Every week, thousands of craft professionals across the U.S. join the Skillit platform to connect with the nation’s best and biggest general and specialty trade contractors. This generates millions of proprietary data points which we anonymize and structure into labor intelligence to help decision-makers gain a competitive edge in a tight labor market.

Key Findings

As of December 22nd 2024, craft professionals in Orlando:

• Are paid 1.02X higher than the national average. Consequently, their desired pay improvement is .78X of national data.

• Their willingness to accept lower pay is 1.14X higher than national data (23.22% versus 20.6%).

• Some trades, like carpenters, have significantly higher demand in Orlando (1.49X). Others, like pipelayers, show relatively lower demand (0.92X).

• Benefits are the primary non financial motivator for craft professionals, at 42.3%, wich is 1.11X compared to national data. Benefits are followed by training and upskilling (28.8%), with women friendly environments lagging behind at 9%.

• Major construction specific employers in Orlando include Jr. Davis Construction Company, KHS&S Contractors, Inc. and Thompson Construction Group, amongst others.

• Electricians, concrete workers and welders rank higher in skills assessments and all of these trades surpass national averages, suggesting a high degree of specialization in the region.

• Craft professionals’ years of experience track in line with national averages, at 17.81 years on average across all trades.

• Forklift operator and OSHA 10 are the most common certifications.

• The proportion of individuals authorized to work is slightly higher in Orlando for most trades, although the difference is marginal. However, this stands in contrast with the percentage of professionals who would rather not say if they are authorized to work in Orlando, which is 1.14X higher than national averages.

• The percentage of men in the trades is notably similar in Orlando and nationally, with minimal differences.

• A significantly higher percentage of Spanish speakers are present in Orlando's workforce compared to the national average (1.64X). This may be in partly due to the local demographics.

• Orlando exhibits lower union membership compared to the national average (0.85X).

• Email, SMS and calls are a more successful means of communication in Orlando than nationally. This may indicate that craft professionals are willing to connect with recruiters using diverse means of communications. Notwithstanding, Orlando's connection rate is lower than the national average (0.62X).

• Orlando craft professionals have a 2.52X longer commute than national peers.

• Migration to Orlando can be primarily from Florida, followed by Georgia , who together make up over 70% of origin states.

• OSHA 10 and 40 are in line with national levels, while OSHA 30 and 62 fall below national averages.

• Orlando shows higher demand in some trades, and also seems to be an attractive destination for craft professionals, who are generally willing to migrate there. However, recruiters have lower connection rates, presumably due to a greater proportion of Spanish speakers. Overall, there is lower work authorization and lower unionization compared to national averages.  The local demographics described above highly likely explain these peculiarities.

Current craft pay in Orlando

Pay in Orlando is more or less in line with national data, and only 1.02X higher. Notably, welders, electricians and pipefitters have a higher hourly pay in Orlando compared to the national average.

Craft pay expectations in Orlando

Desired hourly pay varies across different trades. However, the average desired hourly pay improvement across all trades in Orlando ($2.21) is lower than the national average ($2.84). In some instances, Orlando's desired pay is higher than the national average, notably for welders ($2) and plumbers ($1). Conversely, electricians desire less pay in Orlando ($3) which may indicate that there is competition for this trade.

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Craft compensation flexibility in Orlando

Overall, craft professionals in Orlando are 1.14X more willing to accept lower pay, than national counterparts. Willingness to accept lower pay varies across trades with HEOs, welders, pipefitters and pipelayers being the most flexible trades. This may be due to supply and demand of the trade, jobs site locations or local demographics.

Non-financial compensation trends

Carpenters, electricians and laborers consistently seek better benefits in Orlando. Benefits are by far the most important non-financial motivators in Orlando, tracking as the most important factor (45.6%) followed by Training (33.1%) and career mobility (18.3%). A women friendly work environment is the least important motivator (3%) and is even half as important than the already low national average (6.7%).

Meet Orlando’s biggest employers of craft professionals

Our data reveals that https Jr. Davis Construction is one of the most prominent employers in Orlando, with over 250 carpenters, electricians, general laborers, concrete workers, heavy equipment operators, drywallers, plumbers, welders, pipefitters and pipelayers on the Skillit platform citing it as a past or current employer.

Skill, Experience & Certifications

Welders. Concrete Workers and Electricians rank highest in skills assessment scores. However, in aggregate craft professionals in Orlando are in line with national averages. Same goes for average years of experience, which are also in line with national averages. Electricians and plumbers have overlap with other trades, while pipefitters and welders are more specialized trades. Concrete workers have substantial overlap with carpentry and general labor and pipelayers exhibit connections mostly with plumbing and labor, indicating shared skill sets.

Work authorization

The percentage of professionals who would rather not say if they are authorized to work in Orlando is 1.14X higher than national averages while the percentage of workers authorized is .92X of national averages. This may pose a challenge for recruiters.

Gender and language

Gender balance is in line with national averages with only a 1.02X variance compared to national. Pipefitters and drywallers stand out as the trades with most female representation. Notably, a higher percentage of professionals in Orlando prefer Spanish compared to the national averages, reflecting the region's demographic, and is 1.64X higher than national.

Contactability and communication

Orlando's connection rate is lower than the national average (0.62X), with slower connection speeds and fewer successful calls, SMS, and email contacts. Recruiters can think of other means of communication such as in-person trade events or innovative software solutions. They may also consider Spanish speaking outreaches.

Union membership

The share of unionized craft professionals is lower in Orlando (10.52%) compared to national levels (12.39%), which again may reflect the local demographics.

One-way commute distance

Local one-way commute in Orlando stands at 30 miles on average across all trades vis a vis 12 miles national.

Migration

Orlando is a significant destination for craft labor, indicating a high demand in the region. Trades with the highest willingness to relocate are carpenters, electricians, and laborers, at 41%. Pipelayers and pipefitters are on the lower end, with a willingness of 37%. Florida is the largest origin state at 63.3%, followed by Georgia: 15.8% and Texas: 10.7%.

OSHA

OSHA 10 certification levels for Orlando are relatively close to national averages across most trades. Some trades, like electricians and laborers, show high certification percentages around 67% in Orlando compared to slightly lower national figures. The percentage of professionals with OSHA 30 certification is relatively low for both Orlando and national figures, generally ranging from 21% to 29%. Electricians and Laborers exhibit higher certification levels in both Orlando (28% and 26%, respectively) and nationally (29% and 27%). Pipefitters and Pipelayers have the highest percentage of OSHA 40 certification in both Orlando and nationally, around 12.5%, although this certification remains low on both levels. Finally, plumbers show the highest percentage of OSHA 62 certification in Orlando at 7.2% and, this is higher than 6.4% nationally.

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Our methodology

All data included in this report is as of August 30, 2024 and based on the anonymized data from over 20,000 Skillit member profiles located in, or interested in relocating to, Dallas and 12 months of communications between employers and craft professionals aggregated across the Skillit platform.