Plasterers, glaziers and tilers are the construction roles with the fewest female workers in London, new research has revealed.

Following the news that female representation has reached a record high of 15.8% in construction, new research, conducted by the UK’s leading online metal supplier, metals4U, compared this figure to the number of people in various trade jobs in London and the proportion of women and men in each.

Based on this research, there should be an estimated 5,221 women in the top ten trade roles in London, but the actual figure is just 862, a massive shortage of 4,300.

The job roles with the fewest female employees are glaziers (18 workers), followed by plasterers (26 workers), and then floor and wall tilers (35 workers). The trade with the lowest proportion of female workers is carpenters and joiners (1.06%).

The full results of the metals4U research are as follows:
Position
Role
National total
Proportion
Overall regional total
% of female employees
Regional female employees
1.
Bricklayer
98223
13%
4329
4.29
186
2.
Plumber
189000
25%
8330
1.96
163
3.
Electrician
209000
28%
9212
1.71
158
4.
Painter
40012
5%
1764
5.1
90
5.
Roofer
40176
5%
1771
4.29
76
6.
Scaffolder
36130
5%
1592
4.29
68
7.
Carpenter/Joiner
89490
12%
3944
1.06
42
8.
Floor & Wall Covering
20844
3%
919
3.84
35
9.
Plasterer
15640
2%
689
3.84
26
10.
Glazier
11229
1%
495
3.6
18

The three jobs with the most female workers are bricklayers (186 workers), plumbers (163 workers), and electricians (90 workers), while painters and decorators have the biggest percentage of female tradespeople (5.1%).

Paul McFadyen, Chairman of metals4U commented, “It’s fantastic to see women represented in construction at the highest level in recorded history, but this clearly hasn’t filtered down to many of the top trades yet.

“While the industry has taken significant steps forward and made considerable progress in gender equality, there is still some way to go to improve female representation across all roles.”