One in five construction sector jobs are held by women according to new findings, with this number expected to increase significantly over the next five years.
The research, from recruitment agency Randstad, expects 26% of jobs within the industry to be held by women by 2020, but claims that a ?cultural revolution’ will be required by the end of the decade if UK construction is to reach its ?true potential’.
Randstad says the number of women within the industry has experienced high levels of growth in the past ten years. In 2005, 6% of women in the construction industry held senior management positions or directorships. This has now jumped to 16%, with 7% of female construction employees currently earning an annual salary in excess of œ75,000.
Speaking on London Live, Owen Goodhead, managing director of Randstad CPE, said:
“There’s a huge demand for qualified people, and the industry is looking very much at women as a way of meeting that demand.
“The industry has changed, it’s made huge progress over the last ten or 15 years – the stats show that – but we still have a long way to go because we’ve also got a growing industry.”
Randstad’s findings also suggested that women are staying longer within construction, with the average number of years reaching 11 compared to six years in 2005.
For more information about Randstad’s findings, click here
