Despite campaigning for gender parity for more than 100 years, research shows that 60% of managers within the industrial sector believe their industry still struggles with a lack of gender diversity.
The research, which comes from multi-discipline recruitment experts Search Consultancy was conducted with 1,000 managers and asked respondents to rate how they believed their industry compared against a range of diversity markers.
The full list, from most to least diverse in terms in gender representation, is:
oย ย Legal โ 40%
oย ย Hospitality โ 44%
oย ย Marketing โ 49%
oย ย Sales โ 50%
oย ย Scientific โ 52%
oย ย Engineering & manufacturing โ 52%
oย ย Logistics โ 53%
oย ย Call & contact centre –ย 54%
oย ย Accountancy & finance โ 55%
oย ย Business support โ 56%
oย ย Social work โ 56%
oย ย Healthcare โ 57%
oย ย Financial services โ 59%
oย ย HR โ 59%
oย ย Industrial โ 60%
oย ย Transportation โ 63%
oย ย Construction โ 68%
The research also looks into racial and age diversity within businesses across the sectors. 73% of managers in the industrial ย sector believe their business lacked racial diversity with 35% admitting age diversity was an issue.
56% of managers also believe a more diverse workforce would help resolve the skills shortage in the industrial sector.
Erin Vickers, director of talent and engagement at Search Consultancy, said: โAlthough research shows that 77% of managers in the industrial ย sector believe their industry is suffering from a skills shortage, little is being done to encourage a more diverse workforce and consequently widen the talent pool available.
โThe benefits of having a diverse team are endless. Looking outside of the typical candidate demographic can help resolve the skills shortage, create a better understanding of customers and significantly improve employer brand. Now more than ever, it is time to encourage increased diversity in the workplace and help businesses grow following a very difficult 12 months.โ
To read more about diversity in your sector and how it can help resolve the skills shortage, read Search Consultancyโs latest report, here: https://bit.ly/3c5gPVx
