I swapped my desk job that’s at risk from AI for becoming one of the brickies earning £90,000 a year

Millions of jobs are at risk of being taken over by Artificial Intelligence but there are a handful of careers that are guaranteed to be safe – one of which is bricklaying.

Britain is facing a huge shortage of bricklayers, with a third of the 42,000 skilled builders set to retire over the next decade. But the trade is as vital as ever – at least 1.5million new homes need to be built to cope with a chronic housing shortage.

Soaring demand means bricklaying can be a lucrative vocation. A self-employed professional bricklayer can earn £90,000 a year, according to industry experts.

The trade is often misunderstood, as many associate it with back-breaking work designed for younger men. But it is a highly skilled craft, and with technological advancements, it’s one that many women and people in their 50s and 60s can enjoy too. It was appreciated by British wartime leader Winston Churchill, who found it a therapeutic skill to fight off his ‘black dog’ of depression, as it is both a physically and mentally rewarding pursuit.

Toby Walne spent the day being trained by Jack Dawson, a lecturer in bricklaying and organiser of the national competition Super Trowel, to find out just how gruelling the work is.

The art of bricklaying

‘Roll that pug into a fat chicken breast and then pick it up at 7 o’clock,’ Jack directs me.

With a 12-inch trowel in hand I stare at the mound of wet mess shovelled in front of me and nod, pretending to understand.

We are not standing over a kitchen stove preparing an evening meal but in front of a mortar board, a flat tray that builders use to hold cement, on a bricklaying course at Hertford Regional College in Broxbourne.

Jack is going to teach me to build a wall – using bricklayer lingo to get me to model mortar into the shape of a chicken breast.

Wearing well-fitted gloves to ensure I don’t get any chemical burns, the trowel must remain in my hand at all times.

‘Put down the trowel and you are not working. That is lost work. You might expect to be paid 80p a brick for every brick you lay.’

The mortar mix of one-part hydrated lime, six parts sand is stirred with water in a wheelbarrow before being plonked on the board right beside a fledgling wall.

Scooping up my ‘chicken breast’ I attempt to copy Jack’s painter-like movement – an artistic flourish with the mortar on the trowel magically ending up as a stylish stretch covering the length of two bricks.

‘Pull back your trowel as if playing snooker and slowly flick it forward like a cue as if going to pot a ball. You then twist your wrist at the last moment – revving a motorbike – and drop the mortar,’ he explains.

So, with a large fistful of mortar – known as muck or pug in the trade – slapped on the end of my trowel I make the manoeuvre. Mortar splatters on the floor an inch from the wall with a line of muck across my steel toe-capped boots.

Jack smiles, knowing he must only suffer me for a day rather than the usual two years of training a bricklayer might expect.

‘You must be patient and calm to learn this art,’ he says. ‘Winston Churchill focused on bricklaying to help him escape the stress of fighting a world war. It offers a perfect antidote to modern computer-obsessed living.’

Next, we ‘furrow the bed’ – make an indent in the middle of the line of mortar. This prevents wastage of mortar that would fall into the dip of the top of a brick, an indentation known as the ‘frog’.

Jack says: ‘The wall must be level – both horizontally and vertically. You do not have to be particularly strong to be a bricklayer, but you must always keep a sharp eye.’

He hands me a spirit level so I can tap using the handle of the trowel until the brick is level.

Finally, I ‘butter up the brick’. This is putting mortar to the ends of the bricks – the ‘headers’. I watch in awe as Jack lightly taps mortar on to three sides and attempt to copy him with my own ham-fisted attempt.

Yet despite feeling like a failing contestant on a 1970s episode of Bruce Forsyth’s The Generation Game I am now starting to enjoy the experience.

By relaxing into it I can appreciate the therapeutic exercise of laying bricks and get an almost childlike sense of achievement that I remember from playing with Lego. Building with real bricks is far more challenging but it is hugely fulfilling making a wall.

Proud as punch at my ability to badly lay half a dozen on a wall in an hour I stand back to admire my handywork.

Jack points out at a forthcoming Hertfordshire Super Trowel competition, which is being held at the end of July, the most impressive contestants can be expected to lay 700 bricks in an hour. On a job, that would translate to £560 in an hour.

A career open to all

There is an outdated perception that you need to be a burly man who can carry a hod of bricks on his back to do the job.

Julian Walden, national secretary of the trade body Guild of Bricklayers, says: ‘For one thing the hod is no longer commonly used – there is strict regulations on reducing heavy manual lifting. We have mechanical equipment that does much of the heavy work these days.

‘Although only about 2 per cent of bricklayers are women, the numbers are increasing fast – and they also are among the best at the job, showing how finesse and skill rather than brute strength are the most important qualities.’

Age is also no barrier – and Walden points out that although apprenticeships can start for people aged as young as 16, he has seen women aged up to 78 learning the skill.

Walden says: ‘Bricklaying need not be a young man’s game – we get people coming to retrain because they have been made redundant or feel trapped in a 9-to-5 office job.

‘We get a lot of people in their 40s and 50s attracted by the self-employed aspect and ability to choose flexible hours.’

A self-employed builder can earn up to £90,000 working full time charging 80p a brick, according to lecturer Jack. However, many prefer to charge a day rate working with other builders, typically for £300 a day and often pocketing £65,000 a year.

Walden believes bricklaying is also ideal for those worried about how AI might impact their lives. He says: ‘The world of construction is imperfect – even the size of bricks can vary. You need a human eye to deal with these variations. AI and robot technology has failed to crack the distinctly human art of bricklaying.

‘And with more than 10,000 different combinations of brick shapes, sizes, and compositions you will never stop learning new skills.’

How to retrain

If you want to become a bricklayer, you must undergo training on a course. The National Open College Network, is a charity that provides vocational qualifications and apprenticeship, including in bricklaying. Hertford Regional College, where Jack is a lecturer, is part of the network and you can find similar courses on its website at nocn.org.uk, with part-time options for anyone in work who wants to train on weekends, as well as full-time courses. There are typically no entry requirements.

Jack teaches a two-year bricklaying course – the first year is a Level 1 Diploma in Bricklaying and the second Level 2, which you need to get a job as a qualified bricklayer. It offers a course option of 16 hours a week – with three of these hours on theory and the rest on practical learning. Students often pick up apprenticeships while on the course where they work alongside studies.

A common qualification required to be a professional bricklayer is a City & Guilds Level 1 and 2 Technical Certificate in Bricklaying. An equivalent is a Level 1 and Level 2 NVQ Diploma in Trowel Occupations, often taken alongside an apprenticeship.

You can also learn as an apprentice on the job and get an end-point assessment (EPA) where an employer presents you with a Bricklayer Level 1 and 2 award.

These courses can cost anywhere between £750 and £4,000.

Walden says: ‘One of the great appeals of this trade is there are so many flexible ways to learn – you could do half a dozen hours a week on top of your day job, whether as a bricklaying apprentice or other work, with a night course or take a year out and study.’

Anyone interested in qualifying as a bricklayer can contact their local college. City & Guilds offers details of your nearest training centres at cityandguilds.com – where you tap in a postcode in the ‘Find a Centre’ box. Separately, websites such as Best Apprenticeships (bestapprenticeships.com) provide work opportunities. Ask for details of bricklaying courses available locally by visiting your local library.