International Women’s Day: Celebrating Women in Construction
Friday, 8 March 2024
Three in five young women already work in, have considered working in, or are open to working in construction. Despite this, only 340,000 women are currently working in the industry as opposed to 1.8 million men.
Despite these stats, it’s no secret that the industry is under strain in the form of a skills shortage. It’s therefore all the more important that the sector remains open to fresh talent and maintaining a diverse workforce. With the rising number of women interested in the construction industry, there’s no time to waste in recognising the potential of women to help to close the skills gap.
International Women’s Day is celebrated on the 8th March and this year’s theme is ‘inspiring inclusion’. At Harrison & Clough, we know that fostering a diverse workforce is imperative to the productivity and happiness of our teams UK-wide. In fact, statistics show that organisations with inclusive teams are already over 35% more productive, with gender diversified teams having a +25% likelihood of financially outperforming their competitors.
What International Women’s Day means to us…
Nicola Gordon is one of our HR and operations assistants. Coming from a recruitment background, Nicola has worked at Harrison & Clough since 2012 and shares her thoughts on how companies can better involve women in the construction industry.
“The construction industry loves to see new talent and, to be quite honest, needs to given the current skills shortage. In order to recruit and retain young people, and young women in particular, it’s important that we make steps to better advertise and explain the opportunities available within the industry.
At Harrison & Clough, we strive on our positive and diverse approach to recruiting staff. We also continuously invest in opportunities, such as apprenticeship schemes, that give all our employees an equal chance to progress through the business. We would encourage other businesses to do the same.”
Sophie Davies works in sales with the business development team at Harrison & Clough and speaks on how we can better represent women in the industry.
“In order to encourage more women to engage with the opportunities in the construction industry, there needs to be a more proactive representation of women. Harrison & Clough employ a lot of women who are in high-up management positions, and this is great for our younger female staff members who can have someone to look up to and be mentored by. However, this isn’t often the case across the wider construction sector. I believe companies should also consider utilising the education system and partaking in job fairs to help further the representation of women in the industry.”
Jayne Sheppard, who has worked at Harrison & Clough for 21 years, adds her opinion on how the construction industry has changed over the last two decades.
“In a previous role, when I first stepped into construction, there was a definite feeling of ‘a woman selling tools? That can’t be right!’ However, over the last decade or so, the industry has begun to wake up to the idea that having a diverse workforce is key to a productive and healthy work environment. That’s why I’ve been so proud to work for Harrison & Clough for such a long time because I feel they have always adopted principles of being diverse and inclusive.”
At Harrison & Clough, we firmly believe that nobody should be held back in their career because of their gender. Maintaining a diverse workforce is our top priority. To find out more about us and our career opportunities, visit https://www.harclo.com/.
Despite these stats, it’s no secret that the industry is under strain in the form of a skills shortage. It’s therefore all the more important that the sector remains open to fresh talent and maintaining a diverse workforce. With the rising number of women interested in the construction industry, there’s no time to waste in recognising the potential of women to help to close the skills gap.
International Women’s Day is celebrated on the 8th March and this year’s theme is ‘inspiring inclusion’. At Harrison & Clough, we know that fostering a diverse workforce is imperative to the productivity and happiness of our teams UK-wide. In fact, statistics show that organisations with inclusive teams are already over 35% more productive, with gender diversified teams having a +25% likelihood of financially outperforming their competitors.
What International Women’s Day means to us…
Nicola Gordon is one of our HR and operations assistants. Coming from a recruitment background, Nicola has worked at Harrison & Clough since 2012 and shares her thoughts on how companies can better involve women in the construction industry.
“The construction industry loves to see new talent and, to be quite honest, needs to given the current skills shortage. In order to recruit and retain young people, and young women in particular, it’s important that we make steps to better advertise and explain the opportunities available within the industry.
At Harrison & Clough, we strive on our positive and diverse approach to recruiting staff. We also continuously invest in opportunities, such as apprenticeship schemes, that give all our employees an equal chance to progress through the business. We would encourage other businesses to do the same.”
Sophie Davies works in sales with the business development team at Harrison & Clough and speaks on how we can better represent women in the industry.
“In order to encourage more women to engage with the opportunities in the construction industry, there needs to be a more proactive representation of women. Harrison & Clough employ a lot of women who are in high-up management positions, and this is great for our younger female staff members who can have someone to look up to and be mentored by. However, this isn’t often the case across the wider construction sector. I believe companies should also consider utilising the education system and partaking in job fairs to help further the representation of women in the industry.”
Jayne Sheppard, who has worked at Harrison & Clough for 21 years, adds her opinion on how the construction industry has changed over the last two decades.
“In a previous role, when I first stepped into construction, there was a definite feeling of ‘a woman selling tools? That can’t be right!’ However, over the last decade or so, the industry has begun to wake up to the idea that having a diverse workforce is key to a productive and healthy work environment. That’s why I’ve been so proud to work for Harrison & Clough for such a long time because I feel they have always adopted principles of being diverse and inclusive.”
At Harrison & Clough, we firmly believe that nobody should be held back in their career because of their gender. Maintaining a diverse workforce is our top priority. To find out more about us and our career opportunities, visit https://www.harclo.com/.