Holding Up Through the Downturn
New Zealand’s construction industry has been through one of its most sustained downturns in recent memory. For the tradespeople working through it — managing inconsistent hours, financial pressure, and the uncertainty of a sector adjusting to lower demand — the question of mental health is not theoretical. It is the daily reality of people who are used to working hard but not always used to talking about how they are doing.
The 2025 Live Well, Build Well survey, drawing on responses from 641 builders and tradespeople, finds that the industry is holding up — but with cracks showing. Twenty-five percent of respondents experience stress always or most of the time. Twenty-five percent struggle to maintain a workable balance between their professional and personal lives. Fifteen percent cite inconsistent or insufficient work hours as a primary challenge, up from eight percent the previous year — a direct reflection of the slowdown’s practical effect on people’s weeks and pay packets.
What Is Working
The programme, which engaged 6,500 workers over the past year, has shown measurable shifts in how the industry talks about mental health. The proportion of workers willing to share personal mental health stories increased from 32 percent to 38 percent year-on-year. Those reporting that the programme helped them manage their emotional health doubled from three percent to six percent — a modest figure in absolute terms, but a meaningful directional shift in an industry that has historically treated stoicism as a professional virtue.
The most effective coping strategies workers identified were practical and social rather than clinical: regular social connection, physical exercise, eating well, rest and relaxation, helping others, and maintaining organised routines. These are not surprising findings, but they matter because they are strategies that employers and site managers can actively support rather than simply noting with approval.
The Programme’s Expansion
Live Well, Build Well has grown its reach through a champion network of workers who act as peer connectors on site, a free online mental fitness course, and a partnership with ITM that broadens access through the merchant’s national network. The champion model is particularly valuable: peer-to-peer conversations about wellbeing carry more weight in a trades environment than programmes delivered from outside the industry, because they come from people who understand the specific pressures of the work.
What Employers Can Do
The survey findings point clearly to the employer’s role. Work-life balance, consistent hours, and financial security are wellbeing factors — not separate from business management but directly connected to it. Firms that schedule work to provide consistent hours, communicate clearly about project timelines and workload expectations, and treat team members with genuine respect are providing the structural conditions under which wellbeing programmes can take root. Without those foundations, even the best mental health initiative is addressing symptoms rather than causes.
