Following last year’s pledge from salford-based Morson International to double the number of female engineering contractors that it employs by 2020, the top technical recruiter is on track to surpass its target.
Current workforce ratios show that 13.8 per cent of all Morson’s engineering contractors are now female compared to 7.5 per cent this time last year; indicating that its commitment to creating a more diverse talent pool is paying dividends.
With a number of major infrastructure projects now on site and progressing towards their peak, including HS2 and Hinkley Point C, the demand for engineers continues to outstrip supply.
According to the Women’s Engineering Society, the UK needs to significantly increase the number of people with engineering skills, with estimates suggesting that we need to at least double the number who are already studying engineering-related subjects.
Adrian Adair, operations director at Morson International, commented: “It’s inspiring to see significant progress made already. It’s crucial that we source the highly skilled workforce that the engineering sector needs, but it’s clear that as an industry, we need more diversity. By inspiring underrepresented groups, particularly women, as well as promoting opportunities that resonate with different races, ages, backgrounds, geographic locations and more, we hope to create a healthy talent pool for future engineering projects and one which is more diverse and more inclusive.”
Morson recently held a #CareersOnTrack event, aimed at addressing the skills shortage and lack of diversity in the rail industry. The event saw girls aged 14-17 visit Morson Vital Training’s education hub in Salford, giving them the opportunity to step foot on its replica track and learn more about the rail industry and its various careers.
As part of Morson’s pledge to ensure the modern workforce is more gender diverse by 2020, the recruiter is also supporting career switching by helping candidates outside of engineering recognise the transferable skills that they already possess for a successful career in the sector.
Adrian continued: “Leveraging transferable skills opens up new opportunities across a choice of industries and locations, as well as presenting possible progression paths by capitalising on skills in high demand.
“There are a number of similar stand out initiatives that are working to stamp out the stereotypes in engineering and wider STEM subjects, such as the IET’s #SmashStereotypesToBits, and it’s this collective drive and focus from throughout the industry that will encourage more diverse recruitment.”
