Construction has a skills problem, and women must be a part of the solution – Hayley Richardson

It’s an exciting moment for the UK construction industry

Over the past two decades the sector has slowly evolved, not just in the way we build, but in who we see building it.

Yet as we mark International Women’s Day and Women in Construction Week, we should be honest about the skills challenges ahead.

Women make up around 15% of the overall UK construction workforce, the highest level recorded in recent years – and that’s welcome progress. But that data also tells us that 85% of people in our industry are still men, and when you look at the jobs carried out on-site the female share drops dramatically to around 2%.

Such figures remind us that construction is still one of the most male-dominated sectors in the UK, ranking below most other industries when it comes to gender balance. So, we need to lean in further to women joining the sector, helping the skills shortage in the process.(Markel UK)

The signs are positive

We’re seeing more and more women enter the sector through a wider range of pathways; apprenticeships are rising, representation in design and technical roles is growing, and more women are stepping into leadership positions than ever before. (Approach Personnel)

The reality I’ve seen across my own career mirrors this shift. When I first stepped onto a construction site nearly two decades ago, basic female facilities didn’t exist. Today the industry has opened up and there are more women across fields like quantity surveying, architecture, engineering and project leadership.

But above all, I think it’s important to recognise that construction does not have a ‘gender problem’ alone – we have a major industry problem, battling a chronic skills shortage, an ageing workforce, and massive national targets for housing and infrastructure. Solving these challenges means broadening the talent pool, and that includes inviting, and keeping, more women into all areas of the business. (Markel UK)

My message this International Women’s Day is one of hope

Half of the end-users of the built environment are women. When the people shaping buildings don’t reflect the users they serve, we risk missing insights that drive better outcomes for communities. We lose creativity, innovation and valuable lived experience, so we must ensure that we make construction appealing to all demographics – nurturing environments in which everyone is comfortable and can thrive and learn. That includes improving the confidence of female colleagues, empowering them so that they can bring solutions to the table to contribute to improving the end product.

So, my message this International Women’s Day is one of hope. That we can continue to push boundaries, build capability, ask for support, and step forward into roles we may once have thought weren’t for us.

And to the industry at large I hope we can continue to make construction a place of integrity, learning and collaboration, investing in training, clear career pathways, systems and processes that support everyone’s success – men and women.