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June 2023 - Construction

Lack of progress when it comes to diversity in the construction sector, survey finds: Major diversity gaps remain in the construction workforce, despite small steps being made, according to new industry research. The survey found that inclusion of ethnic minorities rose from 13.3% to 13.7% in 2021 to 2022, which shows steps are being made, but only marginally.

The survey was conducted by the Sustainability Tool and the Supply Chain Sustainability School’s Fairness, Inclusion and Respect (FIR) Programme, gathering feedback from over 330,000 employees working in 270 different companies in the construction and utilities sector. It has been conducted every year since 2016 to collect data on diversity and inclusion in this sector, with 2022 being the first year that companies have reported pay gap data. 

The most recent survey also found that there was an 8.3% ethnicity pay gap and a 20.7% difference between men and women. To add to that, fewer companies than in 2021 stated that they have some sort of policy in place to monitor pay imbalances. Additional findings highlighted that there was a 23% female representation of workers taking part in the survey, which is an unchanged imbalance from 2021, despite women making up just more than 50% of the UK population. However, the figure from this survey is more positive than other surveys, which reported a 14% female representation.

Amos Simbo, founder and CEO of the Black Professionals in Construction Network, said in response to the findings:

“The talent is there to benefit the construction industry, but no single factor can explain the comparatively low level of participation from ethnic minority communities.” 

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