More Women Wanted!

Automotive Skills has won a major bid for a Women & Work project for the UK retail motor industry – part of a wider funded Women & Work Sector Pathways Initiative. The £10 million initiative is designed to encourage women to consider careers in traditionally male-dominated professions. With an average of less than 20 per cent of the motor industry workforce made up by women, one of the key challenges facing the sector is how to attract a more diverse workforce which can contribute to increased productivity and performance and develop new ideas and improved methods of working.

Automotive Skills is putting in place a programme designed to attract women into the sector and help them develop the skills they need to operate in the sector and also support women already working in the in industry by enhancing their existing skills and opening up more opportunities for promotion.

The aim of the project is to encourage best practice in the sector by improving how employers recruit, support and develop women in the workplace through a sustainable model that provides ongoing support for females in the industry.

Monique Boath, Development Manager at Automotive Skills leading the Women & Work Project commented, “Successful industries understand how to reinvent themselves by being innovative and creative so they make the most of new markets. This is why Automotive Skills put in a bid for funding to run a Women & Work project. We saw the opportunity to attract more women into the industry by putting in place an ambitious development programme that will support women in the workforce to help the industry grow and be successful – a programme which we will support for the long term.”

In a recent press release, Alan Johnson, Secretary of State for Education & Skills announced the sectors for the Women & Work Sector Pathways Initiative.

He said: “I am delighted to announce that the following Sector Skills Councils – Asset Skills, Automotive Skills and SEMTA – will be taking forward this initiative in response to the Women & Work Commission report ‘Shaping a Fairer Future’. Over the next two years we are investing £10m to help remove the barriers many women still face in getting in and getting on in the workplace. It’s about getting a better deal for women and for all of us, as this has the potential to bring a greater rate of return to our economy and society as a whole.”