According to stats Canada in 2015, it was estimated that around 22% of Canadians worked in skilled trades. With all sorts of people going into trades every year, it begs the question if stereotypes that are pinned on many tradespeople are true. Many people have the idea that tradesmen tend to be abrasive and rude, drinking on the job and causing altercations. And not to mention harassing people. But is this really the case?
Owen Van Der Loo is an electrician who has several years of experience under his belt. He believes that some stereotypes have a grain of truth to them.
“I would say there’s definitely some truth to that most of the guys you meet are going to be a little bit more abrasive than people that you’d expect to me in an office or like a fast food setting. A lot of the guys don’t care what other people think about them. There’s definitely a lot of [joking around] that goes on. Usually it’s in good fun, but sometimes guys will get pretty aggressive towards each other. I have seen fights break out.”
Stereotypes pinned on tradespeople also include the idea that they’re in it for the money, whatever the cost. Branden Theoret, a mechanic at Toyota Town in London says otherwise.
“
We’re not out there to rip you off whatsoever. We’re just there to inform you, you know? We’re kind of that in between line between your decision making. And then it’s based on your so what we do afterwards, but we can always just inform you and let you know beforehand what’s going on.”
Darryn Fisher is a tradesman who has been working in his field for many years and has his own idea of the worst stereotype that plagues tradespeople.
“The worst stereotype for a tradesperson is that they’re less educated or it’s sort of a second class job, or maybe a second choice job. Historically, that might actually be true. There may have actually been a certain time when that was true, but certainly today with the proliferation of technologies and techniques, that couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, in some respects, it’s more difficult to get a ticket or certified trade as it is to get a degree,” he says.
It’s safe to say that despite the many stereotypes and misconceptions people directed towards tradespeople, while some of them may have a grain of truth to them, many of them aren’t based in the present. It is true that in the past people involved in manual labor may have come from lower down on the societal ladder, however that just isn’t the case anymore.
