Beth Bundonis is regional managing director for the East Midlands at Lovell
Last month’s news of the closure of Women into Construction was met with understandable dismay across the sector. Over 16 years, the organisation championed gender equality in our industry. It leaves a massive gap, and we’ll now need to ask some serious questions about what comes next.
Women into Construction did far more than pay lip service to the cause. It actively worked to make sure women had access to employment and training opportunities. The numbers speak for themselves: 3,000 women undertaking industry training and 1,300 gaining employment after completing work placements.
“Whether we are talking about women or men, we must focus on young people”
Its closure is disappointing not just for women in the sector but the construction industry as a whole. Right now, we need more people to come and work in construction. According to the Construction Industry Training Board, we need more than 250,000 new construction workers by 2028 if we are to meet the demand for housing. That means we need to draw our workforce from all sections of society. We simply cannot afford to exclude half of the population from our talent pool.
In the two decades I have worked in construction, it’s fair to say there have been improvements. Onsite culture has definitely changed for the better, in part due to wider changes in society, along with improvements in education – amazingly you will now find women’s toilets on site!
However, when it comes to recruitment, we still have a lot more to do to. The overwhelming majority of CVs we receive at Lovell are still from men – and that’s obviously not unique to us. Indeed, official figures showed that we have actually taken a step back this year. In the first quarter of 2024 the female percentage of the construction workforce fell to 13.6 per cent, down from its 2023 peak of 15.8 per cent.
With Women into Construction gone, it will now fall to individual firms to do their bit. That task will be harder without the support of an overarching body committed to tackling gender inequality.
Starting early
So, what can we do? First, we must start early. Whether we are talking about women or men, we must focus on young people. That means getting out and about visiting schools and colleges to fly the flag for construction at an early age.
This doesn’t need to be a hard sell. Working in construction might not be glamorous. But I honestly wouldn’t change what I do for the world. Working in construction offers the opportunity for well-paid, skilled and rewarding work.
Making that case and attracting new recruits at a young age must be our focus. It means increasing apprenticeship and vocational training opportunities, and this is an area where government will need to play its part.
Seeing other women in the workplace can also help, whether that’s in entry-level roles or leadership positions like mine. I’d hope that my visibility as a regional managing director can reassure women that an employer such as Lovell is a welcoming place for them.
In the absence of Women into Construction it’s important to remember that good cross-sector work still goes on. Women in Construction Week, for example, will continue to provide an important focal point that can raise awareness and bolster the cause.
As a woman with more than two decades’ experience in construction, I’m proud of the changes we’ve made during my time in the industry. We’ve come a long way, but until half of the CVs that land on my desk are from women, I won’t consider it finished business. With the closure of Women into Construction, that task just got harder – but I, for one, won’t be giving up on the cause.
