While generally considered male-dominated, the construction industry offers real opportunities with strong career paths for women, too. At Plaza Construction, the seventh largest construction company in NY (with additional regional offices), women work as estimators, project managers, superintendents another positions, either in the office of on-site in the field.
The “Men At Work” sign is as much as part of a jobsite as hard hats and bulldozers, and an image that has long been equated with construction sites and workers. Here’s the difference: There are many more women working in all levels of the construction industry now – from on site project management to executive corporate positions. And for good reason: It’s a growing industry with great opportunities for women, great pay and benefits and work culture.
In fact, for Plaza Construction, women account for ¼ of the workforce. That’s nearly 16 percentage points higher than the industry average. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, women accounted for 9.1 percent of the construction workforce in 2017.
One of the greatest advantages of this industry is that the pay scale is higher and the level of gender inequality is lower than that of other industries. Women working in the U.S. earn on average 83% of what men earn. However, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the construction industry women earn on average 91.3% of what men earn. Employment in construction is predicted to grow by 21.4% until 2022, more than double the growth across all industries.
With such a fast-paced growth, companies are facing imminent labor shortages, which opens the door further to women for higher-paying, long-term employment opportunities and career paths with solid benefits.
To support women entering the construction field, Plaza offers a mentoring and development program to its new and existing hires. The company also has a female-friendly work environment offering accommodations to women in balancing their jobs and family lives.
Plaza recently hired four female graduates of the Construction Engineering and Management masters’ program at Columbia University, one of whom worked at the firm as an intern being joining full-time.
The #MeToo movement has raised public awareness about women’s workplace issues. At the jobsite in the field, Plaza conducts sensitivity training on creating a gender-neutral workplace environment and has provided separate bathroom facilities as “ladies” rooms checked regularly for cleanliness.