Companies court women to fill skilled trade jobs (opens the source in a new tab)
- The Wall Street Journal reports that builders short of workers are courting women with paid maternity leave, flexible hours, properly sized gear and cleaner sites. Women make up just 4.4% of US construction and repair workers, but their share has been rising steadily.
- Turner Construction, busy with data centre work, says it needs every worker it can get. Mortenson added paid leave for new mothers, Skanska pushes team leaders on inclusion, and trade schools such as Universal Technical Institute report far more women enrolling as the work turns more technical.
- Firms are also cracking down on harassment; Turner says it replaced a subcontractor's entire crew over derogatory graffiti.
- 4.4%
- Women's share of US construction and repair workers
Why it matters The trades pay well, are hard to automate and are needed now for data centres and housing. Drawing on half the population is the quickest fix for a labour shortage that AI will not solve.
Other side From such a low base, steady gains are still slow, and perks matter less than whether behaviour on site changes. If construction cools after the data centre boom, the newest hires may be the first let go.