New research from the Equality and Human Rights Commission sets out the business case for increasing diversity in the construction industry as a way for the sector to tackle its skills shortage.

The report found that addressing race, gender, disability and age diversity also helps the industry to reduce costs and increase business opportunities. It follows the Commission's Inquiry into race in the construction industry which found that the industry was missing out on an untapped pool of talent as, despite being one of Britain's biggest employers, only three per cent of the workforce were Black or Asian.

Diversity challenges identified in the latest report include a need for the construction industry to respond to an ageing workforce, a failure to retain women in professional jobs and only a limited awareness of disability beyond physical impairment.

This is supported by additional evidence in the Commission’s review of equality, How Fair is Britain? which found that the proportion of women in engineering or working as architects, planners and surveyors remain stubbornly low and that gender appears to be more important than social class in accounting for differences in career aspirations among young people.

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The report found evidence from within the construction industry that the benefits of dealing with these issues by far outweigh the costs for employers. They benefit by recruiting from a wider section of the population and having a respectful working environment that enables employees to give their best. The costs include a risk to reputation, loss of productivity, high staff turnover costs or employment tribunal cases.

One company's training initiative involves a 'yellow-card' effect for inappropriate behaviour. This gave employees the confidence to discuss such incidents resulting in a better workplace culture, an essential step for staff retention. Another firm introduced flexible working, which enabled fathers to pick their children up from school.

Four themes for action are proposed in the report. These include good management practice, accessible information, monitoring and clear communication. It says that introducing even simple changes such taster days for women or having a more diverse interview panel can result in a wider range of people being recruited. Another proposal is for the industry to have a national programme targeted at younger people to demonstrate the many worthwhile careers construction offers.

Equality and Human Rights Commission Commissioner, Jean Irvine said: "Tackling the diversity challenges identified in the report will help the industry recruit people from the widest possible pool of talent. If each organisation does just one thing the industry, which contributes about eight per cent of the UK's GDP, will be a step closer to building a better workplace.

"Companies that have taken on board equality and diversity see it as a competitive advantage and can see the direct benefits in their workplace. Given that only 20 per cent of the working population is now made up of white men, under 45, who are not disabled there is an urgent need for business to recruit more widely and ensure they retain those workers."

(CD)