Women in Construction: How to Build Diversity to Fill the Skills Gap

Insights Author: Mel Evens

Could bringing more women into the industry provide a solution to the current skills shortage? Here, our construction specialist, Mel Evans, shares her insights on this topic and offers advice on how your business can increase diversification.

From industry discussions to social media, there’s been much talk about increasing the number of women in construction. However, an article that recently caught my attention was one by Empowered Women in Trades (EWIT) on LinkedIn.

The piece highlighted the current shortage of critical workers in the skilled trades industry, which is something we’ve noticed here at Verve Partners while recruiting across the construction sector.

EWIT believe that one of the key ways to solve the shortage is by increasing female representation across the industry. In fact, their goal is to deliver a 30% increase by 2030.

What the stats are telling us

As reported in the EWIT article, according to the Australian Industry Group, more than 75% of businesses report having difficulties in hiring skilled workers.  Some of the sectors experiencing the biggest shortages are:

• Construction
• Manufacturing
• Renewable energy

The construction industry alone is projected to need nearly 500,000 additional workers in the coming years to meet the growing demand for infrastructure and housing projects. Meanwhile, the renewable energy sector faces a shortage of skilled workers to implement new technologies and implement existing systems.

A specific trade in short supply is plumbers, with more than 10,000 workers needed in the next two years.

These shortages are increasing costs and delays, further straining resources and impacting profitability.

Women can support the reduction of this gap

It’s not just EWIT telling us that women working in trade and construction can support filling the skills shortage. They point to several studies that support the greater benefits.

Increasing female representation and diversity in the workplace has been shown to:

• Increase business revenue due to a rise in innovation and problem-solving and Improve organisational performance and market value, where women have high representation in top management (The Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) report)
• Positively impact a company’s ability to appeal to and retain skilled employees, with flexible work arrangements a top employment driver, boosting engagement and motivation (WGEA’s 2022-2023 Gender Equality Scorecard and Diversity Council of Australia)

So, women can not only fill the gaps in terms of numbers, but their skills are beneficial to the overall workplace.

We’re big believers in the idea that diversity and inclusion lead to vibrancy. In other words, it brings a broader range of ideas and perspectives into the fold, which can lead to enhanced creativity, innovation and business growth.

How to attract more women and help fill the gap

Groups like EWIT work are working on things like providing a supportive pathway into trades, visiting high schools talking to young women about their career options, and providing pre-employment courses directly to employees.

But what can you do as an employer to support the diversification of the industry?

• Promote diversity in your brand – Make sure your company mission, vision and values demonstrate the importance you place on gender diversity and gender equity (for example, closing the gender pay gap) in the workplace.
• Create a workplace culture that attracts them – For example, have family-friendly policies such as flexible hours, remote work and part-time roles. Plus, provide competitive parental leave.
• Have a zero workplace harassment policy – Make sure you implement and enforce a strict zero-tolerance policy against harassment and discrimination.
• Conduct inclusivity training – Regularly conduct training on workplace conduct, inclusivity and respect to create a safer and more supportive work environment.
• Use inclusive language in job ads – Use gender-neutral language in job descriptions and your marketing communication to avoid deterring potential female candidates.
• Set up internal support networks – Establish or support women’s networks or mentoring programs within your company. These can provide guidance, career development and a sense of community for your female employees.
• Partner with schools and universities – Partner with schools and universities to promote construction careers among female students. Also offer workshops, site visits and internships to give students a first-hand look at the industry.

Let’s build the foundations for industry success

The construction sector and trades skills gap isn’t a situation that can be solved overnight. Neither is there a single solution. However, we do need to do something to address it.

We really need to be thinking outside of the box to up female participation. We need to change the perception that careers across the construction and trades sector are not suitable for women and communicate the breadth of roles that exist in the industry.

With a joint effort across many disciplines, from education through to industry partners and recruitment, we can all have an impact on increasing female representation and diversity.

If you need help effectively filling roles in your construction business, we can help you find the right talent, drawing from a diverse pool of people with excellent transferable skills. Let’s start a conversation.