Algeco Bucking the Women in Employment Trend
Women are under-represented in the construction industry and have been since time immemorial. Figures from trade union GMB* revealed that at the end of 2019 just one in eight construction workers were female.
There is a stigma around women in construction that is contributing to a lack of women in the industry, and is likely contributing to the skills shortage we’re currently seeing too. The typical stereotype for a construction site is a leering macho man, which considering that construction sites are made up of almost 99% men, means that it probably is unappealing to women.
This is an outdated perception. Not only is there more to construction than building sites, such as architecture and design, to surveyors and civil engineering, but lots of organisations are working hard to eliminate stereotypes and encourage women into the industry.
Here at Algeco (formerly Elliott UK), we are very proud to announce the ratio of women in our workforce has increased to 29%, and that 27 women occupy managerial roles across our 21 UK sites.
Female employment at Algeco has consistently been higher than the industry average. In 2016 20% of employees were women, and our continued activity recruiting females into the workforce will ensure this ratio continues to increase.
Amanda Jones, Sales & Marketing Director, has worked at Algeco for 14 years, and says:
“Encouraging the employment of women in any industry, including Construction, enables a diverse range of behaviours and ideas to be embraced. Women generate a variety of thoughts and dimensions to any environment and their employment in the Construction sector is valued and respected.”
Lucia Anico, Marketing Executive for Algeco commented: “It’s fantastic to see that we are doing better than the national average in hiring women into the company.
“We want to encourage more women into our organisation and we will make every effort to continue to increase the number of females in our employment. It’s a shame it’s taken so long for women to be recognised in construction.
“There have been many misconceptions about the roles women ‘can do’ or ‘are able’ to do in construction along with there being insufficient information for women who are seeking employment in the sector.”
We expect to see the number of women in our employment rise even further over the next 12 months, setting an ambitious target of women occupying a third of our workforce.
