Happy National Manufacturing Day! We want to start by congratulating all our skillful candidates and clients on their successes within the industry and would like to thank them for all their ongoing hard work and business.
We want to use today as an opportunity to discuss the gender split within the manufacturing industry, and ask whether the stereotype attached contributes to the low figures of women working within the sector? Although almost half the global workforce comprises women, only 37% currently work in manufacturing. With record high vacancies and a lack of candidates, surely now would be a great time to take the ‘man’ out of manufacturing and encourage diversity within the recruitment process.
We found some interesting comments from industry experts written in an article by Lanna Deamer for ‘The Manufacturer’. Deamer references how ‘well suited’ this year’s International Women’s Day theme #BreakTheBias is to the manufacturing industry. The article supports that the misrepresentation of the male-dominated sector is the reason for the lack of female candidates, and offers opinions on how we can change this.
In the article, Deamer comments that the manufacturing sector is desperate for new talent with both traditional manufacturing-based qualifications and digital skillsets. This reflects the current recruitment climate with clients pushing for higher skillsets. With the lack of trained candidates to fill vacancies, now seems to be the critical time to attract a diverse pool of candidates to the industry. Comments by Joe Bush, Editor of ‘The Manufacturer’ supports this: “The fact is that there aren’t enough young women entering a sector that is in dire need of talented young individuals – for me therefore, the answer is simple; encourage more young women into manufacturing and you will not only see greater gender diversity and parity, but you will also see that skills gap begin to close. Young people equipped with the right skills will enable the sector to thrive, and as we all know, the more diverse a company is, the more successful it tends to be. However, we’re some way off achieving that.”
As an industry, we can work to #BreakTheBias and change the stereotype attached to the manufacturing sector by attracting and encouraging diverse candidates.
If you’re looking to diversify your company and inspire candidates to apply, please get in touch – we can Add Real Value to all your recruitment needs.
Looking to start a career in Manufacturing? Search our latest vacancies HERE
You can read the full article from The Manufacturer HERE
