Women In Construction Week 2022
As the industry celebrates Women in Construction Week, we’re taking a look at the current stats and what the outlook looks like for women who are considering a career in the construction industry.
With the most recent numbers provided in 2020, of all the people working in construction, women comprise 10.9%. But, the number of women on the front lines of a job site make up only 1 for every 100 employees in the field. Considering that women make up 47% of all employed individuals, the construction industry is only benefitting from about 1.25% of women in the workforce.
By 2023, some experts predict that there will be a nationwide demand for 1.5 million craft professionals. However, more young people are diverting away from this path. The Construction Labor Market Analyzer (CLMA) recently reported on this deficit. They found that in 2007, 12.5% of workers under 25 chose the construction sector. But by 2018, that number had dipped to only 9.0%.
As new construction industry jobs are expected to balloon by almost 2 million in 2022, companies are looking to recruit more women than ever before to bring their skill sets into the field.
Top construction-based companies in the US, such as Skanska and Hilti North America, offer mentoring groups and inclusion programs to find a way to bridge the gender gap and increase the number of women in construction. Companies are beginning to recognize that inclusion and diversity efforts are vital to alleviating construction’s skilled labor shortage. Organizations that aren’t actively working to diversify their teams risk stunting their growth by limiting their access to talent.
The industry continues to look for ways to build interest in trade professions. Women are an essential part of the puzzle and can help bridge that gap; it’s encouraging to see numbers slowly rising as more women join the trades in 2022. We hope that we see even more opportunities for women, and minorities, in construction and hope that they find the variety in the jobs available, see the impact that this kind of work makes, and launch them into a career that they can enjoy for years.
For more information on Women in Construction Week and a list of participating chapters, visit NAWIC – The National Association for Women in Construction.
Bureau of Labor Statistics; Construction Labor Market Analyzer (CLMA)