So we are trying to figure out why women are not attracted to a trade where you get to work in miserable conditions, are likely to be laid off with little or no notice, are constantly exposed to danger, expected to work long hours and weekends "in order to get the job done", only to be laid off when the work runs out?
What is amazing sometimes is that we can get ANYBODY to work in construction. While it can be a very rewarding field, there are many people that are forced to work in very poor conditions. The construction industry as a whole needs to work on improving its image. We need to stop treating people as machines. Can anyone really work 6, 12-hour days per week and be productive? Yet that is exactly what many skilled workers were being forced to do when construction was booming in this area. Now that things are slow, many of those same people, that practically killed themselves to keep up with the work, are now laid off. Thanks for your efforts, but we don't need you anymore!
The electrical trade has been good to me, but fortunately I was able to take the skills that I developed and move on to a position where I no longer need to work "in the trenches". It is a good thing that I did, because now I am partially disabled and would not be able to work in the field. I did NOT encourage my sons to follow my footsteps and am very thankful that they both have careers that are not as volatile and unpredictable as construction.
If the working conditions could be improved more talented young people of all races and both genders would be attracted to the trades. Despite what many people think, it is not just about the money. Yes, you can make good money in construction, but there are many ways that a talented, intelligent person can make good money; and many of them are less dangerous, less strenuous, and more predictable than being an electrician.
I have worked in the pouring rain in mud above my knees to install the electrical service in a building so that the concrete floor could be poured, only to have the floor postponed for a month because "it was too wet". I have worked in a snowstorm in a house with no windows or doors so the GC could get the "draw" that was due when the rough-wire was complete. I have worked nights, and weekends to complete a building so that the GC could put up a sign bragging that "he" had completed the building in 120 days. It was funny, but I never saw him there at midnight or on a Saturday! I will do anything that I can to help someone out in an emergency, but it seems most "emergencies" in construction are caused by poor planning or undercapitalization.
You don't need to look far to see why people are not flocking to become part of this trade. Things could be improved so much with so little effort and expense....
