Hire a Woman: Recruiting Women for your Workforce, a guide published by Tradeswomen, Inc.

Tradeswomen, Inc. publication for employers, a guide to hiring women in construction

Retrieved from http://www.tradeswomen.org/PDFs/HireAWoman-recruit.pdf

Hire a woman: Recruiting women for your workforce

Why you want to …

Good workers are in short supply

■ For every four people who leave the trades,
through retirement or otherwise, the apprenticeship
programs supply only one new person to enter
the trades.

■ The average age of today’s construction worker is
39 years old.


■ The Department of Labor estimates that the
construction industry will need to hire about
240,000 new workers each year for the next five
years. But only about 150,000 new workers will
come into the trades, creating a continuing
shortage of skilled workers.

■ If you're a prime or subcontractor working on a
federally-funded project, 6.9% of your workforce
in each craft must be female.



Women—

the construction workforce of the future

You may have enough good workers today,
but what about three, five, ten years from now?

■ The worker shortage in the construction industry
creates opportunities for women to enter the field.

■ As more women enter the trades, recruitment of
women will become increasingly easier. However,
successful recruitment of women involves
different outreach strategies than are currently
being utilized.

■ Many women already do physical jobs that
require lifting, coordination, and a serious work
ethic such as hospital work, restaurant work and
child care. Women working in these low-paid
jobs could be ideal recruits for high wage, high
skilled construction careers.

■ Women are the largest untapped resource for the
construction industry. While women can benefit
from entering construction careers, the industry
also benefits by expanding its recruitment pool
to include the other 50% of the population


How you can …

Successful strategies for

recruiting women

■ Pre-apprenticeship grads are great recruits:
Many programs exist (sometimes known as 
“pre-apprenticeship programs”) that introduce
potential construction workers to the tools and to
the different trades. Often these programs offer
“soft” skills training, information about health
and safety, and explain how apprenticeship
works. Graduates of these programs are proven to
be more successful apprentices—better prepared
for the rigors of the trade. Consider recruiting
female graduates of these programs as your
newest apprentices.





■ Use current tradeswomen as role models:
Most people enter the trades because they have 
a relative or neighbor who tells them about the
opportunity. But most of these role models are
men; young women don’t see other women in
these positions to serve as an example for
themselves. If you attend career fairs, bring
female employees who work with the tools to
give demonstrations of their craft and talk about
the work. If you have a website or produce
printed materials, be sure to include images of
tradeswomen. Contact BC3 for Women CAN Build
California recruitment posters and brochures.


■ Basic skills and test preparation: Find a
community partner to help those you recruit
successfully meet your testing and physical
requirements—this may be a pre-apprenticeship
program, community college, or vocational
program. Contact Tradeswomen, Inc. or WINTER
for more ideas


Resources



Contact Tradeswomen, Inc. and WINTER to assist you
with more ideas and resources for recruiting and
retaining women in skilled trades careers.
Tradeswomen, Inc.


www.tradeswomen.org • 510-891-8773 x313
2485 West 14th St. • Oakland CA 94607
Tradeswomen, Inc. has been a support and
advocacy organization for women who work in the
trades since 1979. With workshops, conferences
and policy initiatives, Tradeswomen, Inc. strives
to help women in blue-collar jobs and to increase
and maintain the numbers of women in nontraditional careers.


Women in Non-Traditional Employment Roles
(WINTER)
www.winterbuild.org • 562-570-3764
P.O. Box 90511 • Long Beach, CA 90809
Dedicated to recruiting, training, and placing
women in apprenticeships and non-traditional
jobs, WINTER operates a charter school to help
women complete their high school credentials,
holds monthly orientations about the trades, and
is designated a technical assistance provider by
the Office of Apprenticeship Training, Employer
and Labor Services (OATELS).


Building California Construction Careers (BC3)
www.BuildingC3.com • 916-443-3302
1225 8th Street, Suite 395 • Sacramento, CA 95814


This project of the State Building and Construction
Trades Council is designed to help young people
learn about opportunities in the construction
trades, and see this career as an outstanding
alternative to a four-year degree.  Their website
includes a list of recommended preapprenticeship programs in California.




The original  brochure was made possible by the Women's Bureau, 
U.S. Department of Labor, under WANTO Grant No. E-9-4-2-0123.