Aggregate Industries report rise in female recruitment

Significant increase in recruitment of female graduates and female higher apprentices since 2015

AGGREGATE Industries have reported a 50% increase in female graduates and a more than ten-fold increase in their female apprentices since 2015.

Each year the business offers a number of different programmes designed to give young people an opportunity to learn new skills and practice them in a live environment, as a solid basis for career development.

Positively, Aggregate Industries say they have continued to increase the female intake for their graduate and higher apprenticeships schemes over recent years.

David Butterfield, head of learning and development at Aggregate Industries, said: ‘It is great to see our commitment to promoting careers in construction to the next generation pay off with an increase in uptake of our courses – especially from females, which we see as a very positive step in creating a more diverse workforce.

‘However, there is no doubt that there is still a big job to be done in raising awareness about the rewards of working in the construction industry and breaking through the misconceptions that jobs are mainly for men and, in a lot of cases, low paid and low skilled – which is simply untrue.’

Joanne Hankinson, inclusion and diversity lead at Aggregate Industries, added: ‘When it comes to women in construction, we need to work harder to publicize the great career opportunities that exist for them, as they not only have the potential to be well paid but can also take advantage of greater flexibility.

‘As an employer we recognize the value of having diverse teams to foster diversity of thought, innovation and creativity.’