Payroll company Hudson Contract has released its pay trends across the construction industry for December 2018, revealing the year ended on a high note for freelance builders, with earnings up by 2.68%
Hudson Contract delivers indications of pay trends across the construction industry, using payroll data for over 2,200 construction companies to publish the average pay for a spectrum of 17 different trades now split across ten regions.
Freelance builders’ earnings were up 2.68% or £25 a week on November, to chalk up three consecutive months of increases.
Hudson Contract Managing Director Ian Anfield said: “The annual push to get work finished ahead of the Christmas break was assisted by unseasonably but very welcome mild weather.
“It’s also significant that subbies in the West Midlands have become the first to smash through the £1,000 a week threshold. It’s a significant moment for construction. Not only does it signify high demand for skilled workers – and especially bricklayers, electricians, plasterers, joiners, and mechanical and engineering specialists – it will hopefully help to put construction on the career sights for school leavers.”
Eight of Hudson Contract’s ten regions enjoyed increases in December, with East Midlands holding steady and only Wales bucking the trend with a slight reduction of 0.6%.
Firms surveyed also reported that subcontractor usage picked up towards the end of the year – with the strongest rate of expansion in three years.
“It’s great to be ending the year on such a positive note for the industry, with output strong, earnings up and the weather behaving itself. Before anyone else says it, I’ll agree Brexit continues to cast shadows over the future, but even so, I believe plenty of subbies in all parts of the country will be earning over £1,000 a week as the year progresses,” Anfield added.
