When faced with a breakdown or repairs at home, we often conclude that tradespeople charge exorbitant rates. Accordingly, it is fair to say that having a trade in Serbia today is worth its weight in gold, and that skilled workers in various fields earn more than a very comfortable living. There is no doubt that qualified workers are in demand, whether they are tradespeople hired for everyday repairs or those working on large construction projects.
Because of the severe shortage of tradespeople, the market has set new rules, and experienced hands are sought after both by investors and by households. The reason for the declining number of skilled trades workers lies in the changing interests of younger generations. Young people are increasingly avoiding training for manual trades, as they are far more attracted to the IT sector or office jobs. The result is not only that the services of tradespeople are expensive, but also that craftsmen are aware their professions are in short supply and that they can raise the price of their work.
According to research by the daibau.rs platform, as many as 70% of tradespeople in Serbia increased the prices of their services compared with last year, with the average rise standing at 13.8%. The data show that 78% of surveyed tradespeople expect another increase over the next 12 months, most often in the range of up to 10%.
The largest increase was recorded in the metal structures sector, where all surveyed tradespeople raised their prices, while furniture makers and carpenters increased theirs in 88% of cases. As the main reason for this trend, 73% of respondents cited rising prices of construction materials, while 59% also pointed to higher energy costs.
Mihail Arandarenko, a professor at the Faculty of Economics in Belgrade, told NIN that the services of tradespeople are expensive because demand for them is high, while supply is fairly limited.
Market shaped by shortages
“Tradespeople have simply become a scarce workforce, and that is a fact faced by both employers and citizens. There are two reasons for this. The first is that good craftsmen are also in demand in European Union countries, primarily in Germany, where, as is well known, more can be earned than here, so a certain number of people leave to work abroad. Their high earnings should also be attributed to the fact that these are jobs that remain resistant to the emergence of artificial intelligence, which is not capable of doing them. On the other hand, fewer and fewer young people want to work in the trades. First, these are physically demanding occupations, and second, they are not attractive enough to younger generations,” our interlocutor explains.
He adds that this trend will continue in the coming period, but that trade occupations will not disappear, as there will still be young people who choose them, knowing that they are very well paid.
Official labour market data clearly show that tradespeople are very much in demand. Although IT specialists had dominated job advertisements for years, the situation has changed in the meantime. Data from the National Employment Service for August show that the most sought-after workers in the country were locksmiths, with 687 open positions. Programmers, by contrast, fell to fourth place in demand. Ahead of them, besides locksmiths, were cleaners and production operators.
Those familiar with the situation say the main drivers of this change are major infrastructure projects and the construction of facilities for Expo 2027 (a specialised international exhibition due to be held in Belgrade), which require the rapid hiring of qualified labour. Željko Veselinović, president of the United Trade Unions of Serbia “Sloga”, told NIN that experienced and capable locksmiths are becoming ever fewer, and that this is precisely the main reason why the occupation has risen to the top of the list of most in-demand jobs.
“A number of people who learned that trade have gone abroad, but many remain in the country because they do a job that allows them to earn well here too. The problem is that there are far fewer locksmiths than our market needs. Young people simply no longer want to do this work, at least not in the numbers seen in the past. Our education system is, unfortunately, such that it does not encourage them to become qualified workers. That should be changed, and companies facing a shortage of skilled staff could also offer scholarships to all pupils who want to become skilled workers. They would be motivated both through scholarships and through the knowledge that, after completing their education, a secure job would be waiting for them at the company supporting them financially. In other words, there is a need for an education system that will properly motivate young people to obtain qualifications as skilled workers,” Veselinović explains.
The data confirm that a good tradesperson in Serbia today earns more than workers in public administration or education. Experienced workers such as plumbers and electricians rarely earn less than 2,000 euros a month. Installers of heat pumps and air-conditioning units who have established businesses earn net incomes of between 3,500 and 4,000 euros.
In shortage-hit sectors such as welding and structural metalwork in construction, earnings are even higher. Specialised welders with international certificates and attestations on domestic building sites can easily earn 3,000 to 4,000 euros a month.
The true scale of tradespeople’s earnings
Construction companies are compelled to offer such terms in order to prevent workers from leaving for jobs abroad. A similar trend applies to tilers. With rates for laying tiles ranging from 17 to 30 euros per square metre, a tradesperson with a full working month can earn a monthly income of several thousand euros.
Made-to-measure furniture manufacturers represent a special niche. In these professions there are long waiting lists, and margins are high because of weak competition. Accordingly, earnings are good in this branch of the trades as well, with the salaries of experienced carpenters reaching as much as 1,300 euros a month.
The lucrative earnings of tradespeople in Serbia are one of the public’s favourite and inexhaustible talking points, accompanied by considerable scepticism over whether those services are really worth as much as tradespeople charge. Experts, however, say that this does not depend on anyone’s personal assessment, but solely on supply and demand in the market. What can also rightly be said is that the view that an office job is the only guarantee of financial security has long ceased to have any basis in reality. One reason for this is that the economy needs practical and applicable skills. The work of tradespeople has high economic value, and that is why it is well paid.
On the other hand, because of the shortage of tradespeople, citizens are facing an increasingly serious problem in finding good and available workers. During home renovations, people wait weeks, even months, for a quality painter, electrician or tiler to become available. Negotiations over the price of work have all but ceased to exist as an option. Customers are mostly forced to accept the terms set, as they have virtually no real alternative.
Put simply, as long as there are few tradespeople and plenty of work, the prices of their services will continue to rise. In other words, households will have to get used to circumstances in which a prompt arrival and a job well done are paid for at rates that would have been unthinkable until recently.