How to Recruit Tradies During a Skills Shortage

Your ad has been up for three weeks and nobody good has called. Many of the best tradies already have a boss and a pay cheque.

Here is how to recruit tradies during a skills shortage.

How do I recruit tradies during a skills shortage?

Many good tradies already have jobs, so waiting for ads to work will fail. Go and find them. Write a short brief, make a clear ad, search for people who are not applying, reply fast and make a straight offer. Then plan the first 14 days so they stay.

This is the order that works. I've done twelve years on the tools and more than ten years in construction recruitment. I've placed over 1,000 trades, labour and management staff.

I'm not an agency, and I won't pretend there's a magic trick. But there is an order of steps that works better than hoping.

See if your hiring is ready for a tight market

The free hiring scorecard shows which steps to fix first when good tradies are hard to find.

Why is it so hard to find tradies in Australia right now?

Many builders say they cannot find or keep skilled workers. One survey by the Housing Industry Association (HIA) found 67% of its small business members had trouble hiring or keeping staff. HIA says a lack of skilled workers is holding projects back. Good tradies are hard to find.

Here are two facts from a named source.

The Housing Industry Association (HIA) surveyed its small business members. HIA says 67 per cent of respondents had trouble recruiting new staff or retaining existing workers (HIA, 16 February 2026).

HIA also says the country needs an estimated 83,000 more skilled workers across key trades. It says shortages in key residential trades, "particularly carpentry", are limiting building capacity (HIA, 9 February 2026).

HIA is an industry body, and these are its own numbers and its own view. What matters for you is this: when good people are scarce, how you hire matters more than ever.

Why "post an ad and wait" stops working

When there are lots of tradies looking, an ad can work fine. You post it and the replies come.

In a shortage, it turns around. Many good tradies are busy. They have a boss and a pay cheque. They don't scroll job boards at night.

So the replies you get are often from people who are out of work, and some of those are fine. But you miss the people who are doing well somewhere else.

There's another cost. An open role doesn't sit quietly. The crew works short, jobs slip, and you do the chasing. The longer it stays open, the more it costs.

You can work out what an empty role costs you with the free hiring cost check.

So the plan is to stop waiting.

How to recruit tradies during a skills shortage: six moves

Here are the six moves.

Move	What to do
1	Widen the nice-to-haves
2	Write an ad that leads with the site, pay and job length
3	Find people who are not applying
4	Be fast
5	Check the offer honestly
6	Make the first 14 days count

Move 1: widen the nice-to-haves

Many builders write a long list of must-haves. Ten years' experience. A certain brand of tools. Their own ute. A trade-specific ticket that you could get them. Every extra item shrinks the pool.

Do this in a five-minute brief. Make two lists.

• Must-haves. These are the things you won't budge on. A White Card is one. Skills the job really needs are another. Keep this list short.
• Nice-to-haves. Things that help but can be taught. Your systems, your paperwork, your way of doing things.

Ask yourself: "Would I turn down a great tradie for missing this?" If not, it goes on the second list.

Widen the nice-to-haves, not the must-haves. Never drop safety. In Australia, workers must hold a White Card before they work on a construction site (Safe Work Australia).

Move 2: write an ad that leads with the site, the pay and the job length

Many tradies decide in a few seconds. Give them what they want first.

Here's a before and after. These are examples I wrote. They are not real ads.

Before:

Growing company seeking motivated tradie to join a great team. Excellent opportunities for the right person.

After:

Leading hand carpenter wanted. Duplex build, Gold Coast. 5 months, likely to extend. $60 to $68 an hour. Start in 2 weeks. Ute and tools needed. Small crew, one foreman, local work. Call Dan on 04XX XXX XXX.

(Names and pay are made up for the example. Use your own real figures.)

The second one gives the site, the pay, the length and the way to reply. It also says something real about the job: small crew, local work. That kind of detail can make a tradie pick up the phone.

Move 3: find people who are not applying

This is the big one. If the best tradies aren't applying, you have to go and find them. Here are four ways. Each is short.

Referrals. Ask your best workers who they'd work with again. Ask suppliers, other subbies and your own old crew. Names from people you trust are strong leads.

Indeed resume search. Indeed sells a product called Smart Sourcing. Indeed says that when you add it to a job post, you see people whose resumes fit your job, and you can invite them to apply (Indeed). It's a paid subscription, so check the price on Indeed before you start.

LinkedIn search. Plenty of tradies, leading hands and site managers have profiles. You can search by trade and area. LinkedIn says to type AND, OR and NOT in capitals. Put exact phrases in quote marks. Use round brackets to group words. For example: "carpenter" AND (formwork OR framing) AND "Gold Coast". LinkedIn says wildcards like * aren't supported (LinkedIn Help).

Google search of LinkedIn. Type site:linkedin.com/in and then your trade and town. It's a quick way to see who's around.

For more example search strings, see Indeed resume search and LinkedIn Boolean.

When you find someone, send a short message. Say what the work is, where, what it pays and how long it lasts. Ask if they're open to a quick chat. Keep it short, not a long pitch.

The Construction Hiring System course goes through each of these step by step, with scripts. I also lay out the full steps in how to hire tradies without a recruitment agency.

Free report: 7 Hiring Mistakes

Don't skip the checks when you are short on people. Get the free 7 Hiring Mistakes report.

Move 4: be fast

Speed is your edge, especially if you're a small firm.

Good tradies often talk to more than one employer. If you take a week to call back, someone else may have already made an offer.

So:

• Reply the same day if you can.
• Book the interview within a day or two.
• Check references quickly. Call the foreman, not the mate. Here are interview questions for carpenters you can adapt.
• Make the offer soon after, and confirm the start date in writing.

A bigger firm may need three people to sign off. You may be able to decide in a day. That is a real advantage. Use it.

Move 5: check the offer honestly

In a shortage, people compare offers. So make yours a good one, and be straight about it.

Look at each part:

• Pay. Is it fair for the work and the area? Pay must at least meet any award or agreement that covers the job. The Fair Work Ombudsman has the details. If you aren't sure what's fair, look at what others are advertising.
• Hours. Are they clear? Do you start early, and will there be overtime?
• Vehicle and tools. Do they bring their own or do you supply some?
• Job length. How long is the work, and what happens after?
• What you offer that a bigger firm can't. A small crew. A foreman who knows their name. Local jobs and less travel. Quick decisions. Say it plainly. Don't make it up.

Write it down. A clear offer in writing makes it easier for a tradie to say yes.

Move 6: make the first 14 days count so they stay

A hire isn't done at the offer. If the new person leaves in week two, you start again, and in a shortage that hurts.

Plan the first 14 days:

• Tell them where to be, when, and who meets them.
• Have the site induction and gear ready.
• Pair them with a good worker in the first week.
• Check in by day ten.

A clear start makes it easier to stay. I wrote more in how to keep good tradies.

What not to do

When you're desperate, it's tempting to skip the checks. Don't.

A bad hire in a shortage can cost more than waiting a little longer. You pay their wages, you fix their mistakes, and then you start the search again.

Keep your red-flag checks, even when you're short:

• Gaps in work history they can't explain simply.
• Every past boss being at fault.
• Vague answers about the real work.
• No foreman or site manager to call.
• Rushing the money question.

I wrote up the common mistakes in a free report. Get the free 7 Hiring Mistakes report and keep it handy.

Build it once, hire again and again

If you only fix one thing, fix this. Don't treat each hire as a fresh emergency.

Build a simple setup once:

• A short brief you can reuse.
• A good ad template.
• A list of people to call.
• A way to search for people who aren't applying.
• Interview and reference scripts.
• A plan for the first 14 days.

Then, when the next role opens, you aren't starting from nothing.

That's what I teach builders, contractors and subbies to do. I show you how to run it yourself. For more on why this beats paying fees every time, see in-house recruitment vs agency.

You can check how ready your hiring is with the free Hiring Readiness Scorecard. Or book a free 15-minute discovery call and talk it through.

General information only, not legal or employment advice. Safety tickets, licences and pay rules vary by state and job, so check with your state regulator and the Fair Work Ombudsman. Survey figures are HIA's own.

Want help with your next hire?

Book a free 15-minute discovery call and we will talk through your next hire. Prefer to learn it yourself? The Construction Hiring System course teaches the full method.

FAQ

How do I find tradies who already have a job?

Start with your own crew and ask for names. Then search Indeed resumes and LinkedIn for the trade near your site. Message them with the site, the work, the pay and the job length. Keep the message short. Good tradies answer clear offers, not long pitches.

Should I lower my standards to fill a role?

Widen the nice-to-haves, not the must-haves. Be open on things you can teach, like your systems. Never skip safety, tickets, references or red-flag checks because you feel desperate. A rushed bad hire can cost more than waiting a little longer.

How can a small builder compete with bigger firms for tradies?

Be faster and straighter. Reply the same day, state the pay and job length plainly, and make the offer quickly. Offer steady local work and a foreman people want to work for. Small firms can often decide in a day, and that speed counts.

How fast should I respond to a tradie who applies?

Reply the same day if you can. Good tradies often talk to more than one employer, and a fast call shows you are serious. Book the interview within a day or two and make the offer soon after if the checks are good.