Laborer: What is the cost of hiring?

Why recruit a labourer

Labourers are the backbone of your construction company, helping with a range of tasks such as lifting and installing equipment. They can also provide maintenance checks of tools and ensure that your worksites are both safe and clean. 

Qualities of a great labourer:

• maintains a safe worksite and manages risks effectively
• cleans and tidies your site so that it is safe for you and your workers
• is able to operate machinery and perform basic maintenance checks of your processes or assembly lines.

Deciding between a full-time vs freelance labourer

If you have ongoing work available as a construction or housing company, then recruiting a labourer on a full-time, permanent basis would be right for you. If you have a lot of work available to keep your labourer busy, then it may be more time and cost effective to recruit one on this type of contract. However, if you only need a labourer for one-off projects, you could employ one on a short-term contract. This may be a more cost effective solution if you are a smaller business, and are looking to save on costs of paying your labourer a regular salary.

What are the different types of labourer?

Which labourer is right for you will depend on the nature of the work that you need completed. You might find that your labourer has vocational training across different areas, and so you may employ them to complete several different jobs. Some labourers will be able to cover housing or domestic maintenance duties, while others might be trained in landscaping or more outdoor duties. You may also need them to have specialised skills in order to create bespoke products for your company, such as carpentry work. 

• Landscaper: tidies lawns, maintains and shapes your outdoor environments. 
• Construction site worker: tidies up after other workers, removing debris, moving scaffolding and conducting risk management.
• Carpenter: creates bespoke wood products for clients, including simple shelving and wood frameworks.
• Painter: helps maintain the appearance of your structures by painting, repainting and varnishing your structures and/or products.
• Bricklayer: lays bricks, stone and concrete in mortar, in the process of constructing or extending buildings.

Where to find labourers

To find the right labourer for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

• Networking with vocational colleges: speak to potential trainee labourers at vocational colleges.
• Advertising via your local council: advertise a job description via local council noticeboards or jobs pages online.
• Networking with local tradespeople: meet local tradespeople in person at jobs fairs or trade expos.
• Asking for professional recommendations: ask for professional opinions and advice on hiring local tradespeople via your construction industry network.

Post your job online: Try posting your job for a labourer on Indeed to find and attract quality labourer candidates.

Skills to look for in a great labourer

A great candidate for a labourer role will have the following skills and attributes as well as work experience that reflects:

• strength and flexibility
• stamina
• ability to troubleshoot basic technical issues
• ability to listen to senior colleagues and follow instructions
• understanding the importance of practising risk management and undertaking health and safety measures.

Writing a labourer job description

A thoughtful description is important for finding qualified labourer candidates. A labourer job description includes a compelling summary of the role, a detailed list of duties and responsibilities and the required and preferred skills for the position.

When writing your  job description for a labourer, consider including some or all of the following keywords to strengthen the visibility of your job posting. These are the most popular search terms resulting in clicks on jobs for labourers, according to Indeed data:

• labourer
• labourer CSCS
• CSCS labourer
• laborer
• construction
• general labourer
• CSCS
• labourer no CSCS card.

Interviewing labourer candidates

Strong candidates for labourer positions will be confident answering questions regarding:

• how much onsite experience they have
• risk management and assessment
• dealing with difficult coworkers or confusing instructions from a coworker
• experience working as an individual and as part of a team
• other trade skills that they have alongside their main responsibilities.

Need help coming up with interview questions? See our list of labourer interview questions for examples (with sample answers).