- Higher demand across residential, infrastructure and commercial sectors.
- The cost of labour is rising (overtime, agency workers), and with fewer people, downtime, idleness, or skill mismatches become more visible.
Can software tools improve productivity enough to offset staff gaps?
Software isn’t magic. It won’t create new hands. However, when leveraged properly, it can significantly increase productivity when your manpower is limited; productivity is your lever.
Which software tools are applicable?
- Software in use is categorised into a few types, which are more relevant in trades and contracting business:
- Workforce management/resource planning tools – systems that allow one to know who is available, what skills they have, and allocate them effectively to jobs.
- Field-service/contractor-specific platforms- mobile job sheets, scheduling, dispatch, time and materials tracking in the field. As a matter of fact, several companies are implementing powerful systems with specialised electrical contractor software to streamline field work, scheduling, job tracking, and reduce labour-intensive administrative tasks.
- Project management/collaboration tools provide approximately real-time office-site communication, reduced mismatches, and reduced reworks.
Why trades and contracting firms stand to gain, and what to watch
When you are specialised in trades (electrical, HVAC, plumbing, AV installations), then you are uniquely placed to enjoy the benefits of software tools, and you are also exposed to certain dangers of switching to them.
Why do you gain?
- Work in the trades is very mobile: crews change jobs, materials are moved, and onsite data is constantly changing. The mobile solution assists those who are not in fixed locations.
- In the case of smaller jobs in particular ( consider service calls, maintenance, installations), the overhead of paper/travel/delays consumes margins; the advantage of efficiency is great.
- As the labour shortage continues to put more pressure on such trades, the crew is valuable. Each crew’s productivity saves money and ensures margins.
What to watch?
- Implementation drop-off: This is a common failure for many solutions, as they are not adopted by field teams. When the crew is not cooperative, the equipment becomes shelfware.
- Training and change management are important: You can acquire the tool, but you must manage the process to ensure it is delivered effectively.
- Initial investment: Rollout time and cost to rollout- During the rollout, you might experience productivity dips.
- Overstrusting: Software can assist in most areas, yet you cannot do without the professional tradesman. You cannot email the wall to life.
- Discipline of the data: Software just displays what you are measuring- unless you measure good data, you will not get good insights.
Strategies that companies should take into practical use of software
The following roadmap can be used, provided you are serious about addressing the shortage through technology.
- Audit your workflow & identify bottlenecks
- Select the right tool(s) aligned to your trade & needs
- Pilot implementation
- Training and change management
- Measure & track results
- Scale and integrate
Conclusion
As a trade business owner or operations manager, you need to look at your workflow right now: What is slowing you down? Will you fly something that relieves your crews? Since in the narrow world of labour shortage, time is of the essence, and you can be good only when you are doing so.