Programme offers on-site two-week placement
The housebuilding industry hopes its latest site manager course will go some way to redressing the gender imbalance where just four per cent of people in this role are women.
- 16 per cent of the workforce are female but only four per cent are site managers
- Eleven major housebuilders are supporting training programmes to increase numbers
- 52 sites across England, Wales and Scotland will be offering hands on experience
Housebuilders expand training to boost female site manager numbers
The latest building site management course has expanded to offer more places, 38, for women to gain hands-on training on 52 sites across Britain this spring.
The programme aims to address the gender imbalance where 16 per cent of the building workforce are female with just four per cent of women working as site managers.
Homebuilders Federation, HBF, chief executive Neil Jefferson said: “Building the talent pipeline and growing the industry’s workforce is critical to increasing housing supply numbers at the levels required.”
They hope it will help with the 50,000 new people a year who need to be recruited if the government is to hit its target of building 1.5m new homes by 2029.
“With the current housing shortage at the top of every political agenda, we’re building more and more homes the nation needs. A career in house building can be incredibly versatile,” said Mr Jefferson.
Programme offers on-site two-week placement
The programme starts with a week of online training and insight, including a virtual site visit and sessions on essential knowledge covering health and safety and modern methods of construction.
Students are paired up with a local home building site for a two-week placement to experience what a site manager does. This includes liaising with architects, surveyors and building trades to ensure a project is on track with enough staff, machinery and materials to get the job done.
Participating homebuilders include Anwyl Homes, Bargate Homes, Bellway, Gleeson, Hill Group, Hopkins Homes, Keepmoat, Places for People, Taylor Wimpey, Tilia Homes and Vistry Group.
Brokers Hank Zarihs Associates said development finance lenders wanted the construction industry to recruit from a more diverse background to ensure the sector did not miss out on new talent.
Careers service agency Pathway CTM is working with the HBF to ensure the scheme is widely available.
Pathway CTM chief executive Chris McNamara said: “By leveraging our access to recent education leavers and motivated adults seeking career transitions, we have a unique opportunity to bridge the gap and inspire more women into home building.”
Since The Women into Home Building launch two years ago over 150 women have received advice and guidance about a career in housebuilding.
More than 90 women have successfully completed site management work placements and over 25 women having gained employment within the industry.
The National House Building Council are sponsoring the programme offering support with travel and childcare cost.
The industry is looking for candidates who are good communicators, team players, enjoy problem- solving, can drive and have passed GCSE maths and English. More details about the programme and how to apply are at HBF.co.uk/WIHB. Applications close at 5pm on Sunday 23rd of March.
LinkedIn Question: Why is it important for the building industry to recruit and retain more women?
