Hundreds of young women throughout the country have experienced a taste of working in the infrastructure industry in a programme designed to showcase different career options.
The industry is forecast to require around 44,000 more people over the next five years. New recruits are vital to keep the industry operating and women are significantly underrepresented, only accounting for about 6 percent of new trainees.
Every year Connexis – the Industry Training Organisation (ITO) for infrastructure –targets young women with its annual Girls with Hi-Vis (GWHV) campaign. This year the campaign was held in May and June.
The nationwide campaign sees companies in the civil, energy, telecommunication and water industries open their doors for a day to women who are interested in knowing more about what they do and the career opportunities available.
Getting behind the controls of a digger was a huge hit at the GWHV event in Hamilton at Connell Contractors. So much of a hit that Connell Contractors are planning to help one of the Putaruru College students who attended the open day into a job.
Putaruru College careers adviser Margaret Brunton says the day was a great success with the girls, especially the ‘digger school’, which offered a practical aspect. They also enjoyed hearing first-hand about working in the industry from female staff at Connells.
Connexis chief executive Toby Beaglehole said the support from industry and employers for this year’s GWHV was “fantastic”.
“We’ve seen our future apprentices, engineers, and leaders arrive, cautious and slightly hesitant, and leave curious, enthusiastic and engaged.”
GWHV held 18 events from Northland through to Invercargill with a total of 450 attendees.
