16.04.2023
Women in the construction trades
The rise of women in the construction trades is something that has long been anticipated. By 2020 it is predicted that just over a quarter of the UK's construction workforce will be female. This is great news for those proponents of female career equality who have been working hard at providing training and information opportunities to ensure a level of choice for female school and college leavers.
One reason for this rapid increase in female construction workers is the necessity for home construction. Across the UK around 300,000 homes need to be built each year, this represents a need for 1 million additional construction workers by 2020. Those inside the industry are already experiencing a shortfall in skilled workers and women are well set to fill part of that gap.
There has been a massive attitude change within the construction industry, this is aptly demonstrated by the rising number of construction companies who are actively recruiting female staff. In 2005 only 21% of companies said that positive action had been taken, while by 2015 this number had risen to 71%. One result of this is that women in the construction industry have fewer worries about gender pay disparity and sexism.
One exciting result of this trend towards female construction employment is the rise of women who now hold senior management positions or other senior roles. This totalled 16% in 2015 with 2% of these female managers earning over £100,000 a year. The importance of this to women in construction is obvious, but perceptions still exist that there may be a limit to how much women can earn compared to men.
In general the career choices that women are making are far less likely to be for traditionally 'female-suitable' roles. Despite this and company efforts, many in the construction industry feel that training and development opportunities are limited. The picture for collegial support for women in the construction industry is confused with almost half of women finding their manager supportive whereas conversely 75% of women have experienced prejudice in some form or other.
In 2015 the average wage for female construction workers was £39,200, which represents a significant 60% increase since 2005. One issue that women working in construction currently experience is the lack of flexible working opportunities, particularly for those with childcare issues. This could be improved by a further set of industry attitude changes, but will also be partially alleviated by the September 2017 increase in childcare provision for 3 and 4 year-olds.
While doubts over discrimination levels remain, it will maybe take a determined woman to make the decision to become a construction worker. However, despite these doubts 76% of women construction workers were certain that they would recommend their job roles or similar to a female relative or friend. Recent government regulations that require larger companies to declare any male/female wage disparity and bonuses should go a long way to encouraging companies to tighten up this area. It would appear that the future for the UK's female construction workers is going to be solid.
Contact Extraman today for more information on recruitment in the construction and logistic trades.
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Extraman Recruitment