As the trades in New Zealand are experiencing months of backlogged work and a shortage of experience to match the abundance of demand says Dan Pollard, founder of Fergus job management software for tradies, he is calling for more female tradies to enter the workforce.
Pollard says: “We’ve always needed more female tradies and as there is a growing need for more tradies to meet a growing abundance of work, we’d love to see more women enter the construction industry. Whilst our software is already used by a large number of women (55% of full users), many of these are not on the tools. Research shows that only around 3% of tradies are women, which needs to increase.
“Some of our users are very successful lady tradies entering the workforce or running their own companies. As a veteran tradie myself, I know the lifestyle would provide an exciting and challenging career path for anyone who wants to join, with women having lots to offer to the sector.”
With International Women’s Day celebrated this month on 8th March, which also fell within Women in Construction Week, March 7-13, Pollard aims to continue to encourage more women to join the construction industry.
Tradies are in high demand, with the pandemic causing a massive boost in interest in home improvements. In fact, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that in nine short months, the number of handypersons in Australia jumped by a third to 59,000 to keep up with the surge.
Fergus wants to see more women embrace the trades like one of its users, Tammy Vos from TSS electrical, a 24-year-old electrician who followed in the footsteps of her father. She showcases her work and answers questions from aspiring tradies on her Instagram account, @sparkyvos, which boasts 11,000 followers.
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