The skills crisis plaguing UK businesses could be solved if employers took on more women in traditionally male-dominated jobs, the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) has claimed.
The EOC said that many of the sectors that lack skilled workers are also short on female staff and claimed that women are an “untapped resource” to many employers.
As reported by Startups.co.uk yesterday, an alarming new survey by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) revealed that 20 per cent of job vacancies remain unfilled because businesses cannot find enough competent employees.
Even though the research showed that a fifth of workers were not proficient in their current roles, employers appeared to be doing little to combat the problem, with just 40 per cent of firms conducting workplace training.
Julie Mellor, chair of the EOC, said that the survey reveals just how much employers and the economy suffer from the shortage of skilled workers.
“But a solution could be staring us all in the face. In some of the worst affected sectors women account for a tiny percentage of the workforce.
“Only one per cent of people working in construction and eight per cent of people in engineering, for example, are women.
“Women are a huge untapped resource for these industries. In other areas the situation is reversed – only two per cent of childminders and one per cent of nursery nurses are men – this is also a sector where Britain desperately needs more skilled workers,” she said.